2014 Military Aviation News
12/31/2014
Russia is developing a new strategic bomber called the PAK-DA as part of its post-Soviet military modernization plan, but with the price of oil falling rapidly, there are questions as to whether that nation will be able to afford the new plane. There is little concrete information about the new Russian bomber—but a stealthy long-range penetrating strike aircraft is not cheap.
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12/31/2014
Former CIA official claims that US drone strikes targeting the Taliban and other insurgent groups will continue despite the official end of NATO combat operations in Afghanistan.
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12/30/2014
A U.S. military drone dropped bombs on a senior leader of al-Shabab in Somalia Monday, striking another blow against the Islamic terrorist network. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement that the airstrike took place in southern Somalia, near the town of Saakow. Adm. Kirby did not identify the leader who was targeted in the airstrike.
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12/30/2014
China could export a modern fighter jet to developing countries to take a bigger share of the international military aircraft market and boost its aviation industry, experts have suggested. "The FC-1 Fierce Dragon can meet the air defence tasks of most developing nations that can't afford more advanced, fifth-generation fighter jets," said Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine.
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12/30/2014
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program today. The plane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Wash., at 9:29 a.m. (PST) and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.
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12/30/2014
A joint air and air defense army will be formed and deployed in the Arctic in 2015, Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said Monday. "The united strategic command in the Arctic is currently based on Russia's Northern Fleet, which is responsible for ensuring security in the region in all forms of armed conflict," Gerasimov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.
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12/30/2014
The Iranian Air Force has shot down three drones Saturday in the third day of an ongoing massive military exercise in southern parts of the country, Press TV reported. The unmanned aerial vehicles were brought down by three domestically designed and manufactured missiles fired from an ambush missile system known as Mersad, the news agency reported.
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12/29/2014
The V-22 Osprey is getting topped-off with a new capability. An aerial refuelling system is being developed for the tilt-rotor aircraft, turning the cargo and personnel carrier into a tanker that can provide fuel to other aircraft, mid-flight. "The aerial refueling capability is going to be the next thing," for the Osprey, Maj. Douglas Thumm, the plans officer for the V-22 at Headquarters Marine Corps, said.
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12/29/2014
The missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, the head of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency has said. Bambang Soelistyo said the hypothesis was based on the co-ordinates of the plane when contact with it was lost. The search is continuing for the aircraft, a day after it disappeared with 162 people on board, but no trace has been found so far.
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12/29/2014
Cameroon has carried out its first air strikes against militant Islamist group Boko Haram after it over-ran a military base and attacked five villages, an army spokesman has said.
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12/28/2014
Indonesian media say more than 160 people were on board the Airbus A320-200. The aircraft, flight number QZ8501, lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (00:24 GMT), AirAsia tweeted. The company said that search and rescue operations were under way for the missing plane.
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12/28/2014
The aircraft, which Moscow will swap for beef and wheat, would be able to mount air patrols over Port Stanley. Ministry of Defence officials fear Buenos Aires would take delivery of the planes well before the deployment in 2020 of the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its F-35B fighters, leaving a “real window of vulnerability”.
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12/28/2014
Today Iranian military forces tested various unmanned aircraft that some are calling "suicide drones." Because "suicide drone" sounded more intimidating than "model airplane that we could fly into things nearby." Iran has been conducting military exercises for the past week at the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf. The show of force has involved air, land, and sea maneuvers over 850,000 square miles.
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12/28/2014
Despite renewed U.S. Air Force efforts to retire the much loved (by their pilots and the ground troops who depend on it) A-10C ground attack aircraft, at least ten of them from a reserve unit have been quietly sent to the Middle East to join in the air operations against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Many older ISIL members (who fought in Iraq before the A-10s were withdrawn) are not happy with this news while the soldiers and militiamen fighting ISIL are encouraged.
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12/28/2014
Earlier this Christmas Eve, the Islamic State captured an F-16 pilot from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Islamic State, the F-16 was shot down by anti-aircraft guns, but the Pentagon says there is no evidence of a shootdown and suggests mechanical failure was to blame.
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12/28/2014
The LCA program has taken the time it has to mature precisely because there was a hiatus in domestic fighter aircraft development post the HAL HF-24 Marut that was India's first homegrown jet fighter. No timely follow on programme to the Marut meant that both human and capital resources had to be built up concurrently even as the LCA program progressed contributing to delays.
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12/26/2014
A Jordanian F-16 was downed in Syria on Wednesday, with ISIL claiming responsibility for the crash after capturing its pilot. The US, however, refutes that the terrorist group shot it down, but did not offer any other details about its version of events.
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12/26/2014
Diversifying the sources of Egypt’s armaments became a priority among state strategists after the 30 June Revolution. Overreliance on one provider was now seen as shortsighted. Egypt was also keen to ensure its armaments policy responded to international political developments, including the growing influence of China and Russia.
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12/26/2014
Russia's United Instrument Corporation (UIC) will start supplying the small-class Corsair surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Russian Armed Forces in late 2016, the company's CEO Alexander Yakunin told RIA Novosti. "We are currently implementing a big project on the creation of a prospective small-class Corsair UAV and organization of its serial production. The production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and reach its planned capacity before the end of 2017.
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12/26/2014
Iran's military have detected and issued warnings to several foreign aircraft intercepted during the first day of a large-scale military exercise, Tasnim News Agency reported on Thursday, quoting the Iranian Air Defense Force Commander, Farzad Esmaili. Farzad Esmaili told Tasnim that the mentioned aircraft were not from countries in the region. He did not specify their number.
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12/26/2014
The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration has extended its earlier flight regulations introduced previously, which forbids flights over Ukraine's city of Dnipropetrovsk and the Russian city of Simferopol in Crimea.
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12/25/2014
If China can successfully carry out its Type 001A aircraft carrier program, the People's Liberation Army Navy will eventually have better carriers than its Indian and Japanese counterparts, according to Kanwa Defense Review, a Chinese-language military magazine based in Canada.
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12/25/2014
Solo Türk is the name of the solo aerobatics demo team of the F-16 combat plane whose role is to display the capabilities and skills of the Turkish Air Force pilots. Established in 2011, as part of the Turkish Air Force’s 100th anniversary, the TuAF F-16C Block 40 aircraft in a stunning bright black, silver and golden livery has become one of the highlights of airshows across Europe.
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12/25/2014
The Air Force began a major study into the future of its test-range infrastructure, one which could decide how the service runs its live-flight testing for the next 20 years. Ed Chupein, chief for Air Force ranges, airspace and operations sustainment, told Defense News that a review is underway to provide Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh with options on how to revitalize the training infrastructure.
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12/25/2014
Air power is tough. All the world’s air forces work hard to maintain old warplanes and acquire expensive new ones and still fund adequate training—all in the context of national strategy and air power doctrine that can be complex, confusing, even self-defeating.So it should come as no surprise that, sometimes, countries fail to do air power right—or at all.
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12/25/2014
" Fears of war between Taiwan and China have eased in recent years, but the growing gap in their military capabilities has prompted a U.S. think tank to lay out a radical new approach in how Taiwan could defend itself if China invaded, relying less on conventional forces and more on guerrilla-style tactics and cyberwarfare.
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12/25/2014
A Ukrainian military base employee has made the sensational claim that a one his country's own air force planes shot down Malaysian flight MH17 killing all 298 on board. The unnamed employee claimed to a Moscow newspaper that a Ukrainian air force Su-25 combat jet took off from an airbase in eastern Dnipropetrovsk carrying air-to-air missiles - and returned without them - on the day the Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky.
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12/25/2014
Russia will increase the number of airplanes and helicopters at its base to be opened in Belarus, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Andrei Ravkov. “I’m ready to continue our discussion of cooperation on a practical basis today. This is in regard to the S-300 [anti-aircraft missile system], as well as the creation and basing of [our] aviation in Belarus by increasing the number of airplanes and helicopters.
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12/25/2014
The plane was lost in IS territory on Wednesday morning, and the pilot has been captured. IS militants said that they shot down the plane with a heat-seeking missile. However, the US says "evidence clearly indicates" that this is not true. Jordan is one of four Arab states in a US-led coalition that has launched air strikes on IS targets in Syria.
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12/24/2014
The jihadist group claimed it had shot down the jet with a heat-seeking missile near the city of Raqqa. It published photographs showing the pilot, who has been named as Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh. This is the first US-led coalition aircraft to be lost on IS territory since air strikes began in September. Jordan is one of four Arab states which have bombed targets in Syria.
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12/24/2014
Air Force officials removed 82 two-seat F-16D Fighting Falcons from flight earlier this summer after discovering cracks along the canopy sill longeron between the front and rear pilot seats. The longeron is a major structural component that carries significant loads during dynamic flight operations of the F-16. Of these 82 aircraft, 32 belong to the 56th Fighter Wing.
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12/24/2014
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has won a contract worth nearly half a billion dollars to supply advanced air-combat missiles, in a deal that involves sales to South Korea, Oman, Singapore and Thailand. The $491.5 million Air Force contract includes production of an undisclosed number of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and other AMRAAM system items, including a captive air-training missile, computer reprogramming equipment and an airborne instrumentation unit.
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12/24/2014
During the first half of 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State overran large swathes of Iraq. Much of the Iraqi army, which the U.S. spent many years and billions of dollars training and equipping, collapsed. Alarmed at the deteriorating situation, the Obama administration in June began deploying hundreds of security personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. personnel and facilities. The Pentagon also stepped up its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights over the country
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12/23/2014
The nation's top military officer praised the troops on Monday in his annual holiday message while pressuring Congress to accept the “hard choices” he says are needed under a tightened budget. "The Joint Chiefs and I remain concerned that we still lack support for the reforms necessary to ensure that you are combat ready and to preserve military options for our nation," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a video.
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12/23/2014
Recent months have found uniformed officers and naval strategists writing and speaking about regaining the ability of U.S. Navy (USN) ships to conduct offensive anti-surface warfare (ASuW). The discussion has been lively and featured many authors and many different approaches. Some solutions are incremental, such as fielding more capable long-range weapons in existing launch systems.
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12/23/2014
Russia’s long-range (fighter-bomber) aviation is marking the centenary anniversary since its foundation on Tuesday. Gala functions devoted to the jubilee will be held in all the branches and units of the Air Force, its official spokesman Igor Klimov told reporters. “Long-range aviation is a crucial component element of Russia’s forces of nuclear deterrence,” Colonel Klimov said.
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12/23/2014
The 134th Fighter Squadron of the Vermont ANG (Air National Guard) based at Burlington, VT, is well known as ” The Green Mountain Boys.” his ANG squadron, flying 18 F-16C/D Block 30s is part of the 158th Fighter Wing, and will be the first ANG group to operate the F-35.
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12/23/2014
The U.S. State Department said Monday Iraqi air power helped the Kurdish peshmerga and U.S.-led coalition forces push back the Islamic State group from Mount Sinjar. The offensive on the mountain marks the first time the Iraqi air force contributed to a high-profile offensive against the Sunni militant group. Previously, only the U.S.-led coalition air forces, as well as some Iranian jets, had carried out strikes against ISIS.
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12/23/2014
The Spanish military has received the first three of 46 Spanish-assembled utility and combat helicopters under separate contracts given to Airbus Helicopters. The aircraft officially delivered by the company were two Tiger attack helicopters in the HAD-E version and one NH90 GSPA, a Spanish-version tactical transport.
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12/23/2014
One of the biggest changes in Marine Corps aviation in years will happen in 2015, and it promises to not only change the way that anyone in a flight suit operates, but how anyone with boots on the ground receives support from the air. Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 22 will relocate from Marine Corps Air Station, Jacksonville, North Carolina, to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona.
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12/23/2014
National security is being "compromised" with a "fast-eroding" combat aircraft squadron strength of the Indian Air Force vis-a-vis the neighbouring countries, leading to a "very grim" situation, a parliamentary panel said on Monday. "With regard to existing squadron strength, it is learnt that we are down to 25 squadrons today even though the authorisation is for 42 combat squadrons.
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12/23/2014
India's state-owned aerospace and defense giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be one of the major partners in the Russia-India helicopter deal, the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in India told Sputnik Monday. "India has told us that the one major partner will be Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
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12/22/2014
India and the U.S. are negotiating a deal for the purchase of high altitude, long endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). An agreement or announcement to this effect is likely when U.S. President Barack Obama visits India as the chief guest for the Republic Day ceremony next month, sources informed The Hindu.
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12/22/2014
Following the in-principle agreement reached by India and Russia for the production of Russian helicopters in India, both sides are carrying out discussions to work out the details to quickly conclude a deal. Initially the helicopters will be used to cater to the requirements of the Indian armed forces and only after that will exports happen, Russian embassy officials told The Hindu.
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12/22/2014
The footage in this post shows A-10 Thunderbolt and C-17 Globemaster aircraft in action over Keno Airfield on the Nevada Test & Traning Range during JFE (Joint Forcible Entry Exercise) 14B on Dec. 6, 2014. Featuring some 100 aircraft, JFE is a US Air Force Weapons School large-scale air mobility exercise with the aim to test the ability of the participants in the weapons school courses to plan and execute complex air operations.
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12/22/2014
One of the four C-17 flying units assigned to Joint Base Charleston is being grounded, along with another in Washington state, the Air Force announced. The decision was based on the President Barack Obama's defense budget for fiscal year 2015, according to a statement from the Air Mobility Command.
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12/22/2014
Serbian army will spend 55 billion dinars (452 million euros) next year, which is 5 billion less than this year – it is provided by the draft state budget for 2015. Three billion dinars, intended for new weapons and equipment, will be sufficient only for smaller purchases. There will be no money for the purchase of radars, aircrafts, air defense systems or other modern systems.
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12/22/2014
Canada's defense minister announced Friday the addition of a fifth military transport jumbo jet to its fleet, as the nation continues expanding its combat and humanitarian reach around the world. Its four existing Globemaster III C17 aircrafts were purchased in 2008-2009 and have been used recently in Canadian and allied airlifts in Afghanistan, the Arctic, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Mali, Sierra Leone and Ukraine.
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12/22/2014
Civilians like Matthew LaCourse, who was killed last month when the F-16 he was flying was lost in the Gulf of Mexico, have flown more sorties for the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron this year than active duty military pilots. After initially declining to answer questions about the use of civilians in military airborne missions, Tyndall officials responded to emailed questions.
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12/22/2014
A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Sunday morning while on an overland training flight at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. The MH-60S is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, and all six personnel aboard the aircraft survived the crash. Three had minor injuries and received treatment. All have been released.
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12/22/2014
The Standing Committee on Defence has pulled up the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a “lackadaisical and callous approach” towards “upgradation of Air Force squadrons”, the numbers of which stand at 34 against the sanctioned strength of 42. The MoD on the other hand has blamed “delay in LCA programme” as one of the major reasons for the shortfall in capability building of the IAF, besides the delay in induction of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
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12/22/2014
Kurdish fighters are pushing their way into the town of Sinjar, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State militants who captured the town last summer. Loud explosions and intense gunbattles were heard from inside the town on Sunday.
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12/21/2014
Up to 60 SAS fighters are heading to Iraq to hunt down Islamic State leaders after militants started learning how to avoid airstrikes, it has been reported. The full squadron of troopers had initially been dispatched to Afghanistan for a separate operation, but have been diverted to battle Isis fanatics.
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12/21/2014
Maj. Linas Pakutka walked back and forth behind the line of soldiers lying in the snow-crusted field, a row of distant pines forming a jagged horizon in the twilight sky. His command to fire was barely audible in the fierce wind. The assault rifles, German-made G36s, crackled to life, punching invisible holes in a row of targets almost lost in the gloom.
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12/21/2014
A senior member of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned on Friday that the Iranian military had the ability to target aircraft carriers using supersonic missiles. “We can easily target hostile aircraft carriers with our supersonic missiles and we have advanced technology that would leave our enemies in awe,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the IRGC deputy commander, said during a speech carried by the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
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12/21/2014
he much-awaited multi-billion dollar Rafale combat aircraft deal with France has once again run into rough weather. After negotiations of almost three years, it has now hit a ‘deadlock’ with both India and France refusing to concede to the other’s demands. When Rafale was declared the lowest bidder in January 2012, all eyes were on the inking of this deal that was touted as the ‘mother of all defence deals’.
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12/20/2014
ustralian combat aircraft operating over Iraq have dropped more than 100 bombs, each striking an Islamic State target. Commander, Air Commodore Steve Roberton, says there is real and direct feedback of the air task group achieving good results in its operations. The group comprises 200 personnel, six Super Hornet combat aircraft, a KC-30 air-to-air refuelling plane and an E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control plane.
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12/20/2014
The Royal Canadian Air Force is getting another C-17 military transport aircraft, bring the fleet total to five. Defence Minister Rob Nicholson announced the purchase in a hanger at CFB Trenton Friday. Nicholson said the C-17 Globemaster III is vital to the armed forces since it can fly long distances and land on short runways. He said it will be used in combat missions, and provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief both at home and overseas.
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12/20/2014
Indian Air Force received 81 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft as against 112 due till 2012-13 from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) because of delay in receipt of technical documents from Russian manufacturer Rosoboronexport (ROE). Due to delayed delivery of the fighter planes, the Defence Ministry recovered liquidated damages of Rs 96.26 crore from HAL, which, however, could not recover the amount from ROE "in the absence of enabling provision" in their contract.
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12/20/2014
Russia’s announcement this week that it will be operating a sizable contingent of its first stealth fighter, the Sukhoi PAK-FA (also known as T-50), by 2020 has intrigued from the defense world. The first deliveries will begin in 2016, and in four years' time the Russians will field 55 of the impressive-looking jet, which resembles closely the American F-22.
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12/20/2014
The Su-30MK2 multi-role fighter aircraft is an improved version of the Su-30MKK, a member of the Su-30 aircraft family. The multi-role variant offers enhanced combat capabilities against aerial, ground and sea-based targets. The aircraft was developed by Sukhoi in 2002 and is manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO). The aircraft are operational with Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda, Venezuela and China.
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12/19/2014
The United States selected Australia and Japan to render maintenance and upgrade of its F-35 Lighting strike fighter based or operating in the Pacific region as part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme or JSF. Australia will be providing heavy air frame maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade to F-35 aircraft based in the Southern pacific. Japan will render the same service to aircraft based in the northern Pacific.
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12/19/2014
The German Air Force (GAF) is not seeing a more confrontational attitude from Russian pilots it is intercepting over the Baltic region, despite concerns being raised by Western leaders of increased aggression over recent weeks. Speaking during a media tour of Amari Air Base, Estonia, on 17 December, the GAF's detachment commander Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Schnitger said that the Russians that his pilots have encountered since they took on the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission in September.
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12/19/2014
The Netherlands announced on 15 December that it will sign a contract in April 2015 for an initial eight Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs). In total the Netherlands is planning to buy 37 F-35s, with the first of the eight initial aircraft expected to enter service in 2019. Full operational capability (FOC) is expected to be attained in 2024 with all aircraft delivered.
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12/19/2014
Discussions on the transfer of Rafale fighter jets from France to India have made "good progress'' and are "put on fast track'', the Ambassador of France to India, Francois Richier, has said. According to him, discussions had started in early 2012 and have taken three years due to the "importance and complexity" of the deal.
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12/19/2014
The aircraft that the Air Force would love to kill is regularly raining death on Islamic State militants, defense officials confirmed. The A-10 Thunderbolt II has been used almost daily since November to attack Islamic State targets in Iraq, officials told Air Force Times. In mid-November, several A-10s from the Indiana Air National Guard's 163rd Fighter Squadron along with about 300 airmen were moved from Afghanistan to Southwest Asia to support airstrikes in Iraq.
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12/19/2014
There will be routine operations on Christmas Day, including flying combat missions to drop bombs on IS targets. A large number of Australian defence personnel will be spending Christmas far from home. They'll be in Afghanistan, aboard Australian ships and in Middle East support bases.
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12/19/2014
The U.S. Army is moving ahead with a controversial plan to shift helicopters between the active-duty and National Guard and buying new aircraft without competition, despite ongoing litigation trying to block it. Getting rid of military equipment is never easy. Over decades, planes, tanks and ships become engrained in military bases throughout the country, building vocal and powerful supporters in local communities, Congress and the defense industry.
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12/19/2014
Numerous senior leaders of the Islamic State (IS) have been destroyed during the US-led coalition airstrikes, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated. “I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” Kirby said in a statement published Thursday.
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12/18/2014
Expecting initial delivery of FA-50 lead-in fighter jets late next year, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is sending its fighter pilots to South Korea for a six-month training in handling the brand-new supersonic aircraft. PAF’s Air Defense Wing chief Col. Ernesto Okol said that aside from three fighter pilots, they are also sending 32 support personnel to South Korea in March for the much-needed flight and maintenance transition training.
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12/18/2014
The U.S. Air Force no longer plans another round of layoffs in fiscal 2015, the service's top civilian said. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James made the announcement on Tuesday during an online discussion with troops, marking a shift in personnel policy for the service, which had planned on involuntarily separating more airmen to further downsize the active-duty force.
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12/18/2014
AUSTRALIA and Japan will both offer regional support hubs for Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region. Workers at Queensland and NSW air force bases will offer engine and airframe maintenance and upgrade work for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning advanced combat aircraft. That way they don't need to be sent all the way back to the United States.
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12/18/2014
Russia intends to put more aircraft and helicopters on duty in Belarus, BelTA learned from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Alexander Surikov during the press conference in Minsk on 17 December. The diplomat reminded that Russian jet fighters have been on duty in Belarus since December 2013. “Plans have been made to increase the amount of hardware on duty up to 12 combat aircraft and two trainer aircraft.
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12/18/2014
Like spaceships and sports stadiums, military strike jets typically aren’t the kind of things that companies build—much less sell—off the shelf. Take the Pentagon’s new F-35, for instance: Two decades and $400 billion in the making, the F-35 had nine committed customers lined up to buy thousands of aircraft (at between $80 million and $110 million per copy) before Lockheed Martin ever started bending metal in earnest. Rarely does a contractor fully develop a military jet on spec.
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12/18/2014
A top RAF commander doesn’t know how many combat planes the air force has, he admitted today. Air Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, made the embarrassing revelation during a grilling about Britain’s Top Gun jets. Asked to outline the numbers of Typhoon and Tornado combat squadrons, he replied: “At the moment we’ve got four Typhoon squadrons and three Tornado squadrons.”
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12/18/2014
As reported by Russian media outlets, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station, Vladislav Goncharenko, deputy head of the military aviation programmes department at UAC (the a Russian holding which encompasses Irkut, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Tupolev, Beriev and Yakovlev), Moscow has surpassed the U.S. in the number of produced combat aircraft.
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12/17/2014
When 1st Lt. Matt Lavigne's phone rang late Dec. 10, he knew it was time to scramble into action. As a fighter pilot, preparedness is engraved into his DNA, but this was the first time he'd experienced something like this. In only a few hours, he'd be flying side by side with other F-16 Fighting Falcons bound for the Republic of Korea. That same day, thousands of others received a similar phone call, all with the same message: It's time to go.
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12/17/2014
General Andrei Kartapolov announced on Tuesday that Russia carried out surprise military drills to assess the readiness of troops in the Kaliningrad region between December 5 and 10. Kartopolov, who heads the Operations Department at the General Staff of the army said that the inspection was ordered by Russian President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin.
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12/17/2014
The U.S. military operates fleets of Cold War-era aircraft that will not be replaced any time soon. For the Pentagon, this creates daunting challenges, experts warn. Airplanes will have to fly much longer than planned and, at a time of tight budgets, the cost of maintaining aging equipment is projected to soar.
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12/17/2014
The A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State since late November on a near-daily basis, a U.S. military official said Tuesday. It marks the first time the use of the pugnacious plane against the militant group has been confirmed, although U.S. military officials disclosed last month that they had deployed the A-10 in support of the mission in Iraq and Syria.
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12/17/2014
A high-powered military committee has said India should get down to developing at least a dozen critical technologies to ensure that foreign powers cannot manipulate country's aerospace capabilities in future. The committee submitted its report to the UPA government a few weeks before the Congress-led coalition was routed in the national elections. TOI on Monday reported several recommendations of the committee, headed by Air Marshal M Matheswaran.
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12/16/2014
BAE Systems has completed the first full trial fit of Brimstone air-to-surface missile onto a Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. Undertaken at an undisclosed location, the trial fit marks a significant milestone in demonstrating integration of the missile with the aircraft, and are expected to pave the way for Brimstone 2 integration for the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) by 2018.
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12/16/2014
Saab has been awarded a contract to extend the lease of JAS 39 Gripen C/D multi-role combat aircraft in the Czech Republic. Awarded by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), the SEK576m ($76.4m) contract covers the provision of continuing support and upgrade of the Czech Gripens for an additional 12 years.
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12/16/2014
For the Russian defense industry, 2014 has been a complicated year. Yet despite numerous difficulties, some examples of military technology successfully underwent state testing and were transferred to the armed forces for future use. RBTH presents five additions to the armed forces that went into service in 2014 – the newest innovations of the defense industry.
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12/16/2014
The United States Navy is the largest and most advanced navy in the world, fielding everything from aircraft carriers and maritime patrol aircraft to submarines, destroyers and unmanned helicopters. So when your editor asks you to choose the Navy’s five most lethal weapons systems, your most difficult challenge is trying to narrow it down to just five selections.
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12/16/2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared $19 billion of arms procurement proposals since taking power in May, almost double India’s spending on weapons in the last fiscal year as he tries to modernize the country’s military. The blitz of 41 approvals spans heavy guns to submarines as Modi seeks to counter China’s rising military heft and take a firmer stance on border disputes with Pakistan.
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12/16/2014
The disclosure is another embarrassing setback in the development of what is supposed to be the world’s most sophisticated fighter given that the aircraft is likely to fly most of its combat missions in hot climates. The problem emerged last week at Luke airforce base in the United States where the F-35 Lightning 11 aircraft is being tested. The F-35, the most expensive aircraft ever produced, is designed to use its fuel as a cooling agent.
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12/16/2014
More than a dozen Navy F/A-18 warplanes roar off this aircraft carrier every day to attack Islamic State targets in support of Iraqi troops battling to regain ground lost to the militants in June. These Navy pilots face an array of lethal risks during their six-hour round-trip missions. Surface-to-air missiles and other enemy fire lurk below, as the downing of an Iraqi military helicopter late Friday underscored.
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12/16/2014
US and international coalition forces have conducted 18 airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria over the past three days, continuing an air campaign to push the terrorist group back, the US Central Command reports. “US and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL [IS] terrorists in Syria December 13-15 using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes,” the US Central Command, which oversees military operation in Iraq and Syria.
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12/15/2014
After the US Navy’s successful battle laser tests, a former Israeli air force chief says the system may be a more potent, faster, and less costly alternative to anti-missile arsenals like Iron Dome, Israel Defense reported. “Laser is a multirole system – like a fighter aircraft. You can deploy it on the ground, on board an aircraft, on a Jeep or on an armored vehicle. It can intercept aircraft, missiles, artillery shells and UAVs,” according to Maj.-Gen. (res.) David Ivry, who has headed Boeing
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12/15/2014
The Navy chief trudged home to his wife with bad news — and he knew it would not go over well. After four deployments in five years, he was making one more. The chief had been on four deployments with his last two commands, which included the heavily deployed aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Now he was assigned for a year to a cruiser out of San Diego, a short tour that his detailer and the boat's top enlisted leader had assured him would not include another deployment.
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12/15/2014
On May 10, 1972, Bill Driscoll was flying his 170th combat mission over North Vietnam, a radar intercept officer in the back seat of an U.S. F-4 Phantom jet fighter. He and his crew were providing cover near the Gulf of Tonkin for 18 essentially defenceless aircraft and things were going smoothly – too smoothly, as it turned out.
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12/15/2014
Despite claiming otherwise. Big Lies substituting for hard truths. Longstanding US-controlled NATO policy. Ignored by media pundits reporting nothing. Kiev wants Donbas democracy crushed. Hardline rule replacing it. Naked aggression waged to force-feed policy. Illegitimate oligarch president Petro Poroshenko’s so-called “day(s) of silence” are meaningless. Subterfuge. Quiet before the storm.
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12/15/2014
Russia's aggressive incursions into UK airspace could lead to a passenger jet being brought down by accident, the Defence Secretary warned yesterday. Michael Fallon warned that Vladimir Putin was playing a ‘provocative and dangerous’ game by ordering Russian Bear bombers to fly over British waters. Mr Fallon said Mr Putin’s new aggression could even spark a war with Nato forces. In a blunt message, he said Britain should ‘prepare for the worst’ as the Russian President flexes his muscles.
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12/15/2014
Once, it was a giant of the global defense industry. But today, Boeing could soon be shut out of the market for fighter jets. Around the world, nations are taking bids on new fighters as they upgrade their air forces. But time and again, Boeing is losing these contests. In South Korea last year, Boeing's F-15 lost a potential $7.7 billion contract to Lockheed Martin and its super-stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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12/14/2014
Islamic State militants shot down an Iraqi military helicopter, officials said Saturday, killing the two pilots and raising fresh concerns about the extremists’ ability to attack aircraft amid ongoing U.S.-led coalition air strikes. The attack happened late Friday in the Shiite holy city of Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. A senior Defense Ministry official said the Sunni militants used a shoulder-fired rocket launcher to shoot down the EC635 helicopter on the outskirts of the city.
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12/14/2014
Nothing beats hands-on training. Military pilots will no longer have to resort to theoretical exercises but will be honing their aviation skills in actual fighter jets, which their South Korean maker is expected to start delivering next year. Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots will not have to make do with “table-top exercises” anymore, said President Benigno Aquino III as he touted the advantages for the Philippines of acquiring 12 South Korean-made fighter jets during his just-concluded visit.
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12/14/2014
France has a good chance of winning export sales for the Dassault Rafale fighter, which is needed to balance the defense budget books, French air chief Gen. Denis Mercier said on Dec. 11. “I am fairly confident there will be a good story,” he told the defense journalists association, when asked about the export prospects for the twin-engine fighter. “This is a high-quality plane.”
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12/14/2014
The passenger plane nearly crashed into a foreign military aircraft after military air traffic control reported an "invisible" plane was circulating in the area. "It's about a Russian military jet. We have identified it via Swedish combat pilots. There are no doubts about what kind of government aircraft it was," Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told the TT news agency. He added; "This is serious. It's inappropriate. It's downright dangerous."
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12/14/2014
President Vladimir Putin may have come and gone but stalemate largely persists over two key long-pending India-Russian defence projects, the fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and military multirole transport aircraft (MTA). The intergovernmental agreements for co-development and co-production of FGFA and MTA were inked way back in 2007. But the two projects are yet to fly out of the doldrums, with India's concerns over technical, cost and delivery issues still to be addressed.
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12/13/2014
India is emerging as one of the most rapidly developing economies of the world. India needs to strengthen its air defence since it’s an utmost requirement in today’s competitive world. India has got hostile neighbours and has gone to war with them in the past.
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12/13/2014
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thrust for "Make in India", Russia on Friday said joint ventures and co-production was the way forward in all sectors, including defence, to achieve the target of $30 billion bilateral trade by 2025. Russia also said it was ready to engage with India for the modernisation of all defence equipment, including ships, submarines and aircraft.
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12/13/2014
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), today marked the delivery of its first engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) to Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman's APG-83 SABR was competitively selected by Lockheed Martin for the F-16 Radar Modernization program to support U.S. and Taiwan Air Force F-16 upgrade programs.
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12/13/2014
A top official with Russian contractor Sukhoi said Russia will supply “standard” versions of the Su-35 combat aircraft to China, a report said. Speaking with IHS Jane’s 360, Sukhoi first deputy director general Boris Bregma said that a “contract will be signed at the end of 2014 or at the beginning of 2015.”
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12/13/2014
So the Naval Diplomat went on National Public Radio out in Los Angeles yesterday — via phone, alas, not onsite — to discuss the “laser gun” mounted aboard USNS Ponce, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport-cum-afloat forward staging base (AFSB). Occasioning NPR’s interest: this week the navy leadership has certified the old amphib’s 30 kW laser weapon system (LaWS) for combat use. Even while it undergoes testing, LaWS will provide some defense against lower-end threats.
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12/13/2014
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey and Italy possess good opportunities to cooperate in the defense industry. Davutoglu and his Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, were speaking on Friday at the Turkey-Italia Business Forum in Istanbul, hosted by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey. Davutoglu said earlier that the two countries had cooperated on projects such as the ATAK series of helicopters – the first locally made Turkish attack helicopter.
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12/13/2014
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson says the Conservative government will ”have a look at” extending the six-month air combat mission against ISIS forces in Iraq. Nicholson made the comments in an interview with Global News as he was in the midst of a day-and-a-half visit to various locations in Kuwait, including Camp Patrice Vincent, the staging base for Canadian CF-18s, Aurora surveillance aircraft and a Polaris refuelling plane.
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12/13/2014
Norway has decided to suspend military cooperation with Russia till the end of next year, the country’s Ministry of Defense said Friday. “The Government has considered the issue again and decided to continue the suspension of all bilateral military activities until the end of 2015,” the ministry said in a statement published on its official website.
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12/12/2014
The US government has brought charges against a Chinese citizen who is alleged to have tried to smuggle critical information related to the F-35 fighter jet out of the United States and into China. Reuters reports the individual in question is an engineer named Yu Long, who worked on the design of the F-35's engine. The documents Long is charged with trying to smuggle pertained to the testing and equations used to engineer titanium that is used in the F-35 engine.
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12/12/2014
Canadian warplanes bombed an Islamic State militants’ checkpoint in northern Iraq this week, the federal government says. James Bezan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence, told the House of Commons on Thursday that CF-18s struck their target Wednesday. “Our CF-18s dropped one 500-pound bomb on an ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] vehicle checkpoint about 250 kilometres to the southwest of Mosul,” Mr. Bezan said.
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12/12/2014
The US military has taken another giant step into the world of Star Wars with the activation of a new laser weapon that it now considers operational and ready for action. The remarkable new laser weapon system, or LaWS, was demonstrated aboard the USS Ponce, operating in the Persian Gulf in tests conducted earlier this year. On December 10, the Navy released graphic videos showing the laser’s use against drones, setting them on fire and causing them to fall from the sky.
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12/12/2014
The Navy is trying to build a next-generation super-drone that it can launch from an aircraft carrier and refuel in mid-air. n the first quarter of 2015, the US Navy will pick a winner from among the four defense contractors asked to design a version of the aircraft.
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12/12/2014
The A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, central to the Idaho Air Guard’s mission at Gowen Field?in Boise, would be protected for a year in the omnibus spending bill that was headed to final passage in the House Thursday. The appropriations bill denies the Obama administration’s request to retire the A-10s, also known as Warthogs, and provides $337.1 million to keep them flying in 2015.
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12/12/2014
One of America's most potent air combat creations doesn't hang as a poster on adolescent boys' walls or gets featured in a Bruckheimer blockbuster. The humble yet game-changing Miniature Air Launched Decoy has had a quiet history and it is already operational in two iterations. Now, this radar stumping super-missile is becoming a 'networked' kamikaze smart drone.
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12/12/2014
IAF Chief Arup Raha today said the Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the October crash of a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft, that led to the grounding of the entire fleet for a month, will be completed in a fortnight, days after the Russian envoy indicated human error behind the incident. Refusing to comment on Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin's recent statement indicating human error behind the crash, the Air Force chief said he does not want to pre-empt anything.
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12/12/2014
Just when we thought Japan and China were finally warming up to each other, five Chinese military aircraft were reportedly observed flying menacingly close to the islands of Japan. Believed to be capable of posing a threat to Guam according to a military expert, the five military aircraft were spotted flying over the area between the islands of Okinawa and Miyako. Japan reported the incident that occurred in 6 December, according to Want China Times.
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12/12/2014
The Department of Defense has assigned F-35 Regional Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) capability for airframes and engines for the European Region. The assignments were based on data compiled and analyzed by the F-35 Joint Program Office that was collected from European Partners and their industries.
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12/12/2014
The Republic of Tunisia received its second C-130J Super Hercules during a ceremony today at the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility here. Tunisia received its first C-130J in April 2013, marking the first delivery of a J-model to an African nation. Lockheed Martin signed a contract in 2010 with Tunisia to deliver two C-130Js, as well as to provide training and an initial three years of logistics support.
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12/11/2014
The staff of retiring Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin offered assurances this week that the A-10 planes at Selfridge Air National Guard Base are safe from elimination for another year, despite worries by some lawmakers. Though the defense bill approved in the House last week allows for 36 of the A-10 Thunderbolts - about 10 percent of the U.S. fleet - to be placed on “backup status,” that does not mean the planes will be mothballed.
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12/11/2014
Two multibillion-dollar contracts for the team of Sikorsky Aircraft and Lockheed Martin were not forgotten in the omnibus spending bill unveiled this week. The $1 trillion bill, which totals 1,603 pages, includes $368 million for the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program and $100 million for the Combat Rescue Helicopter Program.
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12/11/2014
Congress is on track to approve a $1.014 trillion,1,603-page annual spending package that includes $512 billion in defense spending and $492 billion in non-defense spending. The sweeping legislation covers the entire discretionary budget of the federal government. It sets funding priorities and new policies for the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
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12/11/2014
A new report prepared for Ottawa on options for new fighter jets gives the government an excuse to avoid buying the F-35 if it chooses. Analysis undertaken by the Department of National Defence found that it’s “highly unlikely” Canada would find itself participating in first-strike conflict with other countries that have sophisticated air-defence systems – a scenario where the Lockheed Martin F-35’s vaunted stealth capabilities and other features might be most useful.
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12/11/2014
U.S. lawmakers late Tuesday unveiled a $1 trillion federal budget deal that includes a smaller pay raise and housing allowance for troops, but more funding for commissaries and weapons.
The massive spending bill, called the Omnibus Appropriations Act, would avert a government shutdown this week and fund most federal agencies for the rest of the year.
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12/11/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp's Skunk Works was the driving force behind development of many well-known U.S. military aircraft, including the famed "Blackbird" or SR-71 spy plane that could fly from New York to Los Angeles in just over an hour. Following are some facts about the Lockheed division, whose Skunk Works name is a registered trademark, and some of the weapons it has or is developing.
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12/11/2014
The US Navy successfully deployed and operated, for the first time, a cutting-edge ship-based laser weapon system aboard a naval vessel in the Persian Gulf that will enhance both surface, air and ground capabilities, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced.
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12/11/2014
The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to purchase up to 100 combat planes, over 120 helicopters, up to 30 naval vessels and some 600 armored vehicles annually in the next five years, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday. "By the end of the state rearmament program in 2021 the share of modern weaponry in the Armed Forces will be within the range of 70-100 percent," Gerasimov said at a meeting with foreign military attaches in Moscow.
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12/11/2014
The United States program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State (IS) in Syria will not begin until at least March of next year, the US special ambassador to fight IS told the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. “The program is to train 5000 [people] per year and the training, we hope, will start in March,” Brett McGurk said in response to a question, confirming that the soonest the forces could be sent to Syria would be March of 2016.
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12/10/2014
Cost will likely be the biggest design driver for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft when the service issues its draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for the program—which could be as early as Friday —according to industry sources. ndustry sources told USNI News that there are positive indications that the Navy has finally settled on specifications for the UCLASS.
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12/10/2014
A spending bill agreed by lawmakers from the U.S. House and Senate provides $554.2 billion in funding for the U.S. military in fiscal 2015, including $1.46 billion for 15 EA-18G electronic attack jets built by Boeing Co. A summary of the $1.1 trillion "omnibus" bill released late Tuesday said the base appropriation for the Pentagon would be $490.2 billion, with $64 billion in additional war funding.
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12/10/2014
India has spent over Rs 2,263 crore for the repair and maintenance of country's frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 since 2011, the government told Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Rs 834.76 crore was spent in 2013-14 while Rs 877.84 crore was spent for the purpose in 2012-13. The government had spent Rs 551.35 crore in 2011-12.
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12/10/2014
“What kind of navy do Americans want?” columnist George F. Will asked in an August Washington Post commentary. “The answer will determine whether U.S. power can, in [Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan] Greenert’s formulation, ‘be where it matters, when it matters.’”
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12/10/2014
Just as China-Japan relations had begun warming up, Japan reported on Dec. 6 that five Chinese military aircraft were observed flying over an area between Okinawa's main island of Okinawa and Miyako island. The five aircraft are believed to have been capable of posing a threat to Guam, according to a military expert.
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12/10/2014
After a more than decade-long involvement in Afghanistan, the air wings of multiple nations had expected some respite from years of combat activity by late 2014, as the NATO-led mission completes its transition of control to the authorities in Kabul. World events do not tend to follow such established military plans, however, and the end of the conflict with the Taliban has instead overlapped with a resurgence of violence and renewed coalition involvement in the Middle East.
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12/10/2014
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command mission in Afghanistan has officially ended, the US Department of Defense has announced. "As the Afghan National Security Forces have become increasingly capable, we shift our focus from combat operations to building [Afghan] systems and processes to ensure long-term sustainability," ISAF commander, Army Gen. John F. Campbell, said Monday as quoted by the US Department of Defense.
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12/10/2014
U.S. Air Force crews ferried two MC-130J Commando II aircraft assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command from the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Aeronautics facility located here, on Dec. 5. These aircraft will be operated by the 352nd Special Operations Group and will be based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall England.
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12/09/2014
The US Air Force’s air power superiority over China is rapidly diminishing in light of rapid Chinese modernization of fighter jets, cargo planes and stealth aircraft, according to a recently released Congressional review. The 2014 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommends that Congress appoint an outside panel of experts to assess the US-Chinese military balance and make recommendations regarding U.S. military plans and budgets, among other things.
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12/09/2014
The V-22 Osprey aircraft has been used by U.S. troops in combat situations for years, including the failed effort Saturday to rescue two hostages from militants in Yemen. But the Osprey has always been considered lightly armed compared to most other military helicopters, with a machine gun mounted to its rear door typically its only heavy weapon.
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12/09/2014
Qualifying the five most powerful air forces in the world is certainly a difficult and challenging proposition. There are large, well-trained and well-equipped air forces that are obvious candidates for such a list. Then there are less-obvious candidates—like Russia. The Russian Air Force, while plane-for-plane older than many air forces, has numbers, the ubiquity of the largest country by size on Earth, a modernization plan and nuclear weapons.
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12/08/2014
In this excerpt from The ISIS Solution: How Unconventional Thinking And Special Operations Can Eliminate Radical Islam, Army Ranger Jack Murphy, Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, and Recon Marine Peter Nealen, reveal the effective tactics ISIS exploits in ground warfare. ISIS has kept its field forces light. While it has captured plenty of Syrian and Iraqi armored vehicles in recent months (many of the Iraqi vehicles US-supplied), there have been few if any reports of them actually being used in frontline
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12/08/2014
The Federal Government last night ordered the detention of a Russian cargo plane impounded in Kano for conveying arms and combat helicopters. The cargo aircraft, which was carrying two attack helicopters and consignments of weapons, was seized yesterday morning at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) when it made a technical landing to refuel.
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12/08/2014
In 2008, Russian tanks crossed their southern border, invading and crushing the military forces of the tiny Republic of Georgia. Georgia's U.S. and European allies raised feeble objections to Russia's incursion - but little more. In fact, just two years after Russia's "short, victorious war" in Georgia, French defense contractor DCNS happily announced the signing of a $1.7 billion contract to sell the Russian Navy a pair of 16,500-ton Mistral-class amphibious warfare ships.
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12/08/2014
Libya’s Tobruk parliament is set to officially appoint Gen. Khalifa Haftar as commander-in-chief of Libya’s armed forces, a Libyan minister told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army group, only recently accepted the authority of premier Abdullah Al-Thani government, and had previously unilaterally announced the dissolution of the former Libyan government and the launch of “Operation Dignity."
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12/08/2014
Russian jets flying over the Baltic Sea dangerously close to the border of NATO ally Latvia were intercepted and run off by NATO fighter planes in three separate incidents reported by Latvia’s military Sunday. The encounters were just the latest in what has been a record number of confrontations in the skies between Russian and NATO aircraft this year.
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12/08/2014
A revamped version of Pakistan’s JF-17 jet fighter took centre stage at a defence exhibition in Karachi this week as the restive nuclear-armed state looks to boost its role as a military exporter on the world stage. Pakistan’s large, well-funded military has long been a major importer of defence equipment, particularly from key ally China.
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12/08/2014
Russian inspectors will conduct an observation flight over the United States under the Treaty on Open Skies, head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center has announced. "Within the framework of the international Treaty on Open Skies a group of Russian inspectors plans to conduct an observation flight on a Russian Tupolev Tu-154M-LK-1 observation aircraft over the territory of the United States," Sergei Ryzhkov said.
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12/08/2014
The Israeli Air Force have conducted several airstrikes on Syria's Damascus International Airport, targeting an arms depot, a source in Syrian army's Joint Staff told Sputnik on Sunday.
"The Israeli Air Force have conducted airstrikes on an arms depot, which caused huge blasts near the [Damascus] International Airport," the source said in a phone conversation.
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12/07/2014
Estonian military has observed a number of Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea in the international airspace, the general staff of Estonia’s defense forces said Saturday. “Today, a lot of Russian Air Force planes flying to [Russia's] Kaliningrad region have been observed in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The group of aircraft comprised of different planes, including strategic bombers,” the statement said.
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12/07/2014
The Navy’s infrared search and track (IRST) system received Milestone C acquisition approval Dec. 2, authorizing low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the sensor pod. Approved by Vice Admiral Paul Grosklags, Principal Military Deputy for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), LRIP authorization provides the Navy’s IRST program with the six pods needed to achieve future initial operational capability (IOC).
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12/07/2014
An entirely new level of activity is taking place right now with the US Navy’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter program — for the first time, Fire Scout will be at sea on at least four ships at the same time — and they’ll be different kinds of ships, and both aircraft variants will be active.
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12/07/2014
Canada has no plans to follow its neighbor the United States in expanding airstrikes against the Islamic State group into Syria, the country's top diplomat said Saturday during a visit to the Middle East. In an interview with The Associated Press, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada has a responsibility to contribute to the U.S.-led bombing campaign in part because the Islamic State group has attracted Canadian fighters to its ranks.
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12/07/2014
India and Russia signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for designing, developing and producing the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft. The announcement was made by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 5 December 2014 during the parliamentary session. Moreover, Indian Fighter aircraft MIG 21 is being phased out and aircrafts MIG 29 are being procured from Russia. With the fifth generation stealth technology, the aircraft strikes would be high as they cannot be immediately detected by radar.
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12/06/2014
The Pentagon’s 2016 budget proposal will focus investments heavily on pivoting the military to the Pacific and continuing security operations in the Middle East, according to defense officials and experts. That means continued investments in high-end weapons, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Air Force’s new Long-Range Strike Bomber.
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12/06/2014
For more than 30 years, the A-10 Thunderbolt II—better known as the Warthog because it’s so ugly—has performed a crucial role: attacking hostile targets that threaten troops on the ground, a task called close air support. The plane, designed for the Cold War, is old. It’s slow. And it’s about as sophisticated as a hammer. But it is heavily armored and wickedly armed, making it a ruthlessly effective weapon.
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12/06/2014
The requirement of aircraft is periodically reviewed to ensure that the operational requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are met. The IAF is in the process of inducting additional Su-30 MKI aircraft, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). These would augment the operational strength of the IAF. In order to enhance the air-lift and heli-lift capability of the IAF, cases regarding procurement of additional transport aircraft and helicopters are also being progressed.
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12/06/2014
As many as 20-30 indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which will replace the aging MIG fighters, will be commissioned soon, government informed the Lok Sabha today.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Programme, which has been running behind schedule. During Question Hour, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said "20-30" Tejas aircraft are to be commissioned soon.
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12/06/2014
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) confirmed on Friday that its combat aircraft which crashed in southern Somalia on Thursday after developing mechanical problems came down within Al-Shabaab territory who later set it on fire. KDF spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said the Al-Shabaab set the plane on fire and the fate of the pilot remains unknown. The aircraft crashed at 3:15 p.m. (1215 GMT) in Jamaame, Southern Somalia.
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12/06/2014
Speaking with university professors in Tehran,Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami stated that Iran is able to produce a pistonless engine for unmanned aerial vehicle without the use of UK or US technology.
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12/06/2014
A Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum trainer jet has crashed outside Moscow and both pilots survived, a military source told RIA Novosti on Thursday. “A MiG-29 jet fighter crashed near the settlement of Chemodurovo in the Voskresensky region. Both pilots have been hospitalized,” the source said.
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12/06/2014
China has performed the third test of its new Hypersonic Strike Vehicle (HGV), which is capable of traveling up to eight times the speed of sound and dodging the US anti-missile defense system; the test was monitored by US intelligence.
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12/05/2014
A look at some key points in the annual defense budget being considered by Congress: PAY RAISES — Troops will see a pay increase of 1 percent as proposed by the White House, instead of the 1.8 percent indexed to private-sector growth, and which some in Congress had hoped to preserve.
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12/05/2014
China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to a new report. The 2014 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress the US Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy they US military has already started.
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12/05/2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged faster development of advanced new military equipment to help build a strong army, state media reported, as the country steps up an ambitious modernisation plan that has rattled nerves across the region. Speaking at a two-day conference of the People's Liberation Army, Mr Xi said that military reforms should be "guided by the objective of building a strong army", the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Thursday.
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12/05/2014
The JF-17, a joint Sino-Pakistani fighter project, is a single engine fighter developed, conceptually, as a modern MiG-21. Given how global fighter fleets have deteriorated since the end of the Cold War, the idea seemed sound; a low-cost fighter that didn’t present major technical challenges, and that could serve as a cheap option for revitalizing many air forces.
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12/05/2014
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama says his government has set aside $300 million for the purchase of new combat, trainer and transport aircraft to support United Nations peacekeeping operations.
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12/05/2014
The Saab Gripen is quietly usurping fighter aircraft sales while competitors like the Lockheed F-35 face cuts in global sales orders. In October, Saab won a $5.4 billion contract for the development and production of 36 Gripen NG fighter for Brazil.
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12/05/2014
A Kenyan warplane crashed in southern Somalia on Thursday, with the Kenyan military saying the crash was due to technical problems while Somali rebels said they had shot it down with a missile. The aircraft, which had been on a combat mission, came down in the area of the southern port city of Kismayu, where Kenyan troops are deployed as part of an African Union peacekeeping force battling the Islamist rebel group al Shabaab.
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12/04/2014
A compromise defense spending plan for the current fiscal year "opens the door" for modernizing the Air Force's aging C-130s and is a "critical step forward" for the Delaware Air National Guard, members of the state's congressional delegation said Wednesday. The state Air Guard needs upgrades for its eight mid-1980s C-130s to meet a 2020 worldwide deadline to operate in the coming all-digital worldwide navigation environment.
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12/04/2014
The 45,400-tonne INS Vikramaditya, the largest Indian aircraft carrier procured from Russia at a cost of $2.3 million, is still to get a close-in weapon system (CIWS) and hence will not be fully operational. For the aircraft carrier that stands nearly 23-deck tall, CIWS is critical if the vessel has to be deployed in forward areas, said Navy sources.
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12/04/2014
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into Airbus Group NV for alleged corruption in multibillion-dollar border security projects in Saudi Arabia and Romania and raided the German premises of the aircraft maker as part of the probe. Munich state prosecutors searched the German premises of Airbus this fall as part of their investigations into alleged corruption and tax evasion by individuals, the Munich prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
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12/04/2014
A deal struck by Congress late Tuesday will save more than 20 A-10 planes at Selfridge Air National Guard base — despite a Pentagon plan to retire the planes. Under the deal announced Wednesday, the Pentagon couldn’t get rid of the planes but could reduce flying time for active duties — but not for the 21 planes at Selfridge in Harrison Township.
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12/04/2014
n late November Iran carried out a series of airstrikes close to its border with Iraq against ISIS. Although the airstrikes are already notable for signaling possible military coordination between Iran and the US, they become even more notable in light of Iran’s choice of aircraft.
Iran provided air support to the Iraqi military and the Kurdish Peshmerga with its ageing fleet of F-4 Phantoms. The Phantom, which first flew in 1958, was originally used by the US Navy as an interceptor.
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12/04/2014
he United States is investigating the F-16 fighter jet crash in the Middle East that killed a US citizen, a statement issued on Monday by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said. "First responders remain on the scene. The cause of the incident is under investigation," the release read. "It is the US military's policy to defer identification until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification."
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12/04/2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says it will take years to defeat the Islamic State militants, but that coalition airstrikes against the insurgents have made it "much harder" for them to launch new attacks. Kerry spoke Wednesday in Brussels, opening a meeting with foreign ministers from 60 coalition partners to discuss efforts to combat the militant group that took over large areas of northern and western Iraq and eastern Syria earlier this year.
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12/01/2014
The U.S. fifth-generation fighters F-22 and F-35 made a splash at the recent, biennial US-Japan Exercise known as "Keen Sword" in Japan. The mid-November exercise saw the participation of 11,000 U.S. personnel from the U.S. Forces, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, the U.S. Army Japan and Marine Expeditionary Forces.
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12/01/2014
Iran has signaled that it may take “direct action” if Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, fighters attack either Baghdad or Shiite holy shrines in Iraq. “Baghdad, the holy shrines and the shrines of Shiite imams are surely all among the Islamic Republic’s red lines,” said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, who heads joint affairs of the Iranian Armed Forces. “The Islamic Republic will take direct action [if they are attacked].”
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12/01/2014
A large association of battlefield target spotters has written to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to oppose the planned retirement of A-10 Warthog strike jets — a debate that now encompasses the “friendly fire” deaths of five American soldiers in Afghanistan.
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12/01/2014
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will be sending about 50 to 60 personnel to take part in the multinational coalition efforts to combat the terrorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said as he officially opened the new training facility for the republic's airborne troopers at Pasir Ris camp on Monday (Dec 1).
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12/01/2014
Afghan district police chief Ahmadullah Anwari only has enough grenades to hand out three to each checkpoint in an area of Helmand province swarming with Taliban insurgents who launch almost daily attacks on security forces. “Sometimes up to 200 Taliban attack our checkpoints and if there are no army reinforcements, we lose the fight,” said Anwari, in charge of one of Afghanistan’s most volatile districts, Sangin.
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12/01/2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will inaugurate the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2014 at Expo Center Karachi on Monday. The exhibition will showcase equipment including tanks, aircraft, APCs, ammunition, ship building and communications related equipment of 232 defence companies of the world, including 77 Pakistani firms.
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12/01/2014
With final negotiations over the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal for purchase of 126 Rafale fighter aircraft remaining inconclusive, the issue will figure prominently when French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian holds talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar on Monday.
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12/01/2014
The Pakistani military authorities are determined to acquire 30 to 40 fourth generation stealth fighter (FC-31) aircraft from China with a view to pre-empting the rapidly increasing aerial dominance of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the region.
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12/01/2014
Helping to secure the long-term suture of the base, the Defence Minister Philip Dunne said the deal will “cement the central role of Norfolk in military aviation.” South West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss welcomed the announcement, which comes after four years of campaigning alongside fellow MPs, local councillors, residents, businesses and the media to protect the base.
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12/01/2014
Tejas is India’s first indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). It is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the LCA programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's aging MiG-21 fighters.
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11/30/2014
These new pictures show the RAF's next-generation F-35B fighter, bristling with fearsome state-of-the-art weaponry.
However, the deadly-looking weapons are actually trial or 'dummy' ordnance, which are identical in fit and form to their lethal counterparts but incapable of causing damage.
A UK test team including personnel from BAE Systems, has successfully completed initial aircraft handling trials for ASRAAM and Paveway IV weapons on the F-35B Lightning II aircraft at Patuxent River Naval Ai
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11/29/2014
The British Royal Navy’s new full-size aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth could deploy for the first time around 2020. Her sister Prince of Wales should follow in 2022. But the vessels’ American-designed F-35B jump jets won’t be fully operational with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy until 2023. That’s a problem—one that the U.S. Marine Corps could help solve with its own F-35Bs, which could be ready for combat as early as July 2015.
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11/29/2014
The United States has shifted its air combat fleet assets to expand the war effort against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.
Officials said the U.S. military has been ordered to transfer aircraft and other resources from Afghanistan to the Middle East to bolster air strikes on ISIL in Iraq and Syria. They said the U.S. Air Force has been moving such assets as the A-10 ground-attack aircraft and Reaper combat unmanned aerial vehicle to bases in Kuwait.
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11/28/2014
In recent test series, US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II the combined test force configured to carry weapons load operated by the Royal Air Force completed initial aircraft handling trials carrying ASRAAM and Paveway IV weapons. The tests were carried out at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, MD in the USA by a test team including personnel from the UK BAE Systems.
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11/28/2014
Russia’s increasingly assertive – and some say militaristic – foreign policy hit a little closer to home recently. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Russian military would soon be conducting bomber patrols worldwide, including in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico – the United States’ proverbial backyard. “In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico,” said Shoi
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11/28/2014
Canadian military aircraft tasked with fighting the Islamic State in Iraq are spending most of their time on the ground. Canada is contributing six CF-18 fighter jets, two Aurora military surveillance aircraft and a Polaris refuelling plane to the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIL.
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11/28/2014
Russia is ahead of schedule in accomplishing the task to modernize 30 percent of its military hardware by 2016, a senior defense official said Thursday. "We have already surpassed this goal in general, although we still have the entire 2015 at our disposal," Anatoly Gulyaev, head of the Armaments Department at the Russian Defense Ministry, said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television.
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11/28/2014
India is not planning to cancel the deal on purchasing French Rafale jets despite earlier media reports that it would do so if France refuses to deliver Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, a high-ranking source in Indian Defense Ministry told Sputnik Thursday. "So far the Rafale deal with France is on, there is no problem in it," the source said.
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11/27/2014
In a concerted effort to avoid combat, U.S. advisers in Iraq are pioneering new techniques for calling in airstrikes against Islamic State militants. The procedures allow U.S. pilots to bomb targets without the need for U.S. advisers on the ground to work alongside Iraqi forces. U.S. military officials say the techniques include low-tech workarounds, such as Iraqi commanders using cellphones to request airstrikes.
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11/27/2014
As India draws closer and buys more military hardware from Israel, questions are raised about what that will mean to traditional key defense suppliers, the US and Russia, as well as New Delhi’s relations with Palestine. Global powers including France, the UK, Japan, the US and Israel have been keenly courting India – the world’s largest arms importer – in their quest to bag some lucrative deals as New Delhi begins an ambitious defense upgrade plan with an estimated budget of $100 billion.
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11/27/2014
With the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project for 126 Rafale fighters stuck in the final stages, French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will be holding talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar next week in a bid to resolve the imbroglio. As was first reported by TOI, 90% of the draft contract for the complex MMRCA project has been finalized, under which the first 18 jets are to be delivered to IAF within 36-48 months of the deal being inked.
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11/27/2014
NATO E-3 AWACS aircraft flew their last mission over Afghanistan in September 2014. Since 2001 American AWACS have been available in Afghanistan and still are. NATO AWACS arrived in northern Afghanistan in 2011 to mainly handle the growing number of NATO transports and warplanes operating up there. In three years these AWACs flew 1,273 operational (as opposed to training or administrative) sorties, average about ten hour each.
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11/27/2014
An attack aircraft that the Pentagon is trying to get rid of has been deployed to the Middle East to take on the Islamic State. A squadron-sized element of A-10 Thunderbolts arrived in the region during the week of Nov. 17-21, according to the Air Force. The aircraft were previously being used in Afghanistan.
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11/27/2014
New rules for the 9,800 U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan next year will let commanders order airstrikes or night raids on Taliban forces who pose a significant threat to the Afghan government, defense officials said. The rules came in an order recently signed by President Obama that clarified the authorities U.S. military commanders will have after the official end of the combat mission in December.
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11/27/2014
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency reported that the US State Department had approved the sale to Iraq of a transport aircraft package of total $800 million, which will allow the Iraqi air force to continue conducting humanitarian relief operations beyond 2015.
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11/27/2014
GoPro, an American corporation that develops, manufactures and markets high-definition personal cameras, popular with surfers and other sportsmen, is set to expand its business, Wall Street Journal reports on Wednesday. It will now develop its own line of consumer drones. The multi-rotor helicopters will carry high-definition cameras likely resembling those currently sold by GoPro, such as the GoPro Hero series.
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11/27/2014
14 fighter jets are scheduled to land in Crimea’s Belbek military air base, Capt. 1st Rank Vyacheslav Trukhachev, a spokesman for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, told RIA Novosti. The fighter jets are comprised of ten upgraded Su-27SM's and four Su-30's. All of them are fourth-generation fighter jets. Four of the aircraft deployed in Crimea are newly manufactured, according to Trukhachev.
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11/26/2014
Russia is ready to supply 'standard' versions of the Su-35 combat aircraft to China, Sukhoi first deputy director general Boris Bregman recently told IHS Jane's . "During talks we informed the Chinese side that we can supply a standard version of the Su-35 fighter, which has been fully completed, tested, and received Russian Air Force certification," he said on the sidelines of Airshow China 2014 in Zhuhai.
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11/26/2014
When pictures of Mariam Al Mansouri – the first female fighter pilot in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – traveled around the world in September, it symbolized the changing role of women in the Arab world and the collective fight against the Islamic state. But it also captured a new military phenomenon: after decades of strategic irrelevance, Arab air power is on the rise.
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11/26/2014
The Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA stealth fighter could prove to be a formidable competitor to American fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Indeed, in some measures, the new Russian warplane will exceed both U.S.-built jets, but the PAK-FA is not without its flaws.
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11/26/2014
Boeing delivered the sixth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India, on schedule, on Nov. 24, arriving at Naval Air Station Rajali to join five others being used by the Indian Navy. The P-8I is part of a contract of eight awarded in 2009. The final two deliveries are scheduled for 2015.
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11/26/2014
Boeing has made a redesigned photography and video website, www.BoeingImages.com, available for worldwide access. The website, which hosts nearly 15,000 photos and more than 100 videos, provides easier searching and licensing capability for commercial uses. But of these, more than 2,500 photographs are also now available for aviation enthusiasts to purchase as either prints or framed artwork.
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11/25/2014
Navy Vice Adm. Scott H. Swift was nominated Thursday to become the next commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Pentagon announced. Swift has been serving as director of the Navy Staff in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington for the past year. His appointment means that he is in line to receive his fourth star as a full admiral.
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11/25/2014
U.S. President Barack Obama has ousted his defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, in the wake of a growing perception that the fight against Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, is teetering and rudderless. Hagel's tenure lasted less than two years and has been defined by a lack of firm vision weakened by statements that often appear to conflict with those of Obama.
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11/25/2014
A total of 74% of the close to 2,000 simulators in the defence sector are made by five manufacturers. L-3 Link Simulation & Training, a division of L-3 Communications, leads the market with a 24% share of active simulators, according to Flightglobal's latest Military Simulator Census.
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11/25/2014
Which phrase do you prefer? Many hands make light work or too many cooks in the kitchen? It's a question that some members of NATO might be asking after the statements made by Domingo Ureña Raso, the executive vice president of military aircraft for European aerospace giant Airbus.
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11/25/2014
Don’t be swayed by exaggerated concerns that budgetary austerity on Capitol Hill will undermine U.S. defense firms. Every fiscal year, when the political Kabuki theater draws to a close, the Pentagon almost always gets its way in the last act. Regardless, torrid emerging market demand for sophisticated jet fighter aircraft made in the U.S. will more than make up for any procurement shortfalls.
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11/25/2014
High over northern Iraq, a crewman in an RAAF Super Hornet was viewing an Islamic State fighter on the aircraft's sophisticated night vision camera when the man suddenly vanished. He had disappeared into a well-concealed cave complex in the side of a hill. And that was the genesis of a major air raid by Australian and coalition aircraft, launched within 24-hours of the initial sighting.
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11/25/2014
Ahead of President Vladimir Putin's visit here early next month, India has told Russia to come back with a plan to substantially reduce the delivery timeframe for the stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) if it wants to seal the futuristic project by next year. The plan till now was that India would begin inducting the stealth fighters only 94 months — at the earliest — after the two countries inked the final design and R&D contract.
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11/25/2014
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed for its first four operational Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft as part of the Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP 8) production lot, it was announced on 21 November. The order marks an initial buy from the MoD's Main Gate 4 acquisition approval process for 14 jets to equip the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) 617 Squadron, which is scheduled to stand-up as the UK's first operational F-35B unit in 2016.
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11/25/2014
Since the CIA first used a drone in a targeted killing in 2002, the United States has conducted 500 targeted drone strikes, killing an estimated 3,674 people, including 473 civilians, the Atlantic reported. Drone attacks have become one of the symbols of post 9/11 counter-terrorist strategies.
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11/24/2014
France's Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA) declined comment on Monday on a media report that said France could soon sell at least two dozen Rafale combat jets to Qatar. Europe 1 radio reported France was in "very advanced negotiations" to sell a tranche of at least 24 of the Dassault-built fighters to the Gulf state, which has been seeking a total of 72 warplanes to renew and expand its fleet of French Mirage 2000 jets.
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11/24/2014
The Marine Corps' most unique aircraft is going to get a bigger punch. A Marine Corps planning document shows that officials want to arm the MV-22B Osprey with more weapons so the aircraft can support the service's new crisis response forces that carry out missions like embassy evacuations. An "enhanced weapon systems is in early development to increase all-axis, stand-off, and precision capabilities," according to the service's recently-released 10-year aviation plan.
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11/24/2014
Competition for Seoul’s project to procure four aerial tankers is heating up as contenders highlight the ways they can help enhance South Korea’s air defense with several months to go until the announcement of the winner. Currently three competitors ? Boeing’s KC-46, Airbus’ A330 MRTT and Israel Aerospace Industries’ B767 MMTT ?
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11/24/2014
When Textron AirLand first announced the Scorpion—a lightweight surveillance and strike aircraft—last year, it raised a few eyebrows. Now the American company is talking about the first two potential customers for the diminutive jet. Namely, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
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11/24/2014
As Tyler Rogoway predicted since the very first blurry images of J-31 hit the internet, China's youngest stealth project was meant for export as much as for PLAAF use. Pakistan is now said to be beyond the initial discussion phase for buying the stealth jet. This comes during a time of increasing tension with India, whose air combat capabilities have ballooned over the last decade.
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11/24/2014
Defence minister Philip Dunne said the deal will “cement the central role of Norfolk in military aviation.” RAF Marham will play a key role in maintaining the new UK fleet, with the planes expected to be in the service for 30 years. Last month it was announced that an agreement in principle had been reached for the four F-35B aircraft. Today’s announcement confirms the official order.
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11/23/2014
Russia’s increased military presence in the Baltic Sea area, including its air force, has prompted some officials to compare it to the Cold War. Here’s a summary of the most serious incidents reported across the region.
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11/23/2014
With procurement funds steadily shrinking, requirements are markedly informed by budgetary constraints rather than mandated by capability considerations. Consequently, innovative and cost-efficient solutions are increasingly sought and valued. This is particularly true for counterinsurgency operations in low-contested environments in which the enemy possesses only negligible air-defense assets.
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11/23/2014
Outside Nato’s headquarters in Brussels, the national flags of 28 member states fly in a proud circle. Even after decades of defence cuts, these countries still account for 58 per cent of global military spending, giving Nato more firepower than any other alliance on Earth. Yet, if Nato is a giant, it has often seemed a sleeping one — at least since the Cold War ended in a bloodless victory more than two decades ago.
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11/23/2014
China appears to be flexing its considerable military muscle, building a massive island that could host an airstrip in an area of the South China Sea that has become a source of regional tension over disputed territorial claims. IHS Jane’s said satellite imagery it obtained showed that in the past three months Chinese dredges have created a land mass that is almost the entire length of Fiery Cross Reef in the contested Spratly Islands.
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11/23/2014
More than 900 people have been killed by US-led airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militant group in two months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday. "SOHR documented the death of 910 people since the U.S led coalition started its strikes on Syria in 23/Sep until last night. Including: 52 civilians (8 children, 5 women), killed by coalition air strikes on oil fields and refineries in al-Hasakah and Der-Ezzor countrysides, al-Raqqa, Around Menbej northeast of Aleppo,
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11/22/2014
Two Russian strategic bombers circled the U.S. island of Guam last week in what U.S. defense officials say is the latest in a series of nuclear provocations by Moscow. The bombers were identified by air defenses as Tu-95 Bear H nuclear-capable aircraft that circumnavigated the strategic U.S. military outpost on Friday—amid heightened tensions with Moscow regarding a new buildup of Russian forces in and along the border of eastern Ukraine.
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11/22/2014
Since she was a young girl, Carey D. Lohrenz had set her sights on becoming a U.S. Navy pilot. Getting there wasn't easy, but she did, making history as the first woman assigned to fly an F-14 Tomcat fighter. On Thursday, Lohrenz spoke at the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors fall seminar at the Hershey Lodge in Derry Township, where she shared her experiences as well as the lessons she learned during her career as a Navy fighter pilot.
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11/22/2014
Japan has officially decided to procure the V-22 Osprey for its military tilt-rotor requirement, as well as the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance system and E-2D Hawkeye command and control aircraft. The choice of the Osprey, while widely expected ever since the country laid out a requirement for 17 such aircraft in its National Defense Program Guidelines, released in April, may have political ramifications for the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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11/22/2014
President Obama has signed a secret order authorizing an expanded combat role for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2015, according to a report from the New York Times. The order, which was signed in the last few weeks, will allow U.S. forces to carry out combat missions against Taliban fighters who pose a threat to American military personnel or Afghanistan's government. It also allows American fighter jets, bomber aircraft and drones to be deployed in support of Afghan troops on combat missions.
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11/22/2014
Mainland China's ongoing military modernization has continued to shift Taiwan-China military balance in Beijing's favor despite warming cross-strait relations, a U.S. congressional commission report said Thursday. Despite the recent cross-strait rapprochement, “the core sovereignty and security issues between Taiwan and China remain unresolved,” according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's (USCC) annual report to the U.S. Congress.
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11/22/2014
I’ve had a number of references on Defence Watch to the CF-18 modernization, which the Conservative government says will keep the fighter aircraft flying until 2025. But a knowledgeable Defence Watch reader and former fighter pilot points out that the upgrade was never intended to expand the actual flying life (ELE) of the CF- 18. It will add various upgrades to the cockpit but it has nothing to extend the actual flying state of the plane. That instead will be done through increased maintenance
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11/22/2014
In less than three months, Nigeria’s military has lost three aircraft around Yola, northeastern part of the country in its war with Boko Haram. The first casualty was the disappearance of an Alpha Jet, with two missing crew members on September 12; followed by two helicopter accidents this month (November) alone. This high rate of accidents can be attributed to either of the two persistent, contributory factors in our military aviation: poorly trained pilots or poor aircraft maintenance.
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11/22/2014
“The Indian Air Force (IAF) today, with a dedicated service to the nation, is a modern technology-intensive force distinguished by its commitment to excellence and professionalism. Keeping pace with the demands of contemporary advancements, the IAF continues to modernise in a phased manner and today it stands as a credible air power counted amongst the fore-most professional services in the world.”
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11/22/2014
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russian program of testing new types of weapons is in accordance with international obligations and Russia is not starting arms race.
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11/21/2014
As the system integrator, the contract will represent an order value of £365 million to BAE Systems. This will give Eurofighter Typhoon one of the most advanced radar systems in the world providing a wider field of regard than any other combat aircraft. Other benefits include increased detection and tracking ranges, advanced air-to-surface capability and enhanced electronic protection measures.
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11/21/2014
The Navy is beginning to work on a a next-generation carrier-launched fighter jet to replace the existing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Growler aircraft by 2030 and supplement the F-35C the Pentagon is still developing, service officials said. The Navy effort, called the F/A-XX program, includes early work on the desired technological capabilities for the new aircraft. The idea is to have a new aircraft ready and producible by the time existing F/A-18s reach their end-of-service dates.
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11/21/2014
India is likely to go in for 106 more Swiss Pilatus PC-7 basic trainer aircraft (BTA), the bulk of which will be produced domestically, to help train rookie IAF pilots in a project worth around Rs 7,000 crore. This comes after defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics' attempt to develop its own BTA called HTT-40 failed to pass muster with the defence ministry.
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11/21/2014
Admit it. You don’t know where Chad is. You know it’s in Africa, of course. But beyond that? Maybe with a map of the continent and by some process of elimination you could come close. But you’d probably pick Sudan or maybe the Central African Republic. Here’s a tip. In the future, choose that vast, arid swath of land just below Libya.
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11/21/2014
Airbus Group NV on Thursday said the French government has agreed to place an order for 12 military airborne-refueling aircraft.
Including related support services, the deal is valued at about €3 billion ($3.76 billion), the French government said. France is scheduled to get first of the planes in 2018, a second a year later and the rest at a rate of two a year, the Toulouse-based company said.
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11/21/2014
The Army will inactivate the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade this year, officials announced Thursday. The 159th CAB is the first of three aviation brigades expected to be cut as part of a five-year aviation restructuring initiative. The other two have not been announced. The 159th, which recently returned from Afghanistan, is one of two combat aviation brigades in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
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11/21/2014
A new viral video appears to depict a Ukrainian soldier hurling a small drone aircraft into the air, providing a glimpse into how Kiev’s soldiers are using low-grade military technology against Russian-backed separatists. The footage has gone viral after being posted to YouTube on Monday and appears to show the drone under gunfire after it takes off. It isn’t clear what kind of aircraft it is, but the video shows the drone buzzing over fields riddled with craters and what looks like an airfield.
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11/21/2014
Wildlife is not the only thing that enjoys the vast empty expanses of America's northern-most state. There is so much room to train over Alaska's fully outfitted air combat ranges that there is really no other place in the world quite like it for military aircrews and weapons and tactics testers to push their hardware and skills to the limit.
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11/21/2014
NATO allies are concerned over France’s possible delivery of Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday at a press conference at a military air base close to Tallinn. Russia and France signed the €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) deal for the two Mistral-class ships in June 2011.
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11/20/2014
The Islamic State terrorist army, in its rapid arms buildup, is now searching for foreign technicians who can come to Syria and Iraq and show its fighters how to use and maintain their weapons.
A U.S. military officer familiar with the Islamic State said that the Sunni extremist group is sending word through the arms trade’s secretive black market that it needs outside advisers — and is willing to pay.
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11/20/2014
Allied jets in Iraq Wednesday targeted a complex of bunkers and tunnels that was uncovered by chance in an earlier U.S. strike. The bunkers were found when Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham jihadists were seen withdrawing to the area, between the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk and ISIS-held Mosul, during a concerted attack by Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi government forces.
(Read More...)
11/20/2014
An MP today called for a revamp of Malaysia’s defence policy to meet new threats, especially those coming from the South China Sea. “The Defence Ministry must implement a 50:50 deployment ratio between the Peninsula and Sabah/Sarawak and a 35:35:30 split in resources among the Army, the Navy and the Air Force,” Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong told the Dewan Rakyat today.
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11/20/2014
Despite attempts by the Air Force to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed for its toughness and one of the military’s most beloved airplanes, a scrappy band of lawmakers has put up a fight that has started to yield some results. But if the A-10 survives, the Air Force warns, the already delayed introduction of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could face another setback.
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11/20/2014
What does it feel like to push a button, launch a surface-to-air missile, and blow a B-52 bomber out of the sky? Ask Nguyen Van Phiet. As a young North Vietnamese military officer, his SA-2 rockets were credited with downing four of the giant Boeing Stratofortresses during U.S. raids on and around Hanoi in December 1972.
(Read More...)
11/20/2014
Burma’s largest ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), has denied reports that it recently acquired a “large number” of Chinese-manufactured anti-aircraft weapons. A Nov. 18 report by Jane’s Defence Weekly stated that the UWSA had come into possession of the third-generation FN-6 shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile launchers.
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11/20/2014
France is soon to send more combat aircraft to join those already fighting ISIL in northern Iraq, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday. Defence sources said Le Drian indicated during parliamentary question time that six Mirage fighter-bombers would be deployed to reinforce French air operations against ISIL which are currently being assured by nine Rafale combat aircraft based in the UAE.
(Read More...)
11/20/2014
According to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Russian Federation is continuing to amass forces at the border. These forces include radar stations and Mig-31 Foxhound combat planes, which are interceptors capable of a maximum speed of Mach 2.83. An unspecified amount of Mig-31s based at Perm have been deployed to Millerovo airfield, in the Rostov region, close to the border with Ukraine.
(Read More...)
11/20/2014
A military intelligence unit has arrived in Lithuania from Denmark to take part in joint exercises, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry has announced. "In order to strengthen deterrence in the Baltic region, in accordance with an agreement of NATO countries, military personnel from Denmark arrived in Lithuania on November 19. About 140 of the Danish military servicemen from an intelligence unit will take part in joint exercises with Lithuanian ground force military units," the ministry said.
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11/19/2014
Pakistan continues to proceed with improvements to its JF-17 Thunder jet fighter program, but the recent Zhuhai air show also revealed possible longer term ambitions to acquire stealth aircraft, namely the Shenyang FC-31. According to Pakistan officials at Zhuhai, progress is being made to improve the JF-17’s avionics and software, and to fix a probe.
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11/19/2014
Nigeria's air force has expressed an interest in acquiring the Textron AirLand Scorpion strike and surveillance aircraft in order to counter the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the country. The service currently operates both dedicated strike and surveillance types – the Chengdu F-7Ni and ATR 42, respectively – but believes that a low-cost aircraft with a dual capability would enable quicker and more precise counter-insurgency operations.
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11/19/2014
India has a vast landscape and to protect its territory Indian Air Force has inducted Sukhoi-30 MKI as the premiere fighter airplane. It is a stealth aircraft which can deceive the enemy’s radar and can hit the accurate target even in the enemy’s area and can return back successfully. The fighter aircraft was originally inducted from Russia.
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11/19/2014
The Office of the Secretary of Defense awarded the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) team the 2014 Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements in providing operational support to warfighters. The team received the subsystem PBL award, which is one of three PBL awards presented annually to government/industry teams.
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11/19/2014
Military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and China are becoming increasingly important as the international situation is becoming more complex, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday. "Unfortunately, the situation in this [Asia-Pacific] region, in North Africa and elsewhere in the world generally becomes more and more difficult each year.
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11/19/2014
A senior US arms control official announced that the NATO ballistic missile defense system is aimed at defending US allies against a limited number of ballistic missile strikes from rogue groups or states such as Iran and North Korea and not targeted at Russia.
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11/18/2014
The United States has approved additional military sales to Iraq despite devastating failures by the Iraqi military this summer which resulted in the surrender to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant of U.S. origin military platforms. The State Department has endorsed two Iraqi military requests from the United States as it struggles to recover territory lost to ISIL. Officials said the requests, which amount to nearly $700 million, would include air weapons as well as spare parts.
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11/18/2014
The U.S. Air Force deployed four F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, to Eglin Air Force Base, earlier this month for the unit's first operational integration training mission with the F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing here. The purpose of the training was to improve integrated employment of fifth-generation assets and tactics. The training allowed both units to gain operational familiarization and capture lessons learned to improve future exercises.
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11/18/2014
When the littoral combat ship Fort Worth left San Diego Bay on Monday, it marked a new chapter in drone use by the Navy. The ship’s 16-month deployment to Asian waters is the first to send manned and unmanned helicopters out to work together. The Fort Worth carried one MQ-8B Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter engineered in San Diego by Northrop Grumman.
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11/18/2014
The Aviaindra-2014 Russian and Indian joint drills have started at the Halwara air base in northwest India, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Igor Klimov told the reporters on Monday. "The drills' scenario comprises joint day and night flying with the engagement of ground targets by Russian-Indian crews on Sukhoi Su-30MKI (Flanker-H) fighters, and Mil Mi-35 (Hind-E) and Mil Mi-17 (Hip) helicopters," the official said.
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11/17/2014
With newly war-tested batteries of drone-killing Patriots, air defenders of Israel Air Force (IAF) Wing 168 are earning equal footing with F-16s in guarding the skies against new and growing unmanned threats. The Wing’s Patriot force forms the ground-based node of Israel’s extensively integrated air defense network — historically junior partner to IAF fighters in their joint intercept mission against air-breathing threats.
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11/17/2014
Boeing will train Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army helicopter pilots for the next 25 years through a $A600 million contract that broadens the company’s partnership with Australia’s armed forces. For the JP 9000 Phase 7-Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) effort, Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) teamed with Thales to develop a low-risk solution around the Airbus EC135, one of the world’s most proven helicopters.
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11/17/2014
PR agency Viva has been appointed by Eurofighter GMBH – management company for the Typhoon combat aircraft – to work on its new in-house magazine. Viva is working with the organisation’s communications team in Munich to produce a series of features for the new quarterly, Eurofighter World, which focuses on the Typhoon aircraft.
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11/17/2014
A leaked US document has raised new questions about Canada’s involvement in the F-35 program and given critics of the fighter jet as well as opposition members of Parliament new ammunition to accuse the Canadian government of misleading the public about the proposed acquisition. An Oct. 27 briefing by US Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Office director, outlined how Canada intends to initially purchase four F-35s.
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11/17/2014
America loves technology. As a nation, our cultural predilection for technical ingenuity has created the conditions for economic prosperity, scientific discovery, and military superiority. However, the worldwide proliferation of American free market ideas and liberalism (not to mention technology) has led to the emergence of an increasingly competitive global innovation landscape.
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11/16/2014
Less than three days after a military helicopter on surveillance mission crashed in Damare, a suburb of Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa state, another chopper believed to belong to the Nigerian Air Force has gone down around the same area.
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11/16/2014
Russia is placing civilian flights at risk by dispatching jet fighters and bombers into European airspace without following safety procedures, according to Nato’s secretary general. Jens Stoltenberg told the Telegraph that Nato fighters had intercepted Russian military aircraft over 100 times so far this year, compared with 30 such incidents in 2013.
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11/16/2014
Outside Nato’s headquarters in Brussels, the national flags of 28 member states fly in a proud circle. Even after decades of defence cuts, these countries still account for 58 per cent of global military spending, giving Nato more firepower than any other alliance on Earth.
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11/16/2014
The U.S. Air Force went to war in Afghanistan in 2001 badly unprepared for fighting fleet-footed Taliban insurgents who blend in with the rough terrain. In particular, the Air Force’s jet fighters—designed and equipped for supersonic combat against Soviet planes—lacked sensors capable of scanning the ground below for small bands of enemy fighters.
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11/16/2014
For more than a decade, India shopped around the world for more than $1 billion worth of helicopters to replace about 200 of its military’s aging light-utility aircraft. But in August, the new nationalist government surprised many when it abruptly scrapped the request for global bids to buy the helicopters in favor of manufacturing them in India instead.
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11/16/2014
When China’s stealthy, twin-engine J-31 took to the skies over Airshow China in Zhuhai last week, the skies were cloudy, but the message the country wanted to send was clear. Beijing not only plans to sell a new fighter — it also wants to sell itself on the world stage. “I think the public unveiling of J-31 certainly shows the Chinese military is now more confident and transparent,” said Wang Dong, director of the School of International Studies, Center for Northeast Asian Strategic Studies.
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11/15/2014
China showed off its new J-31 stealth fighter at Airshow China in the city of Zhuhai to an audience of potential foreign buyers. It seems like everything is made in China nowadays, but the U.S. has still kept one piece of manufacturing, weapons, especially high-tech ones. China aims to change that, as the J-31 gets ready to compete with Lockheed Martin’s F-35.
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11/15/2014
Friday marked the final landing for the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler. Squadron VAQ-134 landed back at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island before noon, after flying cross country from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush. The squadron, also known as the "Garudas," completed 104 combat missions over Afghanistan and was called upon to support operations against ISIS, flying another 109 combat missions according to the Navy.
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11/15/2014
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was not alone when it crashed last July, according to new radar data released by a Russian air safety consultancy. Referring to readings taken by a radar station located in Rostove, near the Ukranian border, CEO of Aviation Safety consultancy Sergey Melnichenko told Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets that there were one or two planes in the air close to the Boeing 777 aircraft when it crashed in eastern Ukraine.
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11/15/2014
The Airbus Group warned Friday that the costs associated with a much-delayed military transport plane could increase after the European aerospace giant failed to meet a deadline for equipping the aircraft with combat capabilities. Airbus said the latest production snag involving the A400M Atlas cargo plane — which cost 20 billion euros, or $25 billion, to develop — risked adding to the €4 billion in added expenses that the group has already absorbed since 2006.
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11/15/2014
The US Department of Defense is concerned over Russia's increasing military presence near the gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. "Well, the very aggressive Russian behavior over the last few months is a concern," Hagel said Friday at the Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, as stated on the department's official website.
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11/14/2014
An unidentified Middle Eastern country is in “advanced” talks to make the first foreign purchase of a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China. The joint sales team from the Pakistan Air Force and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation also known as CATIC, are in advanced talks with 10 other countries to sell the JF-17 Thunder, said PAF Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood, who heads sales and marketing for the fighter jet.
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11/14/2014
An Algerian Air Force MiG-25 'Foxbat' combat aircraft crashed during a training exercise on 11 November, national media reported. The single-seat Soviet-era fighter came down near a live-fire range at Hassi Bahbah in the north of the country, the Algerian Press Service reported the National Defence Ministry as saying. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered shortly after.
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11/14/2014
The carrier variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft has completed more than 100 catapult launches and arrested landings during its first two weeks of sea trials, pilots and officials told reporters aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) on 13 November. The two C-model test aircraft on board Nimitz , CF-03 and CF-05, have already satisfied 95% of the threshold requirements for the first of three rounds of sea-based Development Testing I (DT-I), according to US Navy.
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11/14/2014
A group of F-15 fighter jets flew over eastern and southeastern Massachusetts today as part of a planned training and media mission, officials said. The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard had planned to fly five of its F-15 Eagle fighter jets from its Westfield base to Hanscom Air Force Base, where the flyover was scheduled begin at about 8:10 a.m., said Lieutenant Colonel James Sahady, spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.
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11/14/2014
Two weeks into Canada’s six-month mission in Iraq, the Canadian Forces is having a hard time finding Islamic State targets to destroy. Col. Daniel Constable, the mission’s commander in Kuwait, acknowledged the problem Thursday as he provided more details about a Canadian airstrike Tuesday that destroyed an ISIL artillery piece and killed an unknown number of militants.
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11/14/2014
India's frontline combat aircraft Sukhoi-30 fleet, which was grounded after a crash near Pune, will be back in air "within a week's time", said Air Force Chief Arup Raha today. He also said that the findings of a Court of Inquiry into the crash are being finalised. This is the longest period that the Russian-made aircraft has been grounded since 2009 when its operation was suspended for nearly three weeks following an accident.
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11/14/2014
The Indian Air Force on Friday expressed hope that the multi-billion contract for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) would be inked "sooner than later", saying the project is "very important" for it to replace some of the obsolete fleet under its command. "MMRCA deal is very important for which which we have been stating right from the beginning. Everybody knows, government knows, the public knows (that it is) to replace some of our obsolete fleet which have served the nation well.
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11/14/2014
The U.S. Navy received its 200th submarine-hunting MH-60R “Romeo” helicopter from Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] following a patch signing with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven-Two (HSM-72). The cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s anti-surface and anti-submarine operations, MH-60R helicopters have flown more than 250,000 hours in operation with the Fleet, providing increased surveillance and situational awareness.
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11/14/2014
Two US Air Force F-16 fighter jets are scheduled to start military drills in Estonian airspace Thursday, the country's Defense Forces announced. For two days, the American fighters and Estonian air traffic controllers will conduct flights in Harju County in the northern part of the county, according to a statement published Wednesday on the website of the Estonian Defense Forces.
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11/14/2014
A detachment of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) will be introduced in Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Area, the country's Eastern Military District (EMD) representative Alexander Gordeev told journalists Thursday. "The detachment will be stationed at one of the airfields near the city of Anadyr," Gordeev said. It is planned that airfield-based UAVs and mobile systems will make up part of the detachment's service. Only contract servicemen will be operating the drones.
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11/13/2014
Russian troops and heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft systems, have streamed across the border into Ukraine in recent days, U.S. Defense Department and military officials confirmed Wednesday to NBC News. The exact number of Russian troops and vehicles now operating within eastern Ukraine remains unclear.
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11/13/2014
Sweden recently announced another export customer for its JAS 39E Gripen jet fighter. This time it was Brazil, which ordered 36 aircraft. This is the largest export order so far. Most of the other five export customers received only 14 aircraft, and often on lease, not purchase. Brazil is buying the Gripens for $150 million each (including spares, training and support). The Brazil sale might still be cancelled, but that appears unlikely.
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11/13/2014
A deadly Indian naval accident last week underscored the nation’s need for the upkeep of military hardware, a requirement that’s seen stoking opportunities for private companies following an easing of defense rules. A little-publicized change in June scrapped a rule that forced private companies to obtain permits before seeking military maintenance work.
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11/13/2014
Russia's long-range bombers will conduct regular patrol missions from the Arctic Ocean to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, the military said Wednesday, a show of muscle reflecting tensions with the West over Ukraine. A statement from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu came as NATO's chief commander accused Moscow of sending new troops and tanks into Ukraine — a claim quickly rejected by Russia.
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11/13/2014
The Pentagon's most famous mad scientists have started asking around to see if anyone has any bright ideas about how to launch and recover drones from other aircraft in flight. The recent announcement by DARPA — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — has resulted in a little cascade of nerdgasms shivering across the internet, particularly by those who are just a little too into The Avengers because of the movie's ginormous flying-ship-helicopter-base-carrier thing.
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11/13/2014
A group of F-15 fighter jets will be flying over eastern and southeastern Massachusetts on Thursday as part of a planned training and media mission, officials said. The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard will fly five of its F-15 Eagle fighter jets from its Westfield base to Hanscom Air Force Base, where the flyover will begin at about 8:10 a.m., said Lieutenant Colonel James Sahady, spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.
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11/13/2014
As of 1500 (Eastern Standard Time) 11 November 2014, Canada’s Air Task Force-Iraq conducted 62 sorties, according to the Canadian Forces. CF-188 Hornet fighters conducted 42 sorties, CC-150T Polaris aerial refueller conducted nine sorties, delivering some 418,000 pounds of fuel to coalition aircraft; and CP-140 Aurora aircraft conducted 11 reconnaissance missions.
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11/13/2014
The US Department of Defense signed a $306 million contract to continue logistics and sustainment services for the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance unmanned aircraft, defense contractor Northrop Grumman has said.
"The new agreement continues an existing contract for Global Hawk maintenance, inventory management, parts procurement and other tasks necessary to ensure the availability of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system.
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11/13/2014
Russia's decision to refuse supply of S-300 (SA-10 Grumble) surface-to-air missile defense systems to Iran was made under pressure from Western countries, Iranian ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei stated Wednesday. "Attempts of Russia or Iran to enter into relations with the West have always had a bad impact on our Russian-Iranian relations. An example of this is the situation with the supply of the S-300s and the imposition of sanctions," Sanaei said at Russia's Civic Chamber session.
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11/13/2014
The press service of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense stated that it was “a Mi-24 helicopter belonging to the Republic of Armenia’s armed forces,” and that it “made an attempt to attack Azerbaijani positions.” According to a statement issued by the ministry, the helicopter was shot down in the vicinity of the village of Chemengly in the Agdam district of Azerbaijan, and crashed in territory controlled by Azerbaijani forces. Azerbaijani forces were deployed to secure the crash site.
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11/12/2014
The White House's new $5.6 billion request for additional funding to fight the military advances of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria contains specific provisions that begin to detail the scope of the missions launched so far and how expensive it will be to station US ground troops in Iraq in the coming months.
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11/12/2014
Aviator morale plummeted in 2012 when it became evident that the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighters were choking their pilots. The stealth fliers’ moods got so bad that the flying branch assigned a psychologist to help with “allaying pilot concerns.” That’s one surprising revelation in Air Combat Command’s official history for 2012, a heavily-redacted copy of which War Is Boring obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
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11/12/2014
A pair of Norwegian F-16s intercepted a Russian flight of mighty Su-34 'Fullback' fighter bombers off the coast of Denmark this week. It is said that this was the first time that Norway, which shares a border with Russia and is active in surveying their military drills, has intercepted the greatly enhanced deep strike optimized variant of the Su-27 Flanker.
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11/12/2014
Argentina’s Defense Minister Agustin Rossi announced on Oct. 21 that his government would purchase 24 Saab Gripen E fighters. So far, so good for Saab. But as my colleague Andrew Chuter at Defense News pointed out, Rossi’s announcement seemed to ignore a likely insurmountable hurdle to the sale: Britain, its longtime foe, has a near veto on the export of the combat jet as a result of the substantial number of UK systems in the jet.
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11/12/2014
The largest submarine hunt in Swedish waters since the end of the Cold War. A near collision between a Russian military plane and a Swedish passenger aircraft carrying 132 people. And the abduction of an Estonian official from the territory of the NATO member, only days after U.S. President Barack Obama visited the Baltic nation.
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11/12/2014
The Russian aviation industry in 2007 was largely concentrated on military aircraft, with 15% civil aircraft for 85% military. With this in mind the state United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) consortium, which incorporates all Russian aircraft manufacturers, set a goal to reverse this ratio by 2025 : that of building two-thirds of civilian aircraft to one third military aircraft.
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11/12/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] received a $40.3 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for follow-on production of Paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) kits. The contract represents the majority share of fiscal year 2014 funding and the eighth award under the five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. Deliveries will begin in June 2015 and will include computer control groups and airfoil groups for GBU-10 and GBU-12 bombs.
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11/12/2014
NATO is set to continue its military pressure on Russia and has held numerous exercises on Russia's border, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official said Tuesday. "It is evident that our colleagues from NATO are set to continue military pressure on Russia, which… is unlikely to make Europe safer," Sergei Koshelyev, the head of the Defense Ministry's department for international military cooperation, told journalists.
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11/12/2014
Gill Rosenberg, a Canadian-born 31-year-old woman who had emigrated to Israel, made contact with YPG, the People’s Protection Units in Syrian Kurdistan, via the internet. In 2009 Rosenberg was arrested in a joint Israeli police and FBI operation on suspicion that she had been part of a criminal racket that cheated elderly American citizens out of their money by posing as lottery officials and convincing the unsuspecting seniors to pay for fictitious services, according to the Israeli news.
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11/11/2014
The final version of the two-seater trainer jet Tejas (PV-6) made its maiden flight today, in a milestone for India's overall indigenous Light Combat Aircraft programme. The aircraft took to the skies at 13.36 PM and was piloted by Group Captain Vivart Singh along with Group Captain Anoop Kabadwal.
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11/11/2014
The Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar recently received the first two of 24 Pilatus PC-21 basic flight training aircraft. In 2012 Qatar joined its neighbors (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) by adopting the PC-21. Qatar is in the midst of expanding its combat air force from nine Mirage 2000 fighters to as many as 72 modern jet fighters.
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11/11/2014
The first U.S. troops to enter an active combat zone since President Barack Obama ordered the American military back to Iraq arrived Monday in Anbar, the Iraqi province where Americans suffered their heaviest losses during the 2003-2011 occupation, the Pentagon announced Monday. The force of 50 troops has been tasked with determining how to send more American advisers and trainers to the restive province to prepare Iraqi forces to combat the Islamic State.
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11/11/2014
Amid the whine of high-performance jet engines at the start of an air show in Zhuhai, the Chinese government is hoping to generate a different sort of buzz: admiration, and perhaps purchases, of its shadowy J-31 stealth fighter, which is expected to make its first public appearance. For almost 20 years, the event, Airshow China, has been a showcase for the country’s homegrown hardware, and a marketplace for those interested in selling to the world’s most populous country.
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11/11/2014
An exportable Chinese fifth-generation fighter jet will be equipped with gas-turbine jet engines developed and assembled by Russian companies, confirmed the head of Russian delegation at the Airshow China exhibition. The mid-sized advanced J-31 fighter jet developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation got off the ground for the first time on October 31, 2012, and has been in the process of modification ever since.
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11/11/2014
The U.K. Ministry of Defense, in collaboration with the Armaments Procurement Agency of the French Ministry of Defense, has allocated $190 million to the following companies to continue design studies for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS): Dassault Aviation, BAE Systems, Thales, Selex ES and Rolls-Royce Snecma.
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11/11/2014
The Russian Knights aerobatic team has qualified to perform on Tuesday at Airshow China 2014, Russian Air Force representative, colonel Igor Klimov said. “The Knights carried out a qualifying flight in Zhuhai and examined the region of upcoming flights. The training took 30 minutes; they flew in groups of five, four, and in a pair and also rehearsed individual aerobatics under both normal and adverse weather conditions.
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11/11/2014
he Russian military have started drills at the Kamhud alpine training facility in Armenia that should see personnel learning to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the Southern Military District press service reported Monday. "During theory classes commanding officers will study new methods of training the staff in a mountainous area.
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11/11/2014
Iran has successfully tested an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the American RQ-170 drone downed on Iranian territory in 2011, the aerospace division head of the country's Revolutionary Guard Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency Monday.
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11/10/2014
More than three months into the American-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria, commanders are challenged by spotty intelligence, poor weather and an Iraqi Army that is only now starting to go on the offensive against the Islamic State, meaning that warplanes are mostly limited to hitting pop-up targets of opportunity.
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11/10/2014
The UK carried out its first drone attack on Islamic State militants in Iraq over the weekend, the Ministry of Defence has said. An RAF Reaper drone was involved in coalition missions near Baiji, the site of Iraq's largest oil refinery. The MoD said the drone "successfully attacked" militants who were laying improvised explosive devices.
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11/10/2014
The U.S. Air Force doesn’t say much about its radar-evading RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone—the batwing robot that news photographers first spotted at an airfield in Afghanistan in 2007. But a close reading of the scant info the flying branch has made public helps us fill in the gaps. We can assert that the Sentinel is a regular visitor to the sprawling Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, from where the flying branch and the Navy keep a close eye on China and North Korea.
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11/10/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the investigation of the MH17 crash site is stalling due to constant shelling of the rebel-controlled area in eastern Ukraine by Ukrainian government forces. Mr Putin told Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that rebels were not hindering access to the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash, in which 298 people died in July when the aircraft came down in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
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11/10/2014
A mustasched metallurgical engineer with a penchant for straight talk and untucked shirts has just been made responsible for about Rs240,000 crore ($40 billion) of defence purchases that India’s armed forces urgently need. As India’s new defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, 58, will have to fast-track some of the biggest defence deals that India, the world’s largest arms importer, has even undertaken.
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11/10/2014
Indonesian and South Korean defence ministries have signed an agreement to continue the joint development of the Korean Fighter Experimental, Indonesian Fighter Experimental - Ed (KFX / IFX) aircraft. Equipped with 4.5th generation technology, KFX / IFX would be a multi-role combat aircraft featuring more advanced capabilities than the Lockheed Martin-built F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.
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11/10/2014
RD-93 engines made in Russia will power the Chinese J-31 fifth generation fighters, Sergei Kornev said; he has also mentioned that there is a solution to the problem of China making copycat copies of Russian weapons. A Russian-made RD-93 engine will power the Chinese J-31 fifth generation fighter, Rosoboronexport official told RIA Novosti Monday.
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11/09/2014
As pundits, analysts and the blogosophere attempt to predict all the ways in which the midterm elections have changed the political landscape in Washington, it doesn't take a political scientist to realize that the A-10 Warthog's future now looks much brighter than it did on November 3rd.
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11/09/2014
Argentina’s Defense Minister Agustin Rossi surprised just about everybody when he announced on Oct. 21 that his government intended to buy 24 Saab Gripen E fighters to re-equip his nation’s ancient Air Force. But Rossi’s request appeared to ignore a likely insurmountable hurdle to the sale: Britain, its longtime foe, has a near veto on the export of the combat jet as a result of the substantial number of UK systems in the jet.
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11/09/2014
Night after night for the past six weeks, U.S. fighter jets have streaked into the muggy sky from this vast desert airfield, their afterburners spewing orange flames as they head north on bombing runs over Iraq and Syria. The American presence at Al-Dhafra, which the Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged, is a vital part of the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State militants: The base’s twin runways have launched more strike aircraft — including the Air Force’s most-sophisticated warplane.
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11/09/2014
An Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter plane dropped three fuel tanks on outskirts of Gwalior city on Saturday during an in-flight emergency. MiG-21 fleet's upgraded Bison variant was on a training mission at Gwalior airbase when the pilot was forced to jettison the tanks. They were dropped 5 km from the base runway and landed on a field 500m away from a residential locality, said sources.
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11/09/2014
Despite their dramatic topic, military museums used to be dry stuffy collections, mainly appealing to soldiers and scholars. But the galleries have grown up, capturing the interest of young visitors with theme-park thrills and dynamic displays, says Dr. Charles H. Cureton, chief of the museums division at the Center of Military History in Fort McNair in Washington.
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11/09/2014
The final version of the two-seater (trainer) version of Tejas (PV-6) made its maiden flight today, in a milestone for India's overall indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Programme. The aircraft took to the skies at 13.36 PM and was piloted by Group Captain Vivart Singh along with Group Captain Anoop Kabadwal. This is the 16th Tejas variant to have flown as part of the project that has been in the pipeline for over two decades.
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11/09/2014
The US-led airstrikes have targeted a group of Islamic State (IS) leaders, smashing a convoy of 10 trucks, Sky News reported Saturday. According to the broadcaster, the airstrikes targeted the IS leaders when the latter were having a meeting in a house in al-Qaim, which is on the Iraqi-Syrian border. The broadcaster did not, however, specify whether the number one IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among the targeted leaders or not.
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11/08/2014
One of the consequences of the Republican win in this week's midterm elections is that the A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, a warplane that had been on the chopping block due to budget cuts but is popular with U.S. troops, will probably survive for a few more years. That's because the plane has powerful friends among the Senate's new Republican majority. But that creates a battle for resources with the Air Force's newest, and most expensive project, the Lockheed Martin F-35.
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11/08/2014
In back-channel dealings, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has been secretly seeking early delivery of four F-35 deep-strike warplanes as part of a firm commitment to buy more while officially maintaining it is abiding by an open and transparent evaluation of Canada’s combat aircraft needs.
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11/08/2014
Different model helicopters for combat search-and-rescue and light attack missions have been handed over to Indonesia's military by Airbus Helicopters. The aircraft are the EC725 Caracal and Fennec family of helicopters. The EC725 is a long-range tactical transport with a cruise speed of 177 miles per hour and a range of 533 miles.
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11/08/2014
Two West Ada County neighborhoods, the Idaho National Guard and officials throughout the state were rocked by the deaths of two Guard pilots whose Apache helicopter crashed south of Gowen Field Thursday night. Stien P. Gearhart, 50, of Meridian and Jon L. Hartway, 43, of Kuna, both chief warrant officers with the Idaho Army National Guard, crashed during a night training mission. But no information was available Friday about the details of that mission or what caused the Apache to go down.
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11/08/2014
Ukraine said Russia is expanding its military presence in rebel-held areas as pro-Russian fighters attacked Ukrainian forces with artillery after as many as 200 separatists were killed. “The war is not over yet,” Igor Plotniskiy, the newly-elected head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said in video statement televised and posted on the LPR website. The LPR wants “maximal integration with Russia,” he said.
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11/08/2014
All three service branches of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and the United States military forces have begun major joint exercises Keen Sword in Japan, the country's Defense Ministry said Saturday. According to the Ministry, the drills with more than 40,000 participants – 30,700 Japanese and 10,000 US - 25 warships and 260 aircraft, will last until November 19th.
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11/08/2014
The United States is going to deploy 1,500 additional troops to Iraq as part of the country’s mission to combat the Islamic State (IS) militant group, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby announced in a statement on Friday. “The commander in chief has authorized Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to deploy to Iraq up to 1,500 additional US personnel over the coming months, in a non-combat role, to expand our advise and assist mission and initiate a comprehensive training effort.
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11/08/2014
Egypt is interested in enhancing its cooperation with Russia and plans to purchase modern Russian-made military equipment, the country's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nabil Fahmy told Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency Friday. "We deeply respect Russia and value our cooperation. Yes, we have agreed on developing our military cooperation as well and it is already developing.
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11/07/2014
NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents that have grown in frequency during the conflict in Ukraine. F-16s based in the Baltic region intercepted a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane, Latvia’s army said today on its Twitter account. The encounter took place near Latvia’s territorial waters, it said. Ukraine’s military said Russia’s airforce had put some of its units on high alert.
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11/07/2014
Korea has urged Bangladesh to purchase training and combat aircraft and high-tech defence hardware from the country. Korean First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Cho Taeyong made the call at the second Bangladesh-South Korea Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in Seoul on Wednesday. Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque led the Bangladesh delegation at the FOC.
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11/07/2014
Israeli ministers are lining up against the purchase of a second squadron of advanced F-35 stealth fighters from the United States, saying the $3 billion needed for the deal could be put to better use. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told a government meeting Wednesday that the money for the highly-touted deal should instead be spent developing Israel’s drone force and buying more relatively inexpensive rockets that can be launched from the air, sea, or land, Israeli daily Haaretz repo
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11/07/2014
The top U.S. military commander in the fight against ISIS said airstrikes are working to erode the terror group's capabilities and warned militants that the U.S. military is listening to them. Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who heads the U.S. Central Command, made those remarks at an event Thursday with the Atlantic Council, which was moderated by CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper.
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11/07/2014
Raytheon has begun flight tests of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) programme, the company announced on 5 November. Raytheon plans to conduct live-fire test flights "early next year", company spokesman John Patterson told IHS Jane's on 6 November.
Raytheon is the systems integrator for PCAS and is working under a USD25.5 million contract for the programme's third phase, according to a company statement.
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11/07/2014
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) recently refuelled US Navy (USN) combat aircraft for the first time using its Airbus Defence and Space (DS) Voyager KC.3 tanker-transport aircraft, it was announced on 6 November. The tanking, which was carried out under the terms of a special operational clearance, saw the Voyager pass fuel to USN Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler combat aircraft on 18 October in support of operations over Iraq.
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11/07/2014
The Coast Guard and Air Force were searching the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Fla., on Thursday afternoon for an F-16 Falcon fighter jet that presumably crashed. The jet was assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluations Group at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, the Air Force said. The Air Force said it lost contact with the pilot about 9:15 a.m. Only one person was on board, the Coast Guard said.
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11/07/2014
President Barack Obama's administration is trying to open channels of communication with Iran regarding the war on ISIS.
Amid revelations that Obama sent a letter to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month pointing out the countries' shared interest in beating ISIS, a senior U.S. official and a Western diplomat tell CNN that Washington has gone through the Iraqis to communicate with Iran.
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11/07/2014
The recent US airstrikes launched in northwestern Syria were not targeted against the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorist group, Gen. Lloyd Austin from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said. "We [CENTCOM] did conduct a number of strikes and the strikes were focused on the Khorasan [extremist] group," Gen. Austin said Thursday at an Atlantic Council event.
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11/06/2014
China is set to debut its new Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter at the Zhuihai international airshow next week. Although the fighter's exact specifications are unknown, it could be a match for the F-22 and the F-35, Dave Majumdar writes for USNI News citing several US military officials and pilots. This sense of the capabilities of the J-31 are largely based on the successes China has had in industrial espionage against US targets.
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11/06/2014
With the expansion of air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, into Syria in September, President Barack Obama exposed himself to a new round of criticism from armchair commanders at home and abroad. It is time for the Obama administration to clarify the Syria component of its strategy to combat ISIS.
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11/06/2014
Gliding over mountain tops and maneuvering through deep valleys, Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 honed their tactical navigation skills and Assault Landing Zone techniques at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., Oct. 23. Tactical navigation training simulates a combat environment where ground threats cause pilots to maneuver aircraft through disparate terrain to conceal their location and evade threats.
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11/06/2014
The UK is to step up its operation in Iraq three years after the last combat troops left the country, the Defence Secretary has announced. Michael Fallon said the move was necessary to challenge the growing threat posed by Islamic State terrorists. He stressed that the move would not involve putting troops on the ground. Instead, military personnel will take part in a "limited" training mission for local security forces.
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11/06/2014
TatukGIS customer Battlespace Simulations (BSI) is increasingly successful licensing its flagship Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE) to the U.S. Armed Forces for simulated combat training and mission rehearsal. MACE provides computer generated forces (CGF), sometimes referred to as semi-automated forces (SAF), and threat generation for distributed simulation environments, Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training capability, Electronic Warfare (EW) simulation capability.
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11/06/2014
Literally for decades—since well before the 1991 Iraq war—the U.S. Air Force has been trying to get rid of the A-10 Warthog close air support aircraft. The A-10’s spectacular performance in four wars in Iraq—twice—plus Kosovo and Afghanistan has frustrated these efforts. In those conflicts, the A-10 outperformed all other U.S. aircraft in killing tanks and other vehicles and supporting infantry engaged in combat-at both very short—“danger close”—and longer ranges.
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11/06/2014
Cooperation between France and the UK is seen as the optimum way to progress a UCAS (Unmanned Combat Air System) solution, whilst supporting both governments’ intentions for closer defence ties. The joint study contract of €150m/£120m is to be supplemented with additional French and UK national funding to the combined value of €100m/£80m in the same period.
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11/06/2014
There has been a "negative development" in the security situation in Norway, and terrorists could attempt to carry out an attack in the country within the next 12 months, the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) said Wednesday. "Within the next 12 months it is likely that there could be threats or attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Norway.
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11/06/2014
Russia has secured $7.7 billion in arms contracts with foreign customers since the beginning of 2014, the country's President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. "As a result, the foreign orders portfolio shows a steady trend at around $50 billion," Putin said at a meeting on Russia's military-technical cooperation.
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11/05/2014
NATO member Poland said Tuesday it will acquire combat drones as part of a multi-billion-euro revamp of its armed forces amid heightened tensions with Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. “We will use these drones to defend our territory,” Deputy Defence Minister Czeslaw Mroczek told AFP.
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11/05/2014
The Ministry of Defence is gambling an awful lot on the stealth characteristics of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (“Britain orders more F-35s as part of biggest-ever defence project”). It is clear from the initial order of just four operational airframes that the RAF and Fleet Air Arm will struggle to afford to field these exorbitantly priced aircraft in anything other than token numbers.
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11/05/2014
Discovery Air Defence Services Inc. has begun the deployment of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk aircraft to Germany ahead of a five-year training contract that is set to begin in early 2015, the company announced on 29 October. The subsidiary of Canadian specialist aviation company Discovery Air has started the transfer of seven upgraded A-4N aircraft to Wittmund in northern Germany.
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11/05/2014
As China continues its rise to superpower stature, Beijing is trying to rapidly increase its firepower. China’s attempts to seriously upgrade its military — with next-generation fighter jets, ballistic missiles, and advanced naval vessels — is partly aimed at keeping pace with the US. The two are in a veritable arms race in east Asia. The US engaged in a “pivot to Asia,” focusing military and diplomatic attention on an increasingly important part of the world.
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11/05/2014
A team of experts from Russia has arrived in Pune to investigate the recent accident involving the Sukhoi 30 MKI aircraft at Theur village on October 14. Regular sorties of the fighter plane have been suspended due to the ongoing inquiry. The Russians will carry out a technical evaluation of Sukhoi-30 fighter planes, the entire fleet of which has been grounded for over two weeks following the crash of this frontline combat aircraft of Russian make at Theur, about 30 km from Pune.
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11/05/2014
Bombs dropped from Australian Super Hornet combat aircraft in Iraq have hit 14 targets, 11 of which were destroyed, defence officials have said. The Australian Defence Force provided the figures on Wednesday for operations conducted since the government gave the go-ahead for RAAF strikes against Islamic State (Isis) militants in early October.
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11/05/2014
Foreign air forces ordering the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be able to customize the mission data packages loaded onto their aircraft in a compromise that defense officials say both preserves U.S. security and allows allies a greater degree of customization of their fighters. Loading specific mission data packages onto the stealth fighter had been a bone of contention amongst the partner nations helping to develop the F-35.
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11/04/2014
The growing influence of Islamic State militants poses a threat to Russia's security, and there is a possibility that these extremists are supported by Western security services, retired Lt. Gen. Nikolai Pushkarev, formerly of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) told RIA Novosti.
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11/04/2014
A Russian Northern Fleet nuclear submarine on Wednesday fired a test intercontinental missile from the Barents Sea to the country's far eastern Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. "Within the frameworks of testing the reliability of marine strategic nuclear forces, the Tula [nuclear submarine] launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea to the Kura Range [in Kamchatka]," the statement says.
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11/04/2014
The top commander overseeing the international military effort in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. John Campbell, is assessing whether more coalition troops should stay in the country to train Afghan troops for longer than would be allowed under the Obama administration's current plans for a complete withdrawal in 2016.
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11/04/2014
The last time I was in the United States, I had the honor of receiving the only gold medal I’m likely to get my hands on these days. It came from the Association of Old Crows, an electronic warfare and information operations advocacy group founded in the U.S. in 1964. As the first British recipient, the medal was both a recognition of the United Kingdom’s role in electronic warfare and a symbol of the deep cooperation between American and British personnel in a field.
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11/04/2014
The top U.S. general in Europe wants to increase U.S. rotational forces in Eastern Europe and stockpile more military equipment across the continent in response to continued agressive moves by the Russian military. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove spoke to reporters at the Pentagon on Monday after a spate of tense confrontations involving Russian military aircraft flying in unusually large formations in the airspace of America’s European allies.
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11/04/2014
The US Department of Defense (DoD) plans to choose and announce European and Asia-Pacific locations for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities for the F-35 the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter airframe and engine, the DoD's programme manager for the stealthy combat aircraft programme said on 30 October.
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11/04/2014
The team of 10 experts is currently in Pune, the Sukhoi-30 base, probing the crash that took place on October 14 near there with both the pilot seats ejecting without any command during landing. The pilots were safe but the aircraft crashed about 20 kms short of the runway. The fleet was grounded a week later. The Russian experts along with IAF personnel and officials from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited besides others are conducting a complete evaluation of the fleet of about 200.
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11/04/2014
At 17.17-17.20, the Boeing 777 was in Ukrainian airspace near the city of Donetsk at the height of 10100 m. An unidentified combat aircraft (presumably a Su-25 or MiG -29), which was a tier below, on a collision course, in the cloud layer, sharply gained altitude and suddenly appeared out of the clouds in front of the civilian aircraft and opened fire on the cockpit, firing from a 30 mm caliber cannon or smaller.
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11/04/2014
Tensions between Russia and the West have been steadily growing over the past few months, as there has been a sharp uptick in Russian bombers and fighters flying missions over Europe. This increase in activity has taken place against the backdrop of a frozen conflict in Ukraine, which has already pitted Russia and the West against each other.
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11/04/2014
The US Navy’s most expensive plane, the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, has finally made its first ever recorded landing on an aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz in San Diego, the military has announced. Cmdr. Tony Wilson, a 43-year-old Navy test pilot, made the first landing. “The aircraft handled phenomenally. I couldn’t make it go off the glide slope, it was that smooth of a jet,” Wilson told reporters assembled on the Nimitz.
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11/04/2014
The international coalition against Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization has carried out 14 airstrikes on IS positions in Syria and Iraq in the last two days, the US Central Command said Monday. "US and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria Sunday and today using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct five airstrikes.
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11/03/2014
Singapore will join 33 other nations in a multinational coalition to combat the Islamic State terror group, country's Defence Minister said today. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has previously participated in multinational coalition efforts against religious extremists who pose a terrorist threat to the country and its citizens, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said .
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11/03/2014
Sweden hopes Saab’s $5.4 billion Gripen-E deal with Brazil can open a dialogue with Finland, which is on course to replace its F/A-18 Hornets in the next 10 years. Finland could engage in a further upgrade of its Hornets, but in reality there is “no other option” beyond acquiring a new combat jet type, said Finnish Defense Minister Carl Haglund.
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11/03/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet is slated to begin two weeks of developmental testing on board the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, marking another key milestone for the Pentagon's biggest weapons program. Weather permitting, the first of two F-35 C-model jets slated for the testing is due to arrive on the carrier on Monday. That will mark the first time the new warplane will land on a carrier using a tailhook that had be redesigned after initial problems engaging the cable.
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11/03/2014
The CEO of the Eurofighter Typhoon consortium on Monday said he is confident of winning a new export order for the combat plane to avoid having to reduce production. The consortium, founded in 1986, has only sold the Typhoon to Austria, Saudi Arabia and Oman, outside of the consortium's home markets of Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain. The United Arab Emirates last year decided against placing a 6 billion pound ($9.60 billion) order.
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11/03/2014
South Korea dropped a plan to send an aerobatics team to an air show in China less than two weeks before the event, after Washington raised concerns about exposing key U.S. fighter-jet technology. The South Korean air force’s Black Eagles team, which consists of eight T-50 light combat aircraft, was scheduled to be a main attraction at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, the country’s main aviation trade show, in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai.
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11/03/2014
Canadian CF-18 fighters jets have dropped laser-guided bombs over Iraq for the first time as part of the ongoing combat mission against ISIS, the Department of National Defence confirmed Sunday. Two CF-18s targeted ISIS positions with laser-guided GBU-12, 500-pound bombs "in the vicinity of Fallujah," a large city in central Iraq about 70 kilometres west of the capital Baghdad, according to a statement released by Minister of National Defence Rob Nicholson.
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11/03/2014
China has successfully developed a laser defense system that can shoot down small-scale low flying drones within a two kilometer radius in five seconds, Xinhua news reported. The laser system with its precision, speed and low noise can shoot down drones at an altitude of 500 meters and a speed of 50 meters per second (180 kilometers per hour or 112 miles per hour), the news agency reported on Sunday evening citing a statement published by the China Academy of Engineering Physics.
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11/02/2014
NATO jets in the Baltic countries intercepted two Russian military aircraft today as the alliance said Russian air activity has surged on its borders.
F-16 jets from NATO’s Baltic air policing mission intercepted a Russian Su-27 fighter and Eurofighter aircraft later shadowed an IL-76 military transport plane, Latvia’s army said on its Twitter account. It reported interceptions of seven Russian jets yesterday and on Oct. 28.
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11/02/2014
The RAF has intercepted Russian military aircraft as they neared UK airspace for the second time this week, the Ministry of Defence has said. The Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft – also known as a Bear bomber – flying in international airspace was intercepted by Typhoon fighters from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland on Friday and escorted through British skies. A spokeswoman said the Russian aircraft had been picked up by the RAF control and reporting centre at Boulmer, Northumberland.
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11/02/2014
Iraqi Peshmerga forces have started combat operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Kobane, less than twenty four hours after arriving in the besieged Syrian town.
Peshmerga fighters in Kobane, a town near the Turkish border that has become a focal point in the battle against the armed group, fired at least six rockets from pick-up trucks at ISIL positions on Saturday.
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11/02/2014
The United States has acknowledged that Islamic State of Iraq and Levant deployed surface-to-air missiles. The Defense Department has determined that ISIL achieved limited air defense capability. Officials said ISIL acquired the weapons from Iraqi or Syrian arsenals.
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11/02/2014
President Obama’s refusal to consider committing U.S. ground forces to the fight against the Islamic State, or ISIS, has revived a debate about the effectiveness of airpower that is as old as military aviation itself. The question involves the degree to which airpower alone can win wars. In response to the horrors of trench warfare in World War I, airpower theorists such as Italy’s Giulio Douhet and America’s Billy Mitchell conceived the idea of bombing targets in the enemy’s heartland.
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11/02/2014
China's mysterious fifth-generation J-31 stealth fighter jet, set to make its debut later this month, could form a lethal tandem with the country's existing J-15 carrier-based fighter aircraft, says a Chinese military expert. The J-31, also known as "Gyrfalcon," or Falcon Hawk by some military enthusiasts, is a twin-engine, mid-size fifth-generation jet fighter currently under development by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
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11/02/2014
The U.S. is concerned Chinese jets may engage in further risky intercepts of its military aircraft, even after starting talks aimed at avoiding such encounters, the new commander of U.S. air forces in the Pacific said. A Chinese fighter jet flew within 20 feet of a U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft flying at more than 400 miles an hour near Hainan Island -- China’s gateway to the contested South China Sea -- on Aug. 19, an encounter that the Pentagon described as “unsafe and unprofessional.”
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11/02/2014
North Korea has deployed a new submarine, capable of carrying ballistic missiles, another step forward in the nuclear weapon development. Sources in the government of South Korea have said that the North “imported a Soviet-era Golf-class diesel submarine and modified it”, according to a Yonhap News report. Subs of this series are also known as ‘Project 629’. They are powered with a hybrid diesel-electric engine and are able to carry ballistic missiles and/or Scud missiless.
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11/01/2014
At 09:20 am (Moscow time), this silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A few minutes later, the dummy nuclear warhead hits its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far eastern corner, the Ministry of Defense reports. The Ministry adds that the Topol-M missile has an “extremely high accuracy of target destruction.”
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11/01/2014
Argentina has expressed interest in buying 24 Gripen E fighters from Brazil, which has just inked a licensing deal with Sweden permitting the South American country to manufacture its own copies of Saab’s new single-engine fighter. “Our willingness to cooperate with Argentina, our neighbor and ally, is total,” Brazilian defense minister Celso Amorim said.
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11/01/2014
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has praised the deployment of South Korea’s FA-50 aircrafts on Thursday, while ordering the country’s military to remain at full readiness, Yonhap News Agency reported. “Now, our security situation is very grave”, Park said in a ceremony, marking the deployment of the fighter jets, as quoted by Yonhap News.
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11/01/2014
A second pair of CF-18 Hornet fighter jets returned Friday from a combat mission over Iraq with a full bomb payload because cloud cover had obscured Islamic State positions. For the same reason the first two Canadian combat aircraft – which launched from an airfield in Kuwait on Thursday along with a Canadian Aurora CP-140 spy plane and a CC-150 air-to-air refueling tanker – also did not drop their munitions during a six-hour mission over territory held by Islamic State.
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11/01/2014
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby during a press briefing on Friday stated that Russian Air Force planes pose a risk to civil aviation. “Well, we certainly don't see this - these increased flights and activity as helpful to the security situation in Europe. Clearly, they - they pose the potential risk of escalation.
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11/01/2014
One pilot died and another one was seriously injured in the suborbital spaceplane SpaceShipTwo crash on Friday in Mojave Desert, California, CNN reported. “One person died and another was seriously injured as a result of Friday's incident involving Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo,“ California Highway Patrol Officer Jesse Borne said, as quoted by CNN.
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10/31/2014
In a single 24-hour period this week, Russia dispatched 19 combat aircraft — including “Bear” strategic bombers — to probe North Atlantic Treaty Organization air defenses. It also test-launched a ballistic missile in the Barents Sea, north of Sweden, that hit a target in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East.
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10/31/2014
The US Air Force's (USAF's) goal to make its new fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft operationally deployable in August 2016 has been imperilled by lawmakers' efforts to halt the service's plan to retire its Cold War-era Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt close air support (CAS) aircraft fleet, the Pentagon's F-35 programme manager said on 30 October.
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10/31/2014
Canadian warplanes have begun flying combat missions over Iraq although no bombs have yet been dropped. CF-18 fighters and Canada’s surveillance spy planes and a refuelling tanker have all flown sorties over Iraq starting Thursday, sources say. The fighters also flew a second combat mission Friday morning. Bad weather thwarted the CF-18s’s ability to launch air strikes Thursday as their laser-guided munitions were frustrated by the clouds.
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10/31/2014
This week, Russian aircraft have probed NATO defenses to a degree unseen since the Cold War. Fighter aircraft from eight NATO members were reportedly scrambled to intercept more than two dozen aircraft just on Tuesday and Wednesday. As the Wall Street Journal report details, the intercepts of Russian aircraft have occurred more than one hundred times this year, which is about three times the number of intercepts conducted last year.
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10/31/2014
UK today said the Europe-backed Eurofighter could hold negotiations with India for the supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) if the talks for the multi-billion dollar deal with French major Dassault Aviation do not make progress. Making it clear that his country respects the "position the Indian government has adopted", visiting UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said.
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10/31/2014
A US military expert believes North Korea has the ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads for its medium-range missiles, however Pyongyang does not appear to have technical capacity to conduct tests, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday. “My analysis is that North Korea could probably miniaturize a warhead that should fit for a Rodong missile,” director of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Mark Fitzpatrick told Yonhap News.
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10/31/2014
Kabul has not asked for more Russian Mi-17 helicopters, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan Chris Belcher told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) has announced on Thursday that the deal between the United States and Russia for the Mi-17 helicopters was completed on October 29.
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10/30/2014
The “friendly fire” airstrike that killed five American soldiers in Afghanistan on June 9 is the first known case of a battlefield catastrophe that can be linked to automatic defense spending cuts that greatly curtailed prewar training. A review of the worst American fratricide in the long Afghanistan war also shows that the military’s official investigation faults a Green Beret commander.
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10/30/2014
Welcome back to history, mariners of the world! Your post-Cold War holiday from history is drawing to a close—if it hasn’t expired already. Last week’s imbroglio between the Swedish Navy and an apparent Russian submarine in the Stockholm archipelago was only the most recent reminder of certain verities about combat at sea.
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10/30/2014
Most political observers would agree that Barack Obama’s presidential election victory in 2008 was the product of an unprecedented alignment of factors, from his use of technology and social media, to the economy going into free fall under the Republican administration in autumn of that year.
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10/30/2014
Brazil's decision to buy the Swedish JAS-39E/F Gripen (or Gripen NG) has opened a tantalising possibility for India's defence ministry (MoD), which is frustrated after 33 months of negotiations with French company, Dassault on the proposed purchase of 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
On Monday, Swedish defence giant, Saab, which builds the Gripen, announced Brazil had signed a contract for 36 Gripen NG fighters for $5.475 billion.
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10/30/2014
The Air Force says the U.S. bombing campaign against Islamic extremists is exacerbating its shortage of plane-maintenance experts—a gap that is rekindling tensions with Congress about how to manage the nation’s combat aircraft. To keep U.S. planes flying over Syria and Iraq, Air Force officials said they have had to deploy hundreds of midlevel maintenance personnel to the overseas missions.
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10/30/2014
The French government believes that India is about to become the first customer for the Rafale fighter aircraft despite the long and hard bargaining over price and work-share arrangements. In three months from now, it will be three years since the Indian Air Force selected the Rafale from a field of six competitors to fulfil its requirement for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
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10/30/2014
As many as 12 Russian combat aircraft Su-27 and two combat training aircraft Su-27 will be deployed at the airfield in Bobruisk, BelTA learned from Russian Defense Minister, Army General Sergei Shoigu on 29 October. “Next year we will deploy 12 combat aircraft Su-27 and two training aircraft Su-27 in addition to a wing of four Mi-8 helicopters at the airfield in Bobruisk,” said Sergei Shoigu.
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10/30/2014
Sweden recognized a state of Palestine on Thursday, describing the decision as a crucial step it hopes will lead the way for others. "In the light of the international law analysis, we see no reason to delay this decision," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said. She said the decision was made based on the fact that the state "met the criteria of international law."
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10/30/2014
Moscow and Beijing are continuing talks on the delivery of Su-35 Flanker multirole fighters to China and the contract is currently being clarified, the deputy general manager of Russia’s arms export company said Wednesday. “Russia and China are continuing negotiations on the Su-35 and the process of agreeing the documents is ongoing.
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10/29/2014
Three and half months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Dutch prosecutors investigating the tragedy now believe the aircraft may have been shot down by another aircraft, according to a senior prosecutor in a German media interview. Since the downing of the aircraft on July 17 this year, Russian officials have repeatedly said that they have radar imagery proving that the Boeing 777 was in fact shot down by Ukrainian military aircraft.
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10/29/2014
New photos that have appeared on Chinese aviation websites suggest that mass production of the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) J-15 carrier-based multirole fighter is gathering pace. Two new J-15 aircraft, numbered 104 and 105, are ready for delivery by SAC to the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF). The new additions take the total of known J-15 aircraft to 11, including prototypes.
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10/29/2014
The soldier commanding CF-18 fighter jets and other aircraft deployed to the Middle East says these forces are "on target" to launch operations against Islamic State jihadists by Saturday.
"That means we have all the support in place, plus the command and control capacity to have the ability to conduct national targeting, to validate targets," said Lt.-Gen. Jon Vance, the decorated Afghan veteran who took over Canadian Joint Operations Command in September.
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10/29/2014
There is a buzz in the air about New Delhi’s intentions of shooting down the 2007 agreement with Moscow for the joint development of fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) or at least put it on the hold to generate the funds for financing the Rafale deal with France. Under the estimated $20-30 billion mother-of-the-deals for the acquisition of 126 medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA).
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10/29/2014
Giving a big push to its defence business, Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) has teamed up with Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group, to bid for Indian Air Force's transport aircraft replacement programme. If awarded the contract, the combine will manufacture and supply C295 transport aircraft to replace the IAF's Avro planes, the two companies announced on Tuesday.
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10/29/2014
Navy pilots got their first look Tuesday at the aircraft that only the youngest among them might get to fly within the next decade. The F-35C Joint Strike Fighter made its debut at Naval Air Station Oceana. It was followed here from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida by an F/A-18 Hornet, the jet it is supposed to replace.
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10/29/2014
A deal for new jets to operate from RAF Marham has moved a step closer, with the Government poised to sign a contract in the coming weeks. The Ministry of Defence said yesterday that it had reached an agreement in principle for the first batch of the Lightning II stealth combat aircraft, which will operate from the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, as well as the Norfolk base.
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10/29/2014
According to the Latvian military, on Oct. 28, the German Air Force Eurofighter jets on QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) at Amari, Estonia, to provide NATO Baltic Air Policing were scrambled to intercept seven Russian Air Force planes flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The German interceptors identified the Russian planes as a large package, made of attack planes and escort, which included 2x MiG-31 Foxhound, 2x Su-34 Fullback, 1x Su-27 Flanker and 2x Su-24 Fencer jets.
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10/29/2014
Trucks with heavy armament to help the Syrian Kurdish self-defense forces against the Islamic State (IS) militant group on Tuesday left the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Erbil and now moving toward the Syrian city of Kobani via Turkey. “Peshmerga have crossed the Turkish border and in few hours they will be in Kobani,” leader of the Syrian self-defense forces Saleh Muslim was quoted by the CNN Turk TV channel as saying.
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10/28/2014
Defence and security company Saab has signed a contract with the Brazilian Federal Government (Ministry of Defense through the Aeronautics Command, COMAER) covering the development and production of 36 Gripen NG fighter aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force. The total order value is approximately SEK 39.3 billion. Saab and COMAER have also signed an Industrial Co-operation contract to deliver substantial technology transfer from Saab to Brazilian industry.
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10/28/2014
Last week, defense journalist Giovonni Colla spent some time in Greece at Araxos Air Base to capture what would be a bittersweet moment in the history of combat aviation – the retirement of the humble, but incredibly effective, Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II. Though it's better known as the SLUF. Or Short Little Ugly Fucker.
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10/28/2014
For decades, the Pentagon has been toying with the idea of upgrading the B-52 bomber, first built in the mid-1950s. Will they finally get around to it, this time? The U.S. Air Force is taking a serious look at overhauling the nearly 60 year-old B-52 bomber—including a new engine for the ancient plane. The question is not whether it makes sense, but why it hasn’t been done before.
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10/28/2014
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has successfully completed the upgrade of first Su-30MKI multi-role combat aircraft at its facility in Nashik, Maharashtra, India. The company test pilots will now fly the aircraft to validate its performance before handing it over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) next month, as reported by Business Standard.
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10/28/2014
The U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin have reached an agreement in principle for the production of 43 F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Officials anticipate the Low-Rate Initial Production lot 8 (LRIP 8) contract to be finalized in the coming weeks. The contract is for fiscal year 2014 with deliveries beginning in 2016.
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10/28/2014
Boeing this month delivered to the U.S. Army, 75 days ahead of schedule, the 300th CH-47F Chinook helicopter. “This marks another benchmark for the CH-47F program,” said Lt. Col. Michael Hauenstein, the Army’s CH-47F product manager, Office of the Project Manager, Cargo Helicopters. “More importantly, we have met this benchmark ahead of schedule, within cost, and produced an aircraft that performs as required worldwide.
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10/28/2014
Since the beginning of 2014, Russia has sold $9.8-billion in arms and military equipment abroad, the deputy director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said Tuesday.
“According to the figures for October of this year, Russia has exported arms and military equipment totaling $9.8 billion,” Anatoly Punchuk, who is heading the Russian delegation at the Euronaval-2014 exhibition in Paris, told RIA Novosti.
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10/28/2014
The Unites States is examining the claims that Islamic State (IS) militants could possess modern anti-aircraft missile systems that can down passenger jets, Spokesperson for the US Department of State Jen Psaki said. According to German media reports, the German foreign intelligence agency BND reportedly briefed the country's parliament at the end of last week on the new threat coming from the violent IS grouping.
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10/28/2014
The US Department of Defense confirmed that the Islamic State (IS) has limited anti-aircraft weaponry in its arsenal, Commander Elissa Smith at the Office of the Secretary of Defense told RIA Novosti on Monday. “We can confirm ISIL [IS] has limited anti-aircraft artillery capability, mostly used in a ground combat role.
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10/27/2014
THE scourge of ISIS — a female Kurdish warrior who was credited with killing 100 jihadists — may have herself died in the desperate battle to prevent the city of Kobani falling into extremist hands. But her sisters-in-arms fight on. The young woman, known only by the pseudonym ‘Rehana’, became world famous after a picture of her flashing a “V” for victory sign went viral on social media.
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10/27/2014
The soldiers snapped to attention and a Union flag was lowered towards the parched desert sand. With this brief ceremony, Britain’s 13-year war in Afghanistan came to an end. Only a few score soldiers were on parade, the music was piped American marching tunes and the whole occasion was conducted under the hovering protection afforded by Apache attack helicopters.
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10/27/2014
Ninety percent of the world’s trade flows by sea and the majority of that through narrow, vulnerable straits such as Malacca, Singapore and Taiwan. This has forced the Asia-Pacific region to outspend all other nations, except the US, in procurement of ships and submarines. The dangers are real. Taiwan Adm. Chen Yeong-kang said regional territorial disputes could disrupt sea lines of communication (SLOC) in the region.
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10/27/2014
Last week Chief of the Russian Air Force Viktor Bondarev announced that a Russian airbase would be established in Babruysk in 2016. An article from the Moscow Times on expanding the Russian air force presence abroad, subsequently reprinted in the Guardian, painted a rather dramatic, yet not entirely correct picture.
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10/27/2014
As the pilots of 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, “Task Force Wolfpack,” 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, continue their high tempo of flight hours in their area of operation, fuelers from Echo Company, 1st ARB operate 24 hours a day to support the continuous refuel missions to maintain the CAB’s air presence in the battlefield.
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10/27/2014
Japan began exercises Monday with the U.S. Army in Hokkaido, a day after it started naval maneuvers with Russia 800 km away off the coast of Vladivostok. The drills illustrate the balance Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must strike between his attempts to mend relations with Russia and the need to bolster his country’s alliance with the United States as a backstop to a more assertive China in the region.
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10/27/2014
Bharat Karnad’s article, “Impending MMRCA Waste”, published in The New Indian Express on October 3 is a clear attempt to keep the MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) pot boiling—it warrants a response only to sensitise the environment of the truth, just as the learned professor tries to undermine it with his needless ranting on the MMRCA.
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10/27/2014
From the battlefield near Baiji, an Islamic State jihadist fired a heat-seeking missile and blew an Iraqi army Mi-35M attack helicopter out of the sky this month, killing its two crew members. Days later, the Islamic State released a chilling series of images from a video purporting to capture the attack in northern Iraq: a jihadist hiding behind a wall with a Chinese-made missile launcher balanced on his shoulder.
(Read More...)
10/27/2014
China is testing a new generation of military aircraft which includes the country's first and most advanced stealth fighter believed to form the backbone of its air force. The photos of fourth-generation stealth fighter J20, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) aircraft KJ-500 and Y-20 large military transporter, reportedly conducting tests flights, were published on a popular military forum, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
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10/26/2014
The Indian air force has temporarily suspended flying on its entire fleet of an estimated 200 Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, following an uncommanded ejection involving the type on 21 October. “Flying of the Su-30 fleet has been temporarily suspended. The Court of Inquiry is in progress and certain specific checks are being conducted on the aircraft,” says India's defence ministry.
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10/26/2014
The Ministry of Defence is speeding up plans to upgrade the RAF’s Typhoon jets with precision missiles in case they are one day needed to bomb Isil fighters in Iraq. Defence sources said Britain’s role in the unexpected campaign against Islamist militants had exposed a shortage of ground attack jets which will only get worse as the RAF’s ageing Tornado planes retire.
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10/26/2014
Russian Ambassador in New Delhi Alexander Kadakin claims Chinese Sukhoi Flankers will swat the Rafale like mosquitoes, but what’s more worrying is India is willing to spend $30 billion on a stop-gap aircraft. Fighter planes fall into two categories – the hunters and the hunted. The French are pitching their Rafale as the dogfight duke that is the crème de la crème of jet fighters.
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10/26/2014
India has chosen to buy anti-tank guided missiles from Israel, rejecting a rival US offer, as the right-wing government clears projects worth $13.1 billion to modernise its ageing military, official sources said on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will buy 8,356 Spike missiles and 321 launchers from Israel in a deal worth 32 billion rupees ($525 million), defence ministry sources told AFP.
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10/26/2014
With Russia asserting itself in Ukraine and the Baltic States and the U.S. and its allies embroiled in conflict against Islamic State militants, there is mounting concern among defense analysts that the U.S. and western Europe should not continue to reduce defense spending. Unless President Barack Obama and Congress abruptly reverse course, the U.S. defense budget is scheduled to absorb automatic reductions, known as the sequester.
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10/26/2014
The upcoming Zuhai airshow taking place in China next month will provide an opportunity to get first impressions of the new stealth jets and modernized fighter aircraft currently under development or recently delivered to the People's Republic of China Army, Air Force, Navy.
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10/26/2014
A new generation of aircraft expected to form the backbone of the Chinese air force have purportedly been captured on film and posted online by military enthusiasts. The photos of the fourth-generation stealth fighter J20, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS) aircraft KJ-500 and Y-20 large military transporter, reportedly conducting tests flights, were published on a popular military forum on Saturday.
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10/26/2014
India cleared on Saturday a bulk of defense projects worth $13 billion in a bid to boost the country's national defense preparedness, the Indian Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) said.
According to defense ministry sources, the major decisions taken by the Defense Acquisition Council include the construction of six submarines in India at the cost of about Rs 50,000 crore and the purchase of more than 8,000 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles.
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10/26/2014
Kurdish armed forces have retaken control of town Zumar in northern Iraq and pushed Islamic State (IS) militants out of several nearby villages, a Kurdish security official said Saturday. A source in the Kurdish intelligence told Reuters that Islamic State fighters had put up a fight as they were evicted by local Kurdish forces, who made considerable gains on Saturday morning.
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10/25/2014
Russia has announced the start of work on the creation of a sixth-generation fighter jet. The body is to be made of composite materials and it should attain high speeds and have the latest electronic warfare equipment, avionics, and a propulsion system. However, the kind of combat missions the new vehicle will be expected to fulfill are unclear.
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10/25/2014
Recent reports of Egyptian military aircraft bombing Islamist militant positions in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have highlighted once more how the Mediterranean state has become a contested site of regional proxy wars. The projection of Middle Eastern rivalries onto Libya’s fractured landscape has a long pedigree, dating back to the 2011 revolution and perhaps even further.
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10/25/2014
Rebels opposed to President Bashar Assad called Friday for help from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, saying the Syrian military is close to encircling the city of Aleppo and cutting off rebel supply routes to Turkey. In a statement, the Syrian Opposition Coalition, once hailed by the United States as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people, called for U.S. assistance, warning of dire results if Assad’s forces are able to seize the town of Handarat.
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10/25/2014
If Darth Vader had a fighter jet, it would be an F-22 Raptor.
Though the Blue Angels are the stars of this weekend’s air show, the ferocious looking Raptors are the baddest birds on the planet. It’s been said that in dogfight training with other U.S. fighters, flying the F-22 is almost unfair.
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10/25/2014
The airstrike coalition aimed at quashing the Islamic State (IS) militant group is gaining momentum, Pentagon Press Secretary and Spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby stated. "We believe the strategy is working. The coalition continues to gain momentum and strength," Kirby was quoted as saying on the Pentagon's Twitter account Friday.
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10/25/2014
The United States and Russia continue to implement the New START Treaty against all odds, US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottenmoeller said. "The United States and Russia are continuing to implement the treaty in a businesslike manner, despite all the tensions," Gottenmoeller was quoted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as addressing students Friday.
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10/24/2014
The Islamists have looted military garrisons across the region, and now have tanks, armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank weapons and artillery. Boko Haram claims to have downed a Nigerian fighter jet (and has filmed the beheading of the pilot), so it may have anti-aircraft guns, too. The archbishop of Maiduguri speaks of its “inexhaustible boxes of ammunition”.
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10/24/2014
US and allied aircraft have flown nearly 6,600 sorties in the air war against the Islamic State group and dropped more than 1,700 bombs, the American military. The flights for "Operation Inherent Resolve" include thousands of mid-air fuelling runs, surveillance sorties and 632 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, according to US Central Command.
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10/24/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered another C-130J Super Hercules to the 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, today. Little Rock AFB’s new C-130J was ferried from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facility here by Maj. Gen. Michael Stough, director of Strategic Plans, Requirements and Programs, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
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10/24/2014
Swedish Navy stated Friday, that the alleged foreign submarine, which was hunted for in Stockholm archipelago waters, is very likely to be a mini-submarine. Swedish Navy's Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad said at a press conference, that at least one underwater craft was detected by the Armed Forces. "It was a mini-submarine, not a submarine," Grenstad specified.
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10/24/2014
Russia will sue France if Paris refuses to honor a contract on construction of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said Thursday.
"We will file a lawsuit and demand compensation [if the contract is not fulfilled], as it's commonly done in a civilized world," Ivanov told reporters.
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10/24/2014
A Russian spy plane has been intercepted by Nato jets over the Baltic Sea, the alliance says, amid heightened tensions in the region. Estonia summoned Russia's ambassador on Wednesday after its military said the Ilyushin-20 plane had entered its airspace for about a minute. But Russia said the plane had been on a training flight and had not violated Estonian airspace.
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10/23/2014
Claims by a Libyan lawmaker that airstrikes by Egyptian planes against jihadists in the country were actually conducted by Libyan pilots appears highly unlikely, according to two aviation experts. The Egyptian intervention marked the first time in decades that the most populous Arab country took part in a conflict outside its borders. But the idea that it outsourced airstrikes to Libyan air force pilots is preposterous, according to those experts.
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10/23/2014
With Islamic State (ISIS) militants proving more resilient to US-led airstrikes than was originally envisaged, US President Barack Obama’s strategy in Iraq and Syria is coming under ever-greater scrutiny. Over the weekend, Sen. John McCain, a Republican, called for “more boots on the ground”, the further arming of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, creating a no-fly zone and buffer zone in Syria and ratcheting up the number of US-led airstrikes.
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10/23/2014
Roketsan and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] signed a teaming agreement today for collaboration on the SOM-J, a new generation air-to-surface Standoff Cruise Missile for the F-35 Lightning II.
The SOM system is an autonomous, long-range, low-observable, all-weather, precision air-to-surface cruise missile. The SOM-J variant is tailored for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft.
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10/23/2014
A single US airdrop of weapons that were intended for Kurdish fighters and most likely fell into the Islamic State (IS) hands will not give any odds to IS fighters, Pentagon Spokesperson Steve Warren said. "One bundle of weapons and medical supplies, airdropped by US forces to Kurdish fighters in Syria, most likely fell into enemy hands," Warren told reporters Wednesday. "One bundle worth of equipment is not enough equipment to give the enemy any type of advantage at all.
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10/23/2014
The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied the claim by the Estonian military that a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft breached Estonian airspace, the Ministry's Media Affairs and Information Department said on Wednesday. "The Russian military aircraft did not breach Estonian airspace. On October 21, 2014 a Russian military aircraft that had been conducting a planned training flight from Khrabrovo military base in Kaliningrad flew over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea," said the statement.
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10/22/2014
Heavy security controlled the scene at 4 Wing, Cold Lake, as six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets took off from northern Alberta Tuesday morning with their sights set on Iraq. Minister of Defence Rob Nicholson was on the ground as the pilots deployed to Iraq and acknowledged the elevated security on home-soil after a soldier in Quebec was killed and another injured Monday in what appears to be a 'lone wolf' terrorist attack.
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10/22/2014
The Swedish military is reported to be hunting the seas around Stockholm for a damaged Russian submarine, as an amateur photographer captured a picture of a submerged object in the water. Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad said the armed forces had made three separate sightings of "foreign undersea activity" in the past few days, which has seen the launch of a large search operation reminiscent of the Cold War.
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10/22/2014
If the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was learning to fly stolen Syrian fighter jets, it may have seen its fleet of three reduced to just one "ineffectual" aircraft. CBS News' George Baghdadi reports Information Minister Omran Zoubi said late Tuesday that Syrian military aircraft had shot down two of three fighter jets allegedly stolen by ISIS as it rampaged across northern Syria seizing army and air bases in the Aleppo region.
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10/22/2014
Brazilian planemaker Embraer unveiled its new KC-390 military transport Tuesday as the country expands its foray into the global security and defense air transport market. Developing the KC-390, the biggest plane Embraer has produced, cost 4.6 billion reais ($1.9 billion), paid by the Brazilian Air Force in partnership with Argentina, the Czech Republic and Portugal.
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10/22/2014
Britain finally got its own locally made large UAVs operational in late 2013 and since August some have been seen in Afghanistan. This has been a long time coming because it was back in 2006 that the British began developing the Watchkeeper UAV and by 2010 got one airborne for the first time. The Watchkeeper 180 and the Watchkeeper 450 are both are based on Israeli designs (the Hermes 180 and 450).
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10/22/2014
U.S. Defense Department leaders have called for a renewed effort to sustain America’s military technological dominance, but to do so they will have to fight an uphill battle against entrenched bureaucratic interests competing over a shrinking budgetary pie. Whether this initiative will be more than simply Pentagon pabulum depends on the future direction of the Navy’s carrier air wing.
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10/22/2014
Robbin Laird, a member of our Board of Contributors, and Ed Timperlake conducted what looks like it will be the last interview with Gen. Mike Hostage, the head of Air Combat Command, before he retires in early November. Hostage has overseen the Air Force’s transition to fifth generation aircraft with the introduction of the F-22 and preparations for introduction of the F-35 fleet.
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10/22/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has grounded its entire fleet of Russia-developed Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft to undergo safety checks, an IAF spokesperson said in an official statement Wednesday. "The fleet has been grounded and is undergoing technical checks following the latest accident in Pune. It would be back in air only after a thorough check," Wing Commander Simranpal Singh Birdi said.
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10/22/2014
NATO scrambled fighter jets - including two Canadian F-18's - twice in two days to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it said Tuesday amid reports that Russian military activity in the region is increasing. Lt. Col. Robert Gericke said the Russian aircraft were flying in international airspace and had not violated the territory of alliance members. Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets were scrambled from the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Il-20.
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10/21/2014
Official Minsk is yielding to the Kremlin’s pressure in terms of allowing a larger Russian military presence in Belarus. The Kremlin does not intend to modernise the Belarusian army or equip it with modern weapons, as this could strengthen Belarus’ political independence. By beefing up her military presence in Belarus, Russia aims to fortify her western borders and exert additional pressure on the Belarusian leadership, as well as on other countries in the region.
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10/21/2014
Britain will deploy both Reaper and Rivet Joint drones to Syria “very soon” to participate in surveillance missions, to gather intelligence on Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) militants. The drones will be armed, but not permitted to fire on targets.
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10/21/2014
The Oklahoma Air National Guard has confirmed a fighter jet that crashed in Elk County is from Tulsa, Okla. Colonel Max Moss, Director of Media and Civilian Relations for the Oklahoma National Guard, said two F-16 Fighting Falcons were involved in a mid-air collision during a training exercise southwest of Howard, Kan.
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10/21/2014
Over the weekend, General Tom Lawson, a Royal Canadian Air Force officer and currently the Chief of Defence Staff — Canada’s top soldier — told CTV’s Question Period that our CF-18s are a world-class fighter capable of getting the job done in Iraq. The General noted, rightly, that although the CF-18s were first ordered in the early 1980s and are thus in their early 30s, they have been repeatedly (and relatively recently) upgraded and modernized.
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10/21/2014
The family that controls Dassault Aviation SA (AM), the maker of combat aircraft and Falcon luxury jets, may increase its stake when minority shareholder Airbus Group NV (AIR) sells some of its holdings in coming months. Dassault Aviation Chief Executive Officer Eric Trappier held out that possibility yesterday, saying the family led by 89-year-old Serge Dassault would be able to purchase stock. Dassault Aviation won investor approval last month to acquire as much as 10 percent of its stock.
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10/21/2014
The Syrian opposition has asserted that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant formed an air combat fleet. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIL captured fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft from Iraq and Syria in mid-2014. The London-based monitoring group said ISIL acquired at least three Russian-origin fighter-jets as well as an unspecified number of combat helicopters. “The combat aircraft are believed to be the MiG-21,” Syrian Observatory said.
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10/21/2014
Lockheed Martin is hosting the 26th annual Hercules Operators Council (HOC) here, Oct. 20-23. More than 900 representatives from 32 nations are attending to discuss C-130 Hercules operations, support, upgrades and new fleet acquisition. This year’s theme of “Transforming Partnerships” provides insight into how relationships between Lockheed Martin, Hercules operators, suppliers and support teams have defined the C-130’s first 60 years of flight and how these partnerships will shape the next seve
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
From the battlefield near Baiji, an Islamic State jihadist fired a heat-seeking missile and blew an Iraqi army Mi-35M attack helicopter out of the sky this month, killing its two crew members. Days later, the Islamic State released a chilling series of images from a video purporting to capture the attack in northern Iraq: a jihadist hiding behind a wall with a Chinese-made missile launcher balanced on his shoulder; the missile blasting from the tube, its contrail swooping upward as it tracked it
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
South Korea is threatening to break an agreement with BAE Systems to upgrade its fleet of KF-16s, opening a window of opportunity for competitor Lockheed Martin to reclaim its dominance in the lucrative F-16 upgrade market. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) selected BAE Systems’ North American subsidiary in December 2012 as prime integrator to take charge of software and hardware upgrades for 134 KF-16 aircraft.
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
The military procurement agency signed a 7.3 trillion won ($7 billion) deal to purchase 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters for the Air Force's next-generation fighter (F-X), although it was previously informed of engine faults by the U.S., claimed an opposition lawmaker, Monday. Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy argued that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) tried to cover up the problem involving the project.
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10/20/2014
Lebanon is buying 18 upgraded UH-1H transport helicopters for about $10 million each (including training, spare parts and maintenanceequipment). Lebanon already has 23 older UH-1s. Lebanon uses its UH-1s for combat as well as transportation. For combat the Lebanese have modified the UH-1s to carry 250 kg (550 pound) and 400 kg (880 pounds) and launch tubes for multiple 68mm unguided rockets.
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
The Swedish military has made three sightings of foreign undersea activity in its waters during the past few days amid reports a suspected Russian submarine is in the area. Rear Adm. Anders Grenstad said yesterday that the activity the armed forces had registered - two incidents on Friday and one on Sunday - was in the Stockholm archipelago and nearby coastal area. He declined to give any details about any operation to track the vessel. The scenario is reminiscent of the Cold War when Sweden's a
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
China is building a fleet of a hundred large transport aircraft that will be able to deploy troops all around the world, according to a Russian military expert. In an article published Oct. 16 on the Russian Council website, Vasily Kashin, a China expert at the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, says that the People's Liberation Army hopes to complete the project by 2020.
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10/20/2014
Against the backdrop of delays in several of its major projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today told DRDO to speed up and complete its programmes in time as the world will not wait for it. Urging the country’s only defence research agency to give more opportunities to the youth, the Prime Minister suggested that DRDO should take initiatives in projects which would help in easing the lives of the armed forces personnel.
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10/20/2014
Boeing Co. (BA) is revising its master schedule for developing the new U.S. Air Force aerial tanker, adding to uncertainty about a plane that already has run up an estimated $1 billion in excess costs for the contractor. The Air Force “has been continually monitoring” Boeing’s “progress on their internal schedules, and as we get” the contractor’s proposed revised time line “we will continue to assess the milestones,” Ed Gulick, a spokesman for the service said in an e-mailed statement.
(Read More...)
10/20/2014
What qualities make a great fighter aircraft? Speed or maneuverability? Armament or ruggedness? How many enemies it shot down, or how often it managed to avoid being shot down? Perhaps it is all of these factors, or none. Maybe greatness is just being the right aircraft in the right place at the right time. Whatever the reason, some fighters go on to become legends, while others are derided as turkeys.
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10/20/2014
The U.S. military said it has airdropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Kurds defending the northern Syrian town of Kobani from Islamic State militants. That could strain U.S.-Turkish relations. The “first-of-its-kind” supply mission came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Jakarta trying to enlist Southeast Asian leaders in what one U.S. official called the global "effort to combat violent extremism."
(Read More...)
10/19/2014
The number of times Japanese fighter jets scrambled to ward off Russian military aircraft more than doubled in the last six months, amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen to ease. The increased activity in Japan's north also comes as the armed forces pivot their focus southwards towards China, the assertive Asian giant which is seen in Tokyo as the more immediate challenge.
(Read More...)
10/19/2014
An unmanned US plane on a top-secret, two-year mission to space has returned to Earth and landed in California. The aircraft, resembling a miniature space shuttle and known as the Orbital Test Vehicle or X-37B, spent 674 days in orbit around the planet.
It was the unmanned plane's third space flight, but its mission has been shrouded in mystery.
(Read More...)
10/19/2014
Sweden's military continues to investigate reports of "foreign underwater activity" in the Stockholm archipelago using high-tech equipped naval vessels, aircraft and home guard forces. Chief of operations Jonas Wikstrom says the information "from a credible source" that sparked the operation Friday was still considered worth pursuing the intelligence operation.
(Read More...)
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10/19/2014
The Air Force’s mission with the MC-12 Liberty in Afghanistan is over. The 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron flew its last flight Oct. 1 at Bagram Air Field, the last of more than 40,000 combat missions and more than 200,000 hours of surveillance flights since 2009. The Army stood up Joint Task Force Thor at Bagram to take over the MC-12 mission from the Air Force.
(Read More...)
10/19/2014
Militia commander Yuri Bereza and his 150 Ukrainian irregulars were closing in on pro-Moscow separatists in their last stronghold in this eastern city when Russian troops and armor thundered in out of nowhere to cut them off in the suburb of Ilovaisk. No satellite or drone surveillance detected the sudden movement of the Russian columns. No word of the impending attack had been radioed from the border guard base the invaders had to have passed.
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10/19/2014
Gen. Lori Robinson received a fourth star Thursday and became head of Pacific Air Forces, making her the first woman to lead the major air command. Robinson, who now oversees more than 46,000 personnel, 10 wings, nine bases and about 400 permanently assigned aircraft in a region that encompasses 52 percent of the globe, is the Air Force's second female four-star general after Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger, who was promoted to the service's highest rank in 2012.
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10/19/2014
The Rafale fighter aircraft the Indian Air Force is buying from France “will be swatted like mosquitoes in an August night” by Chinese combat planes in a war, Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin claims. Russia’s MiG-35 aircraft was an early loser in the competition to sell 126 medium multirole combat aircraft to India, a deal that could be one of the largest military contracts in the world topping $20 billion.
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10/19/2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced Saturday he was going to sign a demobilization decree next week that would allow conscript soldiers to opt for volunteer military. “I have prepared a decree – to be issued next week – that will demobilize all those who want to serve on contract. What for? Because it’s only fair to serve in the army and earn more,” Poroshenko said during an interview with several TV channels.
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10/19/2014
Reports of Islamic State (IS) pilots flying stolen jet fighters over the Syrian city of Aleppo have not been confirmed by coalition forces, the Pentagon said. "We do not have any operational reporting of ISIL flying jets in support of ISIL's activity on the ground," the US Central Command Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin said during a press briefing on Friday. "I cannot confirm that," he added.
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10/18/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) was never more vulnerable. Its combat squadron strength is down to 31 squadrons of fighter aircraft (approximately 600) as against a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons (around 800). Two-and-a-half squadrons comprising 50 of its frontline multi-role combat aircraft, Mirage 2000, have been grounded for nearly two months after two crashes in a span of less than 10 days because of engine trouble.
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10/18/2014
Extensive maintenance and modernization work on the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi is being completed months ahead of schedule. The Italian Navy said on Friday that work on the carrier is now slated to be complete at the Taranto Arsenal, a Navy shipyard and base, on Nov. 10, instead of March of next year, when the ship completes post-refit sea trials.
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10/18/2014
Libyan bombing operations in 2011 has inspired the UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) largest ever fighter upgrade program known as the Phase 1 enhancements (P1E). The UK has started using the upgraded package Typhoon aircraft, developed by BAE Systems working together with its Eurofighter Partner companies, the RAF and UK Ministry of Defense, (MOD) as part of the P1E. The capabilities have been developed based on the operations in Libya, BAE systems said in a statement Thursday.
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10/18/2014
AUSTRALIAN bombing raids are believed to have killed dozens of terrorists in the past week, following two successful air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq. As Treasurer Joe Hockey made a surprise visit to Australia’s base in the UAE, the Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, confirmed that Australian forces had for the first time conducted at least two successful combat operations using FA/18 super hornets to kill the enemy on the ground.
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10/18/2014
ARMED with AGM-114 Hellfire anti-armour missiles, free-flight rockets, and 30mm automatic cannon, the army’s $40 million Tiger helicopters are ready for combat. And they were put through their paces yesterday as part of the Defence Force’s annual Exercise Chong Ju at Puckapunyal Army Base, with The Daily Telegraph given exclusive behind-the-scenes access.
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10/18/2014
Honduras bought two combat planes from Brazil's Embraer and received donated military aircraft worth $36 million from Taiwan, part of the Central American country's efforts to step up its fight against drug traffickers, a senior military official said on Friday.
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10/18/2014
The coalition mission against ISIS militants is "not likely" to achieve its goals within six months, Canada's senior general said Friday. Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson said the mission is a difficult one, against a "barbarous opponent." ?"I think it's a bit strong to expect that all the measures of success will be fulfilled in six months. Is there a scenario where it could happen? Maybe, but not likely," Lawson told reporters.
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10/18/2014
On Oct. 16, some media outlets reported the news that airstrikes against jihadists in Libya were conducted by Egyptian Air Force aircraft piloted by Libyan officers. Free Libya Air Force (as the Libyan Arab Air Force was dubbed in 2011), is equipped with a handful of front line fighter jets, most of which are obsolete, scarcely overhauled Soviet combat planes that have survived the uprising and the subsequent fierce struggle between militias. Among them, there are a handful of Mig-21 Fishbeds.
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10/17/2014
Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State are training its members in Syria to fly three captured fighter jets, according to a UK-based activist group that monitors the conflict. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said witnesses had seen the planes being flown around a military airport in Aleppo. Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the SOHR, said IS was using Iraqi officers who were pilots under ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to train fighters in Syria.
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10/17/2014
India and Russia may finally settle on a number of delayed defense deals including the Fifth Generational Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) program during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India this December. Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the BRICS summit in July where both leaders reportedly agreed that the $30 billion program to build 200 jets should move forward.
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10/17/2014
India Friday successfully test-fired its indigenously-developed nuclear-capable sub-sonic long-range cruise missile 'Nirbhay' that can hit a target 1,500 km away. The missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha's Baleswar district. The missile has a capacity to hit targets at a distance of 1,500 km and was successfully test fired at 10.03 a.m. Friday, said B.K. Das, additional director of Chandipur Integrated Test Range.
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10/17/2014
The stated objective of the American-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria is to "degrade, and ultimately destroy" the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — language carefully crafted to imply a gradual process that may take months, even years. Yet just over two months into the campaign, some are already asking for results.
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10/17/2014
The F/A-18s needs spare parts and in too many cases they’re being taken from brand new jets. This is a risk to national security and pilots’ lives. The U.S. Navy’s elite cadre of fighter pilots—made famous by Top Gun—are not flying nearly often as they would like. Instead, many of the Navy’s elite Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter squadrons are sitting on the ground with only two or three flyable jets available.
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10/17/2014
Defence giant BAE Systems has upgraded a clutch of the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to boost the aircraft’s abilities to attack enemy targets both in the air and on the ground. The supersonic Typhoon was originally designed as a Cold War-era fighter to take on fleets of enemy aircraft, like a modern day equivalent of the Second World War’s iconic Spitfire. But modern operations in warzones like Afghanistan and Iraq have proved the need for the Eurofighter to perform as a bomber and eng
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10/17/2014
Four Yak-130 aircraft will be commissioned by the Belarusian Air Force in Q1 2015, BelTA learned from Major-General Oleg Dvigalev, Air Force and Air Defense Commander. “We are about to begin the practical implementation of the contract to buy Yak-130 combat training aircraft for the Air Force. Four aircraft are expected to be delivered to Belarus in Q1 2015 and we will begin using them,” said Oleg Dvigalev.
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10/17/2014
Russia's Southern Military District (SMD) aviation regiment has received six new Su-34 fighter-bombers, renewing the regiment's fleet by 75 percent, the SMD press service said Friday."In accordance with the plan of re-equipping the troops of the SMD, a separate bomber aviation regiment, stationed in the Rostov region [town of Morozovsk], has received another batch of new fighter bombers Su-34 in the amount of six units.
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10/17/2014
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $124.6 million fixed-price contract for the manufacture and delivery of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ground components. The contract provides for the delivery of U.S. government THAAD launchers, support equipment, fire control and communication spares, and launcher spares.
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10/17/2014
Boeing delivered the 18th P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy ahead of schedule October 14, where it joined other Poseidon aircraft being used to train Navy crews. The P-8A departed Boeing Field in Seattle for Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., and was Boeing’s fifth delivery this year.
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10/15/2014
Bell Helicopter on Monday unveiled a full-scale model of its V-280 Valor — the next generation in tiltrotor aircraft — at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting here. Slightly larger than the UH-60 Black Hawk, the V-280 is a third-generation tiltrotor aircraft designed for the Joint Multi-Role demonstrator and Future Vertical Lift programs.
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10/15/2014
Russia is due to establish an airbase in Babruysk, in eastern Belarus, in 2016 and deploy Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets, Russian Air Force Commander-In-Chief Colonel General Viktor Bondarev said on Wednesday. “The airbase of the Russian and Belarusian Air Force will be created in 2016. Su-27 fighter jets will be based there,” Bondarev told reporters during his three-day visit to the facilities under construction.
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10/15/2014
The US Army is counting on the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to remain in service for the foreseeable future, which will require incremental upgrades beyond the most up-to-date E model aircraft that have already seen thousands of hours of combat. All of the army’s AH-64Es should be out of Afghanistan by the end of the current fiscal year, after which time they will be reset for future missions, Col Jeff Hager, the service’s Apache project manager.
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10/15/2014
The two aircraft based at Gowen Field are once again proving their worth in combat. The Apache helicopter and the A-10 are on the front lines in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. This just four months after the A-10 was dubbed obsolete. As Roland Beres shows us it now has a chance to prove the critics wrong.
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10/15/2014
Members of the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment are known for flying Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and other elite members of the U.S. military into combat at a moment’s notice, even when they might take fire themselves. But they sometimes do so with twin-rotor Chinook helicopters that have been in use for years, and are looking to modernize.
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10/15/2014
U.S. and partner-nation military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria yesterday and today, using bomber and fighter aircraft to conduct 22 airstrikes, U.S. Central Command officials reported. Separately, Centcom officials said, U.S. military forces used attack aircraft yesterday to conduct an airstrike against ISIL in Iraq.
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10/15/2014
Russia's Irkut aircraft maker will deliver 30 Su-family fighter jets and 30 Yak-130 combat trainers to the Russian Armed Forces, the company said Monday. "The year 2015 will be a record-setting year for us as we will deliver 60 aircraft, including 30 of the Su-family and 30 Yaks," head of Irkut, Oleg Demchenko, said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel.
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10/15/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] received a $90.6 million foreign military sale contract from the U.S. Army to provide Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) systems to the Qatar Emiri Air Force. Qatar marks the 14th international customer for the M-TADS/PNVS system.
Fielded in 2005, M-TADS/PNVS provides Apache pilots with long-range, precision engagement and pilotage capabilities for safe flight during day, night and adverse weather missions.
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10/13/2014
Spectators at the Miramar Air Show witnessed the end of an era in Marine aviation and a beginning, when a helicopter that served in the Vietnam War flew its last active duty performance and a stealthy, supersonic F-35B fighter jet flew its San Diego debut.
The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter is being retired from Marine Corps service and replaced by the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, which can fly faster and farther carrying more weight.
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10/13/2014
More than a decade of constant combat and the oldest airframes in the history of the service has degraded the Air Force’s mission capability to the lowest in recent memory, meaning more work for airmen who must keep them safe to fly and less flying time for planes in need of constant work.
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10/13/2014
Footage showing Australian bombs obliterating Islamic State targets won't be publicly released. Defence head Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin says the conflict with Islamic State isn't a video game. He says Australia had not released this imagery in 2003 when RAAF Hornets assisted in Iraq and that practice had not changed.
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10/13/2014
Turkey agreed to allow the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) to use its military bases to fight against the extremist group, Agence France-Presse reported Monday. US crews have long operated out of Incirlik Air Base in the south of Turkey, with some 1,500 airmen stationed there.
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10/13/2014
Director of UAV development programs at Russia’s Vega Radio Engineering Corporation Arkady Syroyezhko told RIA Novosti that economic sanctions against Russia had made the manufacturers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operate more effectively. “The import substitution program could help [Russian defense] industry to apprehend its drawbacks and to use its existing internal reserves.
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10/12/2014
US forces based in Kuwait could be set to mobilise to Iraq as 10,000 Islamic State militants to the west of that country prepare for an assault on the capital Baghdad. The militants have battled Iraqi government forces in the Anbar province on the western edge of Baghdad since January but are now amassing for a major push after a series of debilitating attacks including multiple car bomb missions on Sunday.
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10/12/2014
The sprawling campus where the Antonov company once designed and built prototypes of the world’s largest transport aircraft — flying whales whose very bulk symbolized Soviet might — lacks buzz these days. A few derelict airplanes sit along the weed-choked apron connecting its huge construction hangars; cats saunter through the muted assembly shops; flight simulators sit empty.
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10/12/2014
Bashar Assad could make Barack Obama’s war against the Islamic State a lot more complicated if he chose. The military commanded by Syria’s president has the air defenses to threaten the American bombers, fighters and drones that Obama has ordered to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
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10/12/2014
Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have recently adopted a tactic that involves burning dozens of old tires in order to create a smokescreen to “mislead” warplanes targeting their positions, a military official told Al Arabiya News. “Apparently, this idea came to ISIS militants through some former Iraqi army officers, because it resembles one of the ways used by Saddam Hussein,” said Army General Mohamed al-Askary , spokesman for the Iraqi Defense ministry, said Saturday.
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10/12/2014
Built to be the deadliest hunter killer aircraft of all time, the F-35 has quite literally become the hunted. In every scenario that the F-35 has been wargamed against Su-30 Flankers, the Russian aircraft have emerged winners. America’s newest stealth aircraft – costing $191 million per unit – is riddled with such critical design flaws that it’s likely to get blown away in a shootout with the super-maneuverable Sukhois.
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10/12/2014
It said troops from the Yorkshire Regiment were training Iraqi Kurds to use UK-supplied heavy machine guns. The soldiers are expected to spend a week in Irbil, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Royal Air Force Tornado jets based in Cyprus have been flying combat missions over Iraq since September.
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10/11/2014
An outer suburb of Baghdad located only eight miles from the city's airport has now been breached by Islamic State (ISIS) forces as the jihadist group inches ominously close to Iraq's capital. The suburb of Abu Ghraib has been infiltrated by ISIS militants who are currently engaging in hit-and-run style attacks on local Iraqi security forces.
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10/11/2014
Obama’s no-boots-on-the-ground pledge is keeping America from fighting an effective air campaign in Iraq and Syria. Within the U.S. Air Force, there’s mounting frustration that the air campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq is moving far more slowly than expected. Instead of a fast-moving operation with hundreds of sorties flown in a single day—the kind favored by many in the air service—American warplanes are hitting small numbers of targets after a painstaking and cumbersome process.
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10/11/2014
The Air Force could not determine if it paid jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney “fair and reasonable” prices for spare parts for engines that power the stealthy F-22 Raptor, a Department of Defense Inspector General’s report has concluded. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, based at Wright-Patterson, also could not determine how much it paid for individual spare parts under a $1.6 billion sustainment contract on the F119 engine on the fifth-generation, supersonic fighter jet.
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10/11/2014
Boeing said Wednesday that the first test plane for its KC-46 Air Force aerial-refueling tanker program is expected to fly in late November or early December. That's a delay of two months or more beyond the projection Boeing's leadership gave in July, when Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith predicted on an earnings call with analysts that first flight would be late in the third quarter.
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10/11/2014
From high in the sky, the most notable feature of this bit of northern Iraq is Mount Sinjar, a weather-eroded ridgeline no one had heard of until Iraq's Yazidi Christian minority sought refuge from Islamic State (IS) forces. Australia has been here before, air-dropping emergency food aid in a pair of mercy flights conducted by C-130 transport aircraft in August.
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10/11/2014
Two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets based out of Lithuania intercepted a Russian military aircraft as it flew over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday morning. Officials say the Canadian fighters identified the aircraft as a Russian AN-26 transport plane, then shadowed it for about 10 minutes as it travelled through international airspace from one Russian port to another.
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10/10/2014
Russia's Southern Military District (SMD) aviation regiment has received six new Su-34 fighter-bombers, renewing the regiment's fleet by 75 percent, the SMD press service said Friday. "In accordance with the plan of re-equipping the troops of the SMD, a separate bomber aviation regiment, stationed in the Rostov region [town of Morozovsk], has received another batch of new fighter bombers Su-34 in the amount of six units.
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10/10/2014
Canadian lawmakers have approved sending up to six CF-18 fighter aircraft to participate in airstrikes in Iraq, along with one CC-150 aerial refueling tanker, two CP-14 Aurora surveillance aircraft and one airlift aircraft, according to the Canadian prime minister’s office.
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10/10/2014
The United States has launched nine more airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants sieging the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani near the Turkish border, razing IS-held buildings and machinery, the US Central Command reported late on Thursday. "US military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria today using bomber aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes," the Command said in a news release.
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10/09/2014
In response to heightened tensions caused by the crisis in Ukraine, the Finnish Air Force has stepped up and strengthened its aerial drills on 6 October, the country's defence forces have announced. Air-to-air combat drills are to take place from Rovaniemi, Oulu, Kuopio-Rissala, and Pudasjärvi air force bases in the north, while surveillance sorties are concentrating in the south.
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10/09/2014
The Norwegian Government has asked for new budget authorizations for a total value of 6.9 billion kroner for the acquisition of six new F-35 fighter aircraft and additional equipment and services for 2015. Including these aircraft, the New Fighter Aircraft program will have been authorized to acquire 22 of the new aircraft, with deliveries to begin by the end of next year.
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10/09/2014
A US military aircraft has crashed in a field near houses and a school in Lincolnshire. Witnesses saw the F-15D come down in a field off Broad Gate, Weston Hills, near Spalding at about 15:30 BST. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and police said he had escaped with very minor injuries.
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10/09/2014
The unmanned aircraft industry rejects the term "drone" claiming it is technically inaccurate, however companies are divided on a new name for the devices, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. "We need another name for it, but I'm not sure what that new name should be," venture-capital executive Zack Porter was quoted as saying by WSJ.
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10/09/2014
The Australian Air Force has launched its first airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Iraq, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement early on Thursday. “Overnight the Australian Air Task Group operating in the Middle East attacked its first target in Iraq. Two bombs were dropped from an F/A-18F Super Hornet on to an ISIL facility,” the ministry said.
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10/08/2014
A small change in foreign investment rules-by doing away with minimum 51% holding by a single Indian entity in a defence venture-has helped Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Aerospace and Punj Lloyd bag licences that they had been waiting for. While increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap for defence to 49%, the government did away with the clause that had been in the policy for years, as part of a strategy to attract investment in local manufacturing units.
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10/08/2014
U.S. warplanes have carried out almost 90 percent of airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) while Arab and European countries all together carried out the remaining 10 percent, U.S. defense officials said on Monday. A total of about 2,000 air raids have been launched against the militant group, of which the U.S. Air Force carried out 1,768 (88.4 percent), Agence France-Presse reported citing U.S. defense officials.
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10/08/2014
A U.S.-led air war is turning the tide against Islamic State in the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani, Kurdish forces said Wednesday, a day after Canada’s Parliament voted to approve air strikes of its own. Kobani, under attack by the Sunni militants for three weeks, is vital to Islamic State’s efforts to cement control of Syria’s north. Their advance has driven 180,000 of the area’s mostly Kurdish inhabitants to flee into adjoining Turkey.
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10/08/2014
Airbus Group NV (AIR) is preparing to reduce its stake in Dassault Aviation SA (AM) by almost half, selling shares to institutional investors and back to Dassault in a transaction valued at about 2 billion euros ($2.52 billion). The European planemaker is exploring opportunities to sell because the U.S. economy, the largest driver of the business-jet market, is rebounding, suggesting demand for aircraft will pick up, Marwan Lahoud, the head of strategy at Airbus Group, said by phone yesterday.
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10/08/2014
Australia's Super Hornet pilots have pulled out of their first armed airstrikes in the US-led fight against the Islamic State in Iraq, saying that the risk of killing civilians was too high, Australia's News Limited reported Wednesday. "One of our packages on the first night,had an identified target which it was tracking and that target moved into an urban area where the risks of conducting a strike on that target increased to a point where it exceeded our expectations of the collateral damage."
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10/08/2014
The legislative body of Canada approved the participation of the country's military in the battle against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq, the BBC reported Wednesday. Canadian military have been authorized to carry out airstrikes against terrorists in Iraq for six months. The deployment of ground troops has been ruled out.
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10/07/2014
When Germany dispatched a naval ship to the Horn of Africa last month for joint anti-piracy operations with other European powers, the vessel arrived without a vital mission component. Its Sea Lynx helicopters – meant to search for seafaring thugs – were back home in Germany, grounded due to maintenance problems.For Germany’s military, hobbled helicopters were only the beginning.
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10/07/2014
The US Navy (USN) plans to base 100 Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore in California, the service's Fleet Forces Command (FFC) announced on 3 October. "The 100 F-35C aircraft will replace 70 ageing [Boeing] F/A-18 Hornet aircraft," the FFC said in a statement.
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10/07/2014
Two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Super Hornets have returned safely to the Australian support base in the United Arab Emirates after missions on Sunday. They joined aircraft from the US, UK, France, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, which have all conducted attacks against Islamic State forces inside Iraq.
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10/07/2014
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha cannot be faulted when he expresses concern over the slow acquisition of aircraft to replace the ageing fleet. While addressing the media a few days before the 82nd anniversary of the IAF, he admitted that the acquisition process was behind schedule. The IAF has already reached a precarious position. It has just enough aircraft to carry on, depriving the IAF personnel scope for better deployment to protect the borders.
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10/07/2014
Thirteen years ago today the Predator drone saw its first armed reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan. Since then, the U.S. military drone fleet has grown by leaps and bounds. The U.S. Air Force has scores of Predators and Reapers stationed around the globe 24/7, high-altitude drones like Global Hawk patrol the stratosphere, and the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have thousands of small hand-launched unmanned aircraft to support ground troops.
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10/07/2014
October 7 (RIA Novosti) - The entire Russian Air Force is taking part in the All-Russian Civil Defense Drill, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said Tuesday. "The air forces from Sakhalin to Kaliningrad are practicing emergency response," Drobyshevsky said, specifying that the drill includes aerial engineer, nuclear, chemical and biological reconnaissance.
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10/06/2014
The use of remotely operated drones as intelligence assets is a key part of U.S. military strategy in the Middle East, where information is proving to be as important as artillery in deterring the Islamic State. As a combat devise, the drone has been a key feature of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy since he was sworn in.
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10/06/2014
The Government's decision to launch air strikes against Isil in Iraq has prompted a number of senior officers to vent their frustration that the Coalition is happy to commit our Armed Forces to action while at the same time reducing their ability to do so as a result of its dramatic cuts to the defence budget.
General Sir David Richards, the recently retired head of our Armed Forces, spoke for many officers who are still serving when he demanded that the Government should urgently review its ap
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10/06/2014
One of the military planes that will be dispatched on the mission is a Polaris CC-150T refuelling tanker. Its job will be to keep the six CF-18 fighter jets supplied with fuel as they strike targets. The government says the CC-150T is maintained by private contractors. L-3 MAS Communications and partner firm Avianor Inc. are responsible for providing complete in-service support for the refuelling plane and the rest of the Department of National Defence’s fleet of CC-150 Polaris Airbuses.
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10/06/2014
The U.S. has begun using Apache AH-64 attack helicopters to strike at ISIS targets inside Iraq, the first time the aircraft have been used for offensive strikes since arriving in Baghdad in early July. Their use opens up a new capability in the airstrike campaign against ISIS in Iraq, but one that also comes with risks, as they could be vulnerable to ground fire.
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10/06/2014
Since commissioning its first aircraft carrier, China's navy has conducted more exercises farther away from its shores and flexing its muscle by closely patrolling areas in disputed waters where Chinese companies are drilling for oil, a top US Air Force commander has said. Air Force General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, the head of US Pacific Air Forces, said China's naval and air forces in particular are "very much continuing to push" and becoming more active in international waters and airspace in
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10/05/2014
AUSTRALIANS go to war this week, almost 13 years to the day since the war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001. If those years teach us anything, it’s that war is chaotic, its consequences profoundly destabilising and its outcomes impossible to predict.
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10/05/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said on Saturday it was "mysterious" how incursions by Chinese troops into Indian territory took place during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit. "It is always mysterious... the way incursions get timed with visits," Air Chief Marshal Raha said, responding to a question in the recent incursion by Chinese troops in Ladakh area of jammu and Kashmir.
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10/05/2014
America’s most advanced stealth fighter poses a great risk to China’s air defense network — and the military is going to great lengths to learn how to shoot one down. China claims it has a new passive detection “radar” capable of identifying stealth aircraft, including the more advanced F-22 Raptor fighter based at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
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10/05/2014
A recent spate of dangerous midair encounters between American military aircraft and Chinese and Russian planes in the Pacific is the result of increasingly assertive strategies by both U.S. adversaries to project power far beyond their borders, according to the top U.S. Air Force commander in the region. Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, the head of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said China’s naval and air forces in particular are “very much continuing to push” and becoming more active.
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10/05/2014
The Indian government, acting on Air Force demands, has offered to spend $12 billion to encourage private firms to establish an aircraft manufacturing facility — a move that would break Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s monopoly on aircraft manufacturing after years of delays on several projects. Specifically, the Indian government has offered an advance order for the homemade light combat aircraft (LCA) Mark-2, a Defence Ministry source said.
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10/05/2014
Keith Barton, who came from Ventura County to attend the opening ceremony of the Miramar Air Show, looked at the fighter jets and other military gear and was pleased. "The world can be a very nasty place," said Barton, 47, who runs a medical supply outfit. "It's good to know we have this kind of capability."
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10/05/2014
Russian team of inspectors is planning to conduct an observation flight with Russian An-30B observation aircraft over the territory of Spain, said the head of the Russian National Center for Reducing Nuclear Threat, Sergei Ryzhkov. This will be the 31st Russian observation flight over the territories of the states, parties to the Treaty on Open Skies, in 2014.
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10/04/2014
First came the superfast X2 helicopter. Now Sikorsky Aircraft has put that experimental technology into a more mature package, the S-97 Raider. Sikorsky hopes that the sleek, speedy design of the S-97, unveiled Thursday, will win the favor of the US Army as a potential replacement for OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter, an airframe whose history dates back to the Vietnam War era, and as an aerial platform for special operations units.
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10/04/2014
The Air Force believes a recent Department of Defense Inspector General report that critiqued Air Force MQ-9 procurement plans to buy 401 Reaper aircraft, stating that 46 aircraft may not be needed, is based on data that is out of date. "The data in the report is a year old," said Lt Gen Robert Otto, Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. "The Air Force is only buying 346 aircraft, 55 fewer than the 401 figure contained in the report.
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10/04/2014
Pesident Obama, who swept to power in 2008 in part on his promise to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, is clearly a reluctant warrior. His concern about getting involved in "mission creep" in the deserts of Iraq, where nearly 4,500 troops have died, recently led him to make this promise to U.S. soldiers: "I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq."
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10/04/2014
The U.S.-led coalition attacking Islamic State in Iraq and Syria now boasts dozens of nations although President Barack Obama has yet to secure UN Security Council authorization and the legality of the entire campaign remains murky. In Iraq, the attacks have the legitimacy conferred by being formally at the request of the Baghdad government. In Syria, where a civil war is raging, there’s no request from Bashar al-Assad’s regime – which Mr. Obama still wants toppled – or the UNSC.
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10/04/2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday announced a combat mission for Canada in Iraq. Here’s what you need to know.
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10/04/2014
Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq and Syria have switched tactics and started concealing their forces in response to a campaign of US-led airstrikes, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Friday. "Not surprisingly, they have gotten better at concealment. Before the airstrikes ... they pretty much had free reign. They don't have that free rein anymore, because they know we're watching from the air," Rear Adm. Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon.
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10/04/2014
Any Turkish action on the territory of Syria will be interpreted as aggression by Damascus, the country's foreign ministry said Friday as quoted by SANA news agency. "Damascus will interpret any action on the part of Turkey on its [Syria's] territory as aggression," the ministry said in a statement.
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10/03/2014
Britain’s Royal Air Force has detected a defect within the Eurofighter Typhoon jets, causing production in Germany to be put on hold whilst the fault is investigated. Both Germany and Britain have halved the recommended annual flight time for the jets from 3,000 to 1,500 hours annually as a precaution, and Germany is refusing to take possession of any new jets until the problem is solved.
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10/03/2014
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has successfully conducted the maiden test flight of the first series production standard Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) from its facility in Bangalore, India. Piloted by HAL Test Flying Chief Air Commandore (Retd) KA Muthana, the aircraft took off without any telemetry support and landed safely in less than 30 minutes, as reported by Flightglobal. The flight test takes the indigenously built aircraft closer to final clearance and induction into the IAF.
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10/03/2014
A BBC correspondent across the border in Turkey saw explosions and smoke rising from buildings hit by shells. IS has moved to within a few kilometres of the town despite US-led air strikes seeking to halt its two-week offensive. On Thursday, Turkey's prime minister promised it would do whatever it could to prevent the fall of Kobane.
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10/03/2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will provide details on Friday of an expanded military contribution to battle militants in northern Iraq.
A spokesman for Harper says the prime minister will also talk about ongoing humanitarian support.
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10/03/2014
The U.S. Air Force and Navy agree on one thing; AI (artificial intelligence) is going to be a major element in future combat aircraft avionics (aircraft electronics). This is in large part due to the fact that AI has been a growing factor in avionics for decades in the form of software controlled landingsystems for commercial aircraft, system monitoring and a growing number of other uses. All this began with the software developed for instrument landings (where the pilot relied on instruments, w
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10/03/2014
David Cameron has announced that II Squadron, comprising 16 Tornados, will no longer be disbanded in March as it will help with air strikes in Iraq. The squadron was due to be broken down in March as Britain withdraws from operations in Afghanistan and replaced by a new squadron of advanced Typhoon fighters.
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10/03/2014
Another batch of Cold War-vintage A-10 “Warthogs” is on its way to Afghanistan, even though the Pentagon says it no longer needs the plane. About a dozen of the snout-nosed “flying guns” will arrive in Afghanistan early this month as part of a six-month deployment for the 122nd Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard, according to U.S. Central Command.
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10/03/2014
Russian Mi-17 helicopter has been a "game changer" in the movement of Afghan forces and supplies in the fight against Taliban insurgents, the United States Army general in charge of American operations and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said.
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10/02/2014
The resolution - passed with a three-quarters majority - will also permit foreign troops to use Turkish territory for the operation. Turkey has been under pressure to play a more active role in the US-led fight. The government dropped its reluctance to combat IS militants directly after the release of 46 hostages last month. The Turkish citizens had been held by IS in northern Iraq.
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10/02/2014
Defence said an RAAF surveillance aircraft and refuelling plane supported a coalition flight and returned to Australia's base in the Middle East. Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced yesterday that Australian planes would be supporting the US-led coalition against IS targets in Iraq. He told Parliament no decision had been taken yet to commit Australian combat aircraft to the fight against the "apocalyptic death cult".
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10/02/2014
As the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) prepares to go into series production, a safety audit of the entire fighter jet development programme is underway to ensure reliability of the new combatant. Sources said EADS, now known as Airbus Group, has been hired as the consultant for the safety audit. The move comes before IAF pilots start training on the aircraft. The training of the pilots has been delayed as the flight manuals of the aircraft were still being written.
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10/02/2014
Canadian CF18 Hornet fighter jets armed with Sidewinder missiles intercepted a Russian air force aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the RCAF revealed Monday.The drama took place Sept. 11 in international air space, Lt.-Col. David Pletz said in an interview. The Canadian warplanes flew beside a Russian An26, looked into the cockpit and then followed the potential intruder for several minutes, said Pletz, the commander of the detachment of four CF18s based in Lithuania and head of the CATF.
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10/02/2014
Boeing completed initial flight and delivery of the first, new-build MH-47G configured Chinook helicopter to the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command Sept. 29, 2014 – a full month ahead of schedule.
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10/02/2014
Iraq's Ministry of Defense has received the third batch of Russian Mi-35M helicopters, as part of a contract signed in 2012, an official representative of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) told RIA Novosti Wednesday. "The exact number of helicopters in the third batch is not mentioned, but, most likely, Baghdad received four Mi-35Ms, like in the first two batches," the CAWAT representative said.
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09/28/2014
The implications are thick with irony – the A-10 aircraft that the Air Force brass have tried for years to kill, to send to the military boneyard, may be just the weapon to help defeat the ISIS terror group without exposing large numbers of U.S. ground troops to combat. On the battlefield, the A-10s, such as those stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, pave the way for ground troops by obliterating enemy military vehicles and inflicting mass casualties.
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09/28/2014
Nellis Air Force Base closed a chapter Friday in the storied history of the 65th Aggressor Squadron, but the legacy of the pilots who flew its F-15 Eagles continues in the Middle East, where their U.S. and coalition sparring partners are bombing Islamic State targets. “You have prepared the world’s greatest Air Force to fly, fight and win,” Col. Gary E. Rose, commander of the 57th Adversary Tactics Group, told the 65th’s pilots and maintenance personnel at the deactivation ceremony.
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09/28/2014
AUSTRALIA could launch air strikes on Islamic State militants in Iraq within days, with the government expected to sign off on Australia’s deployment this week. As Tony Abbott flew into Canberra after attending security talks at the United Nations in Iraq, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said a decision on Australia’s military involvement in Iraq would be made in a matter of days.
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09/28/2014
The Pentagon said on Saturday that it had conducted its first strikes against Islamic State targets in a besieged Kurdish area of Syria along the Turkish border, destroying two armored vehicles in an area that has been the subject of a weeklong onslaught by the Islamic State. The action around Kobani, where at least 150,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey, appeared to signify the opening of a new front for American airstrikes in Syria.
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09/28/2014
Armed British Tornado jets have completed their first mission over Iraq since MPs authorised air strikes on Islamic State targets. The two Tornados have returned to RAF Akrotiri seven hours after taking off on Saturday morning. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the jets carried out reconnaissance operations, gathering intelligence which would be "invaluable" but did not conduct air strikes.
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09/27/2014
Sukhoi Su-27 military airplane has crashed in Almaty Oblast killing both of its pilots in the evening on Tuesday this week, Tengrinews reports. According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, communication with the aircraft was lost on 23 September at about 20:42 local time during training flights. The crew, Leutenant Colonel Yerlan Nauanov and Leutenant Colonel Denis Gorbunov, are now known to be dead.
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09/27/2014
Increasing Turkish divergence from U.S., European Union, and Western strategic objectives has given urgency to Western military planning as to how to compensate for the probable lack of access in the near future to Turkish bases, air space, and surface transit options.
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09/27/2014
Months after staving off a trip to the boneyard, the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt II is headed to the Middle East where it could be used to fight Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. An Indiana Air National Guard unit that flies the Cold War-era gunships, known as Warthogs, is planning to deploy about 300 airmen and an unknown number of its aircraft to the U.S. Central Command region early next month, says a Sept. 17 news release from the unit.
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09/27/2014
The Pentagon's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme office is close to signing a deal with Israel for more stealthy combat aircraft, the programme manager said on 25 September.
"We are in discussion with another one of our partners, Israel, to increase their buy and those discussions are going very, very well," said US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan.
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09/27/2014
The history of women serving in armed conflicts probably goes back hundreds of years - if not longer. In the United States, during the American Revolution, women served on the battlefield as nurses, water bearers, laundresses and saboteurs. Ever since then, their roles in the military have continued to expand in numbers, skills and responsibilities.
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09/27/2014
Six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft and two mid-air refuelling aircraft of the Britsih Air Force will be here next week on their way to Singapore and Malaysia to take part in an exercise. "Six Royal Air Force Typhoons and two A330 Voyager tanker transport aircraft will be staging through Delhi, between September 30 and October 2, en route to long-planned drills in Singapore and Malaysia called Exercise BERSAMA LIMA 2014," a British High Commission release said.
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09/27/2014
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) now counts 62 countries among its members, according to list published by the State Department on Thursday. Twenty of the partners, which include two non-states in the form of the European Union and Arab League, are providing air support or other military equipment. Others, broken down below, are supplying logistical or humanitarian aid.
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09/27/2014
The United States have carried out another series of airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) positions on the Syrian territory, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Saturday, citing an anonymous US defense official. "I can confirm US air operations are ongoing in Syria," the official was quoted by the agency as saying.
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09/27/2014
The United Kingdom is prepared to make the case to extend airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) beyond Iraq into Syria, if the circumstances call for it, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday. Speaking in the Today program on BBC Radio 4, Hammond said that, if the circumstances are right, and if Britain feels that it can contribute to the goal of defeating the IS and its poisonous ideology, it will make the case for extending airstrikes into Syria.
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09/26/2014
Maj. Mariam al-Mansouri, the first female fighter pilot in the history of the United Arab Emirates, led the the Gulf state's bombing raids over Syria this week. Photos of al-Mansouri, beaming from her cockpit, that were released by the country's state news agency have taken social media by storm.
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09/26/2014
Russia's Eastern Military District troops are on their way home after taking part in massive Vostok-2014 war games in the country's Far East, the Defense Ministry said early Friday.
"Troops with the Eastern Military District, Pacific Fleet, Air Force, Long-Range and Transport Aviation are now on their way to the loading points to then travel by rail, sea and air [to their home bases], while the aircraft are regrouping to head for their air bases, and Pacific Fleet vessels are also regrouping.
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09/26/2014
The cooperation of Russia and NATO in Afghanistan has been halted, including a helicopter project, Russia’s envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko told RIA Novosti on Thursday. "NATO has walked away from these projects and adheres to this decision," Grushko said, specifying that the helicopter project was also halted.
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09/26/2014
The French Air Force could strike positions of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization in Iraq on Thursday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio Thursday morning. "At the very time I'm talking to you, French planes are in the sky over Iraq and, if necessary, will strike [IS positions]. If they do not they will continue to identify the goals that become targets tomorrow," the minister said.
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09/25/2014
India is considering powering its second domestically built aircraft carrier with a nuclear propulsion plant, according to a Tuesday report by news agency Press Trust of India. The design of the carrier is ongoing and nuclear power is still an option for the carrier, said Director General of Naval Design Bureau, Rear Admiral Atul Saxena, in response to questions from reporters.
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09/25/2014
Europe’s Panavia Tornado will remain in use as a relevant frontline asset for more than another 10 years, according to its programme partners, even though one of its main operators does not plan to retain the type beyond the end of the decade. The multinational effort that led to the Tornado’s creation began in 1969, and partner nations Germany, Italy and the UK on 16 September formally marked the 40th anniversary of the variable geometry design’s first flight.
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09/25/2014
British Prime Minister David Cameron will hold a parliamentary debate Friday on whether the U.K. should participate in airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq, Downing Street said, amid gathering domestic support of military intervention to tackle the extremist group in Iraq. Mr. Cameron is in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly where he is talking to partners about what more the U.K. and others could do to contribute to the international fight against Islamic State.
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09/25/2014
The Obama administration trumpets a resolute coalition that includes Arab nations, but the majority of the attacks targeting ISIS militants are coming from American warplanes and destroyers. Just what are the U.S. allies in the region bringing to the fight that President Barack Obama said “isn’t America’s fight alone?”
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09/25/2014
The U.S. and two Arab allies took aim Wednesday at a key source of financing for Islamic State militants, bombing 12 of the oil refineries controlled by the terrorist group in Syria, the military said. Black market oil contributes up to $2 million a day to the militant group, and the attacks targeted the small-scale refineries in remote sections of eastern Syria in an effort to choke off its funding.
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09/25/2014
South Korea formally announced on Wednesday that it would buy 40 F-35A fighter jets from the American defense contractor Lockheed Martin in a deal that includes transfers of technology for the development of the country’s own advanced fighter jet. South Korea picked Lockheed Martin’s F-35A as the sole choice for its air force’s new fighter jet in November and has since been negotiating the terms of the deal.
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09/25/2014
The Dutch government has decided to send six F-16 fighter jets to Iraq to help the US-led international coalition in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher said Wednesday. "The Netherlands will make six F-16s available for the first phase of the campaign, for one year," Asscher said as quoted by Agence France-Presse.
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09/25/2014
The use of fifth generation US stealth F-22 Raptor fighters against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization in Syria could be explained by the United States’ fear of Syrian air defense forces, military experts told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
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09/25/2014
Royal Australian Air Force fighter jets and personnel have arrived to the United Arab Emirates to take part in operations against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, Australian Associated Press reported Wednesday. "There are 400 Royal Australian Air Force officers, eight Super Hornets, a Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft, and a Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft in the contingent.
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09/24/2014
Prime Minister David Cameron supports airstrikes targeting Islamic State in Syria by the U.S. and five Middle Eastern allies and will discuss how the U.K. might contribute to efforts against the militant group in the coming days, the British government said Tuesday. "The PM will be holding talks at the United Nations in New York over the next two days on what more the U.K. and others can do to contribute to international efforts to tackle the threat we all face from ISIL [Islamic State]," the st
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09/24/2014
Lawmakers have rejected the Pentagon's request to shift as much as $1.5 billion in war spending to buy eight new Lockheed Martin F-35 jets and 21 additional Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters. The Defense Department asked for the additional jets and helicopters in a Sept. 8 request for permission to shift, or reprogram, about $2 billion in its war operations budget, partly to pay for expanded operations against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.
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09/24/2014
Supporters of the A-10 “Warthog” fighter say the Pentagon should halt plans to scrap the jet, saying it is needed in the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The Pentagon has pushed for years to retire the A-10, which provides close air support for troops on the ground in battle, anticipating the need for more advanced aircraft in future ground wars.
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09/24/2014
At least a dozen Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships are carrying out flights in Azerbaijan in the second joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises conducted so far this year. The F-16 fighter jets, C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft and Super Cobra and Black Hawk helicopters reportedly arrived in Azerbaijan on Thursday to take part in what the Defense Ministry in Baku called “large-scale” exercises of its ground forces that ended on Saturday.
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09/24/2014
The F-22 Raptor, one of the most expensive fighters in the world, undertook and successfully completed a combat mission for the first time ever Monday in Syria. The next generation Raptor, which has a total program price tag north of $79 billion, had sat out two wars and at least one previous smaller conflict since going operational in late 2005 before being called on to hit a single target in Syria Monday: an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) "command and control building."
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09/24/2014
Russia is very secretive with data on their military budget. But during a recent speech the commander of the Russian Air Force let slip some interesting bits. He said that the aircraft the air force was now buying (Su-30s, Su-35s, Su-34s) cost over a “billion rubles” ($28 million) each. That was known to be an understatement and it ignored the fact that the three aircraft, although all derived from the older Su-27, are each quite different.
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09/24/2014
Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet that entered its airspace over the Golan Heights, the first such strike in nearly 29 years amid heightened fighting between the regime and rebels for control along the sensitive border. The intercept is the latest sign of instability along the Golan Heights frontier stemming from the Syrian civil war, although former Israeli air force officers said they believed that the Syrian jet crossed into Israeli-controlled airspace by accident.
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09/24/2014
The United States used F-22 fighter jets - fifth-generation aircraft - to make airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria on Tuesday, Gen. William Mayville, Joint Staff director of operations, said at a Pentagon briefing. “This strike was the first time the F-22 was used in a combat role. The flight of the F-22s delivered GPS-guided munitions - precision munitions targeting only the right side of the building,” Mayville said.
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09/24/2014
The United States has carried out airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria with the aid of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Fox News reported Tuesday, citing an anonymous source. According to Fox News, the airstrikes targeted about 20 IS facilities, including training sites and arms depots. The United States reportedly used B-1 bombers, F-16 and F-18 fighters, MQ-1 Predator drones and Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Arleigh Burke destroyer.
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09/24/2014
On 23 September the US with Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched 14 strikes against IS in Syria, hitting a number of targets, including Raqqa, a stronghold in eastern Syria captured by the group in 2013. Separately, US forces also carried out eight strikes against a network of al-Qaeda veterans named Khorasan who had established a safe haven west of Aleppo and were plotting imminent attacks against the West.
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09/23/2014
Spokesman Rear Adm John Kirby said fighter and bomber jets and Tomahawk missiles were used in the attack. The strikes were expected as part of President Barack Obama's pledge to "degrade and destroy" IS, which has taken huge swathes of Syria and Iraq. The US has already undertaken 190 air strikes in Iraq since August.
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09/23/2014
The Pentagon is deploying 300 airmen and 12 A-10 combat jets to the Middle East in early October, according to the Indiana Air National Guard. The six-month deployment from the 122nd Fighter Wing is not specifically part of President Obama’s fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but the airmen and jets could provide air support to troops battling ISIS on the ground.
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09/23/2014
For a while, it seemed that the threat from ISIS was limited to sparsely populated desert regions in the Middle East. Through brutal tactics and persecution of minorities, the Sunni extremist group brought slaughter and chaos to large areas of Syria and Iraq. But its merciless efforts to establish its version of an Islamic caliphate unsettled the wider region, prompting U.S. airstrikes aimed at stemming its advance.
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09/23/2014
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi opposes the deployment of foreign ground forces in Iraq as part of efforts to combat jihadists, his office said on Monday. During a meeting with Australian Defense Minister David Johnston in Baghdad, Abadi reaffirmed his "rejection of any ground intervention in Iraq," a statement said.
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09/23/2014
SIX weeks of US air strikes against the Islamic State have had little effect in containing the jihadists’ advances, with a string of towns and bases falling to the black flag. Caught between the rock of jihadists and the hard-place of Turkey, which has long struggled to suppress its ethnic Kurd population, tens of thousands of Kurds are streaming across the border to escape the advancing Islamic State (IS).
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09/23/2014
Rescue swimmer Ryan Benaglio was a spectacular ambassador for the Navy’s MH-60 Seahawk helicopter Saturday. He told visitors how much hydraulic fluid flows through its pipes, showed them how the hoist works and even lifted toddlers into the rescue basket for photos. But as excited as the 27-year-old was about his aircraft, he was pretty frank with visitors attending the North Island Naval Air Station open house.
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09/23/2014
Over this past weekend, Hezbollah, the militant Shiite group that is headquartered in Lebanon, reportedly used drones to bomb a building used by the al Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front, along Lebanon's border with Syria. The armed drones, combined with fire from Hezbollah ground troops, killed 23 Nusra Front militants and wounded some 10 others, according to a report by an Iranian news agency.
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09/23/2014
The F-35's long-term costs may “not be affordable” and appear to be substantially higher than those of the existing combat aircraft fleets that the Joint Strike Fighter will replace, the Government Acocuntability Office says in a draft report. “The annual F-35 operating and support costs are estimated to be considerably higher than the combined annual costs of several legacy aircraft,” the draft says.
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09/23/2014
Half of the helicopters in the German Navy are not cleared to fly, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports citing a document produced by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense. The report comes as a response after Navy helicopter flights were suspended when the crew aboard the Luebeck frigate discovered a 20-centimeter crack in the tale of a Sea Lynx Mk88A helicopter, according to the document. Similar defects were later found on other helicopters of that type.
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09/23/2014
Several African countries are interested in the Russian combat training aircraft Yak-130, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport's delegation head Yury Demchenko told journalists following the Africa Aerospace and Defense 2014 exhibition. "Preliminary analysis of the interest in the Russian MIC [military-industrial complex] on the part of the countries of the region showed a very strong tendency of readiness to buy Russian helicopters and aviation equipment.
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09/22/2014
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has dramatically undermined stability in Iraq, Syria and the broader Middle East, and poses a threat to international peace and security. ISIL continues to commit gross, systematic abuses of human rights and violations of international law, including indiscriminate killing and deliberate targeting of civilians, mass executions and extrajudicial killings, persecution of individuals and entire communities on the basis of their identity, kidnapping of
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09/22/2014
Some 30 ships alongside air forces of the Pacific Fleet have started warding off the attack of a simulated enemy during military exercises in Russia's Far East, a Russian Defense Ministry representative reported Sunday. "Hunter-killer and minesweeping task teams of the Pacific Fleet have been placed in the designated areas of the northwestern Pacific, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. After that, they started practicing warding off the attack on the fleet," the representative said.
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09/22/2014
Prime Minister David Cameron is set to meet US President Barack Obama this week in New York to discuss how to crack down on the marauding Middle-East extremists. But although UK military action is highly unlikely before a United Nations meeting on Tuesday, it is believed by Wednesday the Iraqi Government may formally request British assistance to stop IS’s advance into their territory.
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09/22/2014
Russia can do without French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers whose delivery has been suspended over Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov TV program me. “Last year, on November 16 we transferred to our Indian colleagues the Vikramaditya light aircraft carrier, which war formerly our Admiral Gorshkov missile cruiser.
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09/22/2014
While the plan to keep new, unmanned Global Hawks over the aging manned U-2 has support among top Defense Department officials, the top combat general in the Air Force says it is not the best military solution. The Air Force, in its fiscal 2015 budget proposal calls for retiring the entire U-2 fleet and continuing to buy RQ-4 Global Hawks to handle high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The plan reverses previous Air Force attempts to retire the large drones.
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09/22/2014
Officials have released the name of the military jet pilot who was killed in Augusta County. Lt. Col. Morris "Moose" Fontenot Jr. died. Fontenot served with the 104th Fighter Wing as the full-time wing inspector general, responsible for the implementation of the Air Force Inspection System and as an F-15 instructor pilot with more than 2,300 flight hours.
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09/22/2014
As the Obama administration seeks to win support for a coalition campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the White House and the Defense Department public relations shops have gone into overdrive. In recent weeks, the military has released near daily tallies of airstrikes in Iraq, often detailing how many targets were hit and what type of vehicle was destroyed. Those reports have frequently been pushed out again by the Defense Department and the National Security Council.
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09/22/2014
The crews of the Russian air force units have completed redeployment at the airfields of the Eastern Military District as part of the Vostok 2014 drills, a Russian Defense Ministry representative told reporters Sunday. "MiG-31 interceptor aircraft, Su-27 fighters, Su-30SM, Su-35S and Su-34 fighter aircraft, Su-24 attack aircraft, A-50 early warning and control aircraft, An-26, An-30 and An-12 aircraft, Ka-52 and Mi-24 attack helicopters.
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09/22/2014
The pilots participating in Russian strategic military exercise code-named Vostok-2014 have reflected a massive airstrike of the simulated enemy, a representative of Russia's Defense Ministry has told reporters. "Today, a simulated enemy aircraft struck a massive airstrike on the ground positions of the [Russia's] Eastern Military District military, who take part in the Vostok-2014 exercises," Defense Ministry representative said.
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09/21/2014
President Francois Hollande said Rafale fighter jets, accompanied by support planes, "entirely destroyed" the depot in the north of the country. Iraq's military spokesman said four morning airstrikes killed dozens of fighters. "Other operations will follow in the coming days with the same goal - to weaken this terrorist organisation and come to the aid of the Iraqi authorities," Mr Hollande said. "There are always risks in taking up a responsibility. I reduced the risks to a minimum."
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09/21/2014
From August 24-29, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held “Peace Mission 2014” at China’s Zhurihe Training Base, in Inner Mongolia in North China. This is China’s base for engaging in large-scale exercises with foreign armies on its soil. Peace Mission 2014 was the largest military exercise conducted by the SCO, with five of the six member countries participating (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan but not Uzbekistan).
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09/21/2014
Taiwan’s Navy plans to build new destroyers, frigates, corvettes and submarines in a 20-year force modernization program that will replace all the US and French-built warships in the fleet. Details of the program will be released in November, but Navy officials provided some information about the scope of the massive build plan during the live-fire field training event during the annual Han Kuang exercises off the east coast of Taiwan on Sept. 17.
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09/21/2014
British fighter jets were forced to intercept two Russian planes which were flying through international airspace today, the RAF has confirmed. The Typhoon jets were launched from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland to identify the aircraft. It was later discovered they were Russian military Bears.
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09/21/2014
A security official who requested anonymity told Dawn.com the two pilots injured during the crash were rushed to Ziarat for medical treatment by locals of the area. Pilots Captain Omar and Captain Hasnain Mehmood were later shifted to Quetta in an army helicopter for further treatment.
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09/21/2014
Two U.S. F-22 fighter jets intercepted six Russian military airplanes that were flying near Alaska, military officials said Friday. Lt. Col. Michael Jazdyk, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said the jets intercepted the planes about 55 nautical miles from the Alaskan coast at about 7 p.m. Pacific time Wednesday.
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09/21/2014
RAF jets could be ordered to launch air strikes against Islamist terrorists in Iraq within days.
The Prime Minister travels to New York to discuss a possible bombing plan with President Obama this week. He will hold talks at the United Nations on Tuesday and Wednesday. British sources have made clear that military action involving the UK is highly unlikely before the UN meeting and will depend on the outcome of the talks.
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09/21/2014
The Army's top officer warned Friday that it will become increasingly difficult to target and launch precision airstrikes against Islamic State militants hiding among the Iraqi population.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters that so far the targets American warplanes and drones have hit in Iraq have largely been out in the open and were "clearly identifiable."
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09/21/2014
“The Argentine armed forces are planning for 2015 the training of personnel and the necessary means to achieve an operational aptitude and attitude from all arms' systems so as to have the dissuasive capacity that enables to discourage threats which affect the vital interests of the nation” reads the introduction of the defense bill, as announced by Economy minister Axel Kicillof and cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich.
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09/20/2014
Sweden says it has summoned the Russian ambassador over an air space violation by two Russian military aircraft. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said the planes crossed into Swedish air space south of the Baltic Sea island of Oland on Wednesday. The ministry called it a “serious violation.”
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09/20/2014
Eight Russian planes, including long-range bombers, were intercepted this week by US and Canadian pilots. Sweden has made its displeasure known to the Russian government after similar incursions. Washington defense officials said on Friday that Russian planes were intercepted by US and Canadian warplanes on two separate occasions when they entered a US "Air Defense Identification Zone" (ADIZ) this week near Alaska.
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09/20/2014
First, my condolences go to the families of the missing pilots of the light attack jet/advanced trainer aircraft that disappeared on September 12, 2014. The word “condolence” should not constitute an automatic or confirmed death of the crew members but after almost six days without a confirmed or assumed location of the aircraft, and in a country with no established search and rescue culture, my initial reaction is that of loss of hope, hence the condolence.
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09/20/2014
The Russian Baltic Fleet is conducting tactical exercises for its coastal forces on one of the ranges of the Kaliningrad Region, with more than 1,000 motorized infantry soldiers and marines from its fleet and more than 250 military and special equipment units participating, the Baltic Fleet's press service said Friday.
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09/20/2014
South Korea will become the world’s third most technologically advanced producer of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) by 2023, Korea Aerospace Research Institute stated, Yonhap reported. “By 2023, South Korea should only trail behind the United States and Israel in terms of technological prowess while ranking as the fourth largest supplier of drones as measured in sales," the director of the institute's future aircraft systems Choi Seong-wook told the agency Thursday.
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09/19/2014
Developed as a multirole naval fighter, the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet has become the backbone of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and several air arms around the world. Among them there is also the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), formerly known as Canadian Forces Air Command, that began receiving a slightly modified version of the standard legacy Hornet, designated CF-18 (Canadian military designation is CF-188), in 1982.
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09/19/2014
A strategic command and staff exercise code-named Vostok 2014 (East 2014) with about 100,000 troops participating began in the Eastern Military District on Friday, the Defence Ministry said. “About 100,000 servicemen, up to 1,500 tanks, 120 aircraft, 5,000 pieces of weaponry, military and special hardware, and 70 ships will take part in the exercises,” it said.
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09/18/2014
The Obama administration, working through the Russian government, has secured an agreement from the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad to permit U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State targets in parts of Syria, according to a source briefed on the secret arrangements. The reported agreement would clear away one of the chief obstacles to President Barack Obama’s plan to authorize U.S. warplanes to cross into Syria to attack Islamic State forces.
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09/18/2014
The Republican-controlled House voted grudgingly to give the administration authority to train and arm Syrian rebels on Wednesday as President Barack Obama emphasized anew that American forces "do not and will not have a combat mission" in the struggle against Islamic State militants in either Iraq or Syria.
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09/18/2014
A P-3C anti-submarine aircraft that the United States delivered to Taiwan's Air Force last year was used in a Han Kuang drill Wednesday for the first time, in waters off eastern Taiwan, the military said. The P-3C, along with a naval S-70C anti-submarine helicopter, was deployed to locate an enemy submarine and force it to the surface off the country's east coast.
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09/18/2014
As the air war over Iraq intensifies and the Obama administration considers striking Islamic State targets in Syria, the possibility of an American aircraft going down over enemy territory is growing rapidly, and with it the potential to put American troops in direct combat in the event they are deployed to recover lost pilots.
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09/18/2014
Scotland risks having a “very hollow military force” as a result of a limited defence budget should the country become independent on 18 September, according to Edward Hunt, an IHS Senior Defence Consultant. “Maintaining a country’s armed forces is inherently expensive and requires a sustained commitment of public funds not easily amended or reversed,” he said.
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09/18/2014
The chief of French firm Dassault Aviation SA, which has been selected for supplying 126 medium-multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the Indian Air Force (IAF), will be in New Delhi later this week to meet top defence ministry officials to discuss delays in finalization of the multi-billion dollar contract.
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09/18/2014
Australian troops sent to Iraq in a military advisory role will be armed and entitled to respond if fired upon, Tony Abbott has said, in an acknowledgement of the possibility of combat. But the prime minister reaffirmed that he did not have “any intention” of having troops on the ground in a fighting capacity, after a top US general said American troops might directly join Iraqi forces against Islamic State (Isis).
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09/18/2014
Boeing received a $293 million performance-based contract from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to provide aircraft parts and support that will enable DLA to provide essential logistics support to warfighters more quickly and effectively. “Boeing proposed a holistic partnership and transformational approach that fundamentally changes the way DLA and Boeing do business,” said Julie Praiss, vice president of Tactical Aircraft & Weapons Support.
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09/18/2014
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) is ready to expand its strikes to Syria, but will "under no circumstances" target any positions other than the extremist group's sites, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister told Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency. "Attacks will be carried out against Islamic State sites, and this organization threatens everyone. Under no circumstances will they target any other positions, just the places where terrorists are located.
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09/17/2014
France is using the al-Dhafra Base, south of the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, to launch reconnaissance flights over Iraq in support of the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as other forces are expected to gather in the Gulf as part of the push against the militant group. Agence France Presse said one of its correspondents saw two French Rafale fighter jets equipped with high-precision cameras take off on Monday from the al-Dhafra Base during a visit.
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09/17/2014
Air Mobility Command cargo aircraft last month dropped 285 tons of food and water to aid refugees uprooted by violence in northwestern Iraq. C-17 cargo planes assigned to AMC flew 11 sorties over Mount Sinjar and the nearby town of Amerli to help refugees fleeing religious persecution by the Islamic State. AMC aircraft, plus other aircraft assigned to the coalition of forces fighting the Islamic State, dropped 221,000 ready-to-eat meals and 45,000 gallons of water, according an AMC spokesman.
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09/17/2014
Planned cuts to the U.S. military presence in Europe may be postponed because of concerns about Russian aggression, according to top defense officials. “Currently there are changes to overseas forces on the books,” but “I have talked to leadership here about a function to re-address those decisions because those … decisions were clearly made before” Russia sent its forces into Ukraine, the commander of U.S. European Command told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.
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09/17/2014
Australia is sending up to eight F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighters, an Airbus KC-30 multirole tanker transport and an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to the Middle East this week for possible use against Islamic State forces in Iraq. The Australian contingent will move to the United Arab Emirates where they will prepare for operations, ahead of a government decision regarding Iraq.
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09/17/2014
The warring parties in Syria have launched newly assertive attacks on several fronts in recent days, seeking to gain ground and psychological advantage ahead of an intensified United States campaign against extremist Islamic State militants that could include the first American airstrikes inside Syria.
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09/17/2014
Boeing has completed the final design review for the U.S. Air Force’s Talon HATE program. The system will improve communication and information sharing among various platforms. Talon HATE combines information from fighter networks, national sources and joint command and control assets. Transmitting over data-links, the information can then be used by joint aircraft, ships and ground stations, improving communication and information sharing across the battlespace.
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09/17/2014
The US-led international coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS, ISIL) jihadist group was announced by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in a Tuesday morning hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "More than 40 nations have already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort, and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support," Secretary Hagel said in his opening remarks.
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09/17/2014
Iraq has praised Monday’s US airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants near Baghdad as important, Iraqi military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim Atta said Tuesday. “The American Air Force together and in coordination with the General Staff in Baghdad carried out important strikes on targets in Sadr al-Yusufiyah [township 15 miles from Baghdad],” Atta was quoted as saying by the media outlet Alwasatnews.
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09/17/2014
Over 25 fighters and bombers from Russia's Western Military District have started tactical flight training in the Arctic, spokesperson for the district Col. Oleg Kochetkov said Tuesday.
"As part of the drills, flight personnel will practice joint action on air policing, air target interception, ground target engagement and airstrike and anti-aircraft fire evasion. All tasks will be practiced both during the night and day time in various weather conditions," the official said.
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09/17/2014
The debris of another unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, which was supposedly made in and launched from North Korea, have been found near the border on South Korean island Pennendo, Yonhap news agency reported citing sources in South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"All the equipment, including the engine or camera have been lost. Only an empty fuselage with broken wings has survived. it is hard to say at this time when and where these debris fell," the agency's source said.
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09/16/2014
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria is beginning to take shape, with countries around the world pledging aircraft and personnel to the mission. Following President Barak Obama's declaration on 11 September that the United States is to lead a coalition of nations against IS in Iraq and Syria, a number of regional and non-regional countries have indicated their willingness to provide support for the air campaign.
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09/16/2014
Canada is starting to ship bullets to Iraqi security forces to supply them in their battle against the Islamic State militia. Starting Thursday two Canadian military strategic lift aircraft will begin ferrying Eastern European-sourced small-arms ammunition to Iraq from the Czech Republic. The operation will rely on one CC-130J Hercules cargo aircraft and one CC-177 Globemaster III transport plane. About 100 Canadian Armed Forces aircrew, technicians and logistics specialists are supporting the e
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09/16/2014
A drill in which Taiwan's main combat aircraft will practice emergency landings and takeoffs on a freeway will be held Tuesday as planned, as Typhoon Kalmaegi will not have a major impact on Taiwan. The typhoon swept across the northern Philippines overnight and moved out over the South China Sea. It is now heading toward Hainan Island off the coast of southern China.
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09/16/2014
Lockheed Martin, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the University of Notre Dame, has demonstrated the airworthiness of a new beam control turret being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and AFRL to give 360-degree coverage for high-energy laser weapons operating on military aircraft. A research aircraft equipped with the Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) turret conducted eight flights in Michigan.
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09/16/2014
Lockheed Martin and Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) will establish a Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) Expanded Repair Capability facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – the first Sniper support facility established outside the United States. Designed to support the Royal Saudi Air Force’s (RSAF) Sniper ATPs, the Expanded Repair Capability facility will provide both affordability benefits and expedited repair times for the RSAF.
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09/16/2014
Boeing and Danish company Sky-Watch today signed an agreement that will enable Boeing to explore assisting the company in its development of a new type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under a project supported by the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation.
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09/16/2014
Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers and Tu-22M3 bombers have moved from the base airfields to the tactical airfields of the Eastern Military District as part of an unannounced combat readiness check, said the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry. "As part of a combat readiness check of the Eastern Military District forces, the crews of the Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 missile carriers will be patrolling various areas and providing aviation support to the Pacific Fleet," the ministry said.
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09/15/2014
The US Air Force has spent the last 20 years reducing its footprint in Europe, but the last six months of Russian military aggression, among other world events, could force the service to rethink that strategy. Airmen rotating through Europe should expect a higher op tempo that includes rapid deployments, joint training and more temporary assignments in Eastern Europe.
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09/15/2014
A Nigerian Air Force jet has been missing for two days after disappearing in the country's far northeast, where troops are fighting Boko Haram insurgents, the military said on Sunday.
The Alpha Jet, with two pilots on board, left its base in Yola, Adamawa state, on what was described as a "routine operational mission" at about 10:45 am (0945 GMT) on Friday and had been expected back by midday the same day.
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09/15/2014
Australia is preparing to contribute up to 10 military aircraft to the increasingly aggressive campaign against the Islamic State (IS) extremists in Syria and Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement issued that Australia was responding to a formal request from the United States for specific contributions to the international coalition.
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09/14/2014
American forces are converging on Guam, a strategically important U.S. territory 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) south of Tokyo, this month for a week of sophisticated military exercises involving two aircraft carriers. Servicemen and women will practice searching for submarines, stopping suspect vessels at sea and using a new missile defense system recently set up on Guam. They'll work through issues like how Navy F-18 pilots might talk to Air Force F-16 or F-15 pilots.
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09/14/2014
The Defence Research and Development Organisation, which is struggling to meet deadlines for delivering key military projects, is working on an elaborate weapons export plan to make inroads in the lucrative global arms market. Backed by a government that seeks to transform India from the world's biggest weapons importer into an export powerhouse, the DRDO has identified 15 weapon systems that could help the country get its foot in the door in the international arms bazaar.
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09/14/2014
Alex Salmond is demanding a £10 billion carve-up of Britain’s Armed Forces – including aircraft, ships and the transfer of up to 9,200 regular and Special Forces troops – if Scotland votes for independence. The Scottish National Party leader insists his country’s share of the UK’s military assets should be handed over free of charge so his government can form its own navy, air force and army.
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09/14/2014
As of last week, America's newest aircraft carrier was 81 percent complete, its sleek tower rising above Pier 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding. To motorists driving along Huntington Avenue, the Gerald R. Ford might seem no different than the aircraft carriers moored at Naval Station Norfolk a few miles to the south. But make no mistake, this ship, the first of a new class, is different from the bridge to the bathrooms.
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09/14/2014
A great deal is being made of the fact that the Gulf Arab states with the most to fear from ISIL are loath to contribute their militaries to president Barack Obama’s global coalition against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. Although the Gulf countries are nominally members of the coalition, they have pledged only to provide military “assistance,” rather than aircraft to strike against ISIL targets, much less troops to fight the terrorists.
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09/14/2014
A missing fighter jet pilot was presumed dead on Saturday by U.S. Navy officials, a day after the pilot was involved in a mid-air collision with another jet over the western Pacific Ocean. The Navy in a statement on Saturday said it had called off the search for the pilot, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin. Several Navy helicopters and ships were involved in the effort to find the pilot.
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09/14/2014
Search and rescue teams continue to look for a US Navy pilot missing since Thursday when two F/A-18C Hornet jets crashed into the western Pacific Ocean. Navy officials have yet to say anything about the cause of the accident, although several news sources report that it was a mid-air collision between the two fighter aircraft, which were on a training flight about 300 miles west of Wake Island.
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09/14/2014
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has ordered the military forces to suspend airstrikes on areas of the country with high civilian populations, which are currently under the control of the radical group Islamic State (IS), the Associated Press reported Saturday. "I issued this order two days ago, because we do not want to see more innocent victims falling in the places and provinces controlled by [the Islamic State]," Abadi was quoted as saying.
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09/13/2014
Two Navy jets operating off the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson crashed in the western Pacific Ocean Friday. F/A-18 Hornets, assigned to Strike Fighter squadrons 94 and 113, crashed at 5:40 p.m. local time. One pilot was quickly located and was receiving medical attention. However, search efforts were continuing for the second pilot. The exact location of the crash was not confirmed, although the Carl Vinson was about 250 miles west of Wake Island at the time.
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09/13/2014
President Putin of Russia recently sent some essential supplies to Serbia, as a personal gift, to put some of Serbia’s Mig-21 and MiG-29 aircraft back in service. The essential supplies consisted of special batteries the MiGs required to operate. Why did the Serbs lack batteries? Therein lies an interesting tale.
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09/13/2014
Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces will hold large-scale military exercises on September 13-20. Azerbaijan will host the large-scale operational and technical exercises involving all types of troops of Azerbaijani armed forces. The drills would be held in accordance with a plan approved earlier by Azerbaijani President, Supreme Commander Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on September 12.
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09/13/2014
The Air Force's newest aerial target took a major step toward preparing warfighters downrange with a realistic fourth-generation replication of what they may face on the battlefield. The first unmanned QF-16 Viper struck down over the Gulf of Mexico Sept. 5, 2014, was part of a joint effort between the Test and Training Division at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron here.
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09/13/2014
On September 11, 2001, Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney had one harrowing mission: bring down United 93. She took off from Andrews Air Force Base, but without weapons. No missiles, machine guns, etc.; she would have to ram into the commercial airliner to save American lives.
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09/13/2014
Islamic State of Iraq and Levant has been operating anti-aircraft batteries stolen from the Iraqi military. Officials said the U.S. military has determined that ISIL deployed an unspecified number of anti-aircraft artillery to counter Western air strikes in northern Iraq. Western diplomatic sources said ISIL struck at least one U.S. aircraft. They said an F-15 fighter-jet was hit by ISIL fire in late August that damaged the hydraulic system and forced the aircraft to land in neighboring Turkey.
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09/13/2014
As the Ukrainian and Middle Eastern crises roil our world, the debate quickly turns on which path will work best to deal with the evolving threats: boots on the ground, or planes in the air operating without boots on the ground. The specter of responses to the 9/11 attack and the various engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq naturally shade everyone’s perspectives.
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09/13/2014
The US Ambassador to Lebanon has confirmed his country's intention to supply the Lebanese military with an armed Cessna aircraft and other support aircraft to face the threat of armed Islamists. After meeting Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam, David Hale said that the delivery, which comes after a similar delivery last year, would be funded by Saudi funds that had been recently pledged to the Lebanese military.
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09/13/2014
On March 17, The United States, dissatisfied with Russia's actions during the crisis in Ukraine, introduced sanctions against high-ranking Russian politicians. The sanctions banned the individuals from entering the United States and froze assets and property.
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09/13/2014
Russia and Nigeria have signed a contract for the supply of Mi-171Sh and Mi-35 helicopters, Rosoboronexport deputy general director Sergei Goreslavsky told reporters Friday. "The Mi-171Sh machine is in steady demand on the foreign market. A contract with Nigeria was recently signed," Goreslavsky said, commenting on the August contract. According to him, the helicopter is in demand in Africa, and Mozambique is very interested in the rotorcraft.
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09/12/2014
One person on-board a military aircraft escaped with his life after the plane he was flying crashed in the northern Ugandan district of Gulu on Thursday. Colonel Joseph Balikuddembe, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces 4th Division Second-in-Command, said the plane crashed shortly after take-off from the 4th Division’s airbase.
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09/12/2014
Arab nations rallied Thursday behind US President Barack Obama's call to expand operations against jihadists in Iraq and Syria, as Damascus warned it would consider any action on its territory as an attack. Ten states, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, "agreed to do their share in the comprehensive fight" against Islamic State, said a statement after a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Arab counterparts.
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09/12/2014
The Abbott government is expecting a "specific" request within days for Australian military involvement in a new war in Iraq after US President Barack Obama announced he would dramatically escalate an aerial bombing campaign and send military advisers. The US-led assault, co-ordinated with international partners including Australia, will aim to seek out and destroy fighters from the Islamic State and will probably take months or even years.
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09/12/2014
U.S. officials are working hard to build a broad, international coalition to combat Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. What’s unclear is whether the international effort will produce a coalition of consequence or one in name only. At the NATO summit last week, the U.S. announced formation of a 10-nation “core coalition” that includes nine NATO members plus Australia. It has since grown.
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09/12/2014
This happens as all nine partner nations in the program assemble in Oslo for their second JSF steering board of 2014. The F-35 Program is expected to deliver around 3,000 aircraft for the nine partner nations as well as several direct export customers over the next 20 to 25 years and is the largest multinational technology development program of its kind since World War II. For the first time media will also be invited to cover the meeting from a dedicated press centre.
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09/12/2014
U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft flew more than 2,700 missions to combat Islamic State in Iraq even before President Barack Obama announced an expanded military campaign against the Sunni extremists. The 2,749 sorties through yesterday include surveillance and refueling aircraft, providing a fuller measure of the scope of operations than the 156 airstrikes that have been announced through today in statements by U.S. Central Command.
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09/12/2014
US combat aircraft will soon start flying out of a base in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq as part of a "more aggressive" air campaign against Islamic State jihadists, the Pentagon said on Thursday (Sep 11). The use of Arbil air base reflects the broadening US offensive against the IS militants, though attack helicopters already have been flying out of bases in Iraq.
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09/12/2014
Troops in Russia's Eastern Military District are moved to the highest state of combat readiness as surprise drills begin in the region, the Russian Ministry of Defense informed on Friday. "As part of a surprise check of the Eastern Military District troops' combat readiness, military formations and units located in the Eastern region of the Russian Federation have completed the implementation of measures to enter the highest degree of combat readiness," the ministry wrote in a statement.
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09/12/2014
Ten Arab states have agreed to join the coalition, headed by the United States, that aims to defeat the Islamic State (IS) militant group, also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to a Jeddah Communique, published on US State Department official website after a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Arab counterparts.
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09/11/2014
President Barack Obama pledged a “relentless” campaign to destroy Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria, with Middle Eastern allies such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan playing crucial supporting roles. In an address to the nation tonight, Obama said the U.S. would lead a “broad coalition,” using American air power in support of local forces on the ground.
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09/11/2014
The US Air Force's (USAF's) effort to devise a repair for 82 of its grounded Lockheed Martin F-16D Fighting Falcon combat aircraft is expected to begin on 11 September and be ready for verification within weeks, according to a spokeswoman for the service. "The repair process development will start this week" at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, Susan Murphy, a spokesperson for Air Force Materiel Command, told IHS Jane's on 9 September.
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09/11/2014
The Islamic State group is often described as the most fearsome jihadi outfit of all: a global menace outweighing al-Qaida, with armies trembling before its advance. But while the group has been successful at seizing parts of Iraq and Syria, it is no unstoppable juggernaut.
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09/11/2014
British combat air post-2020 will depend on the RAF’s Typhoon fast jet fleet – currently planned to total 107 aircraft at the end of this decade – and the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, operated jointly by the RAF and the Royal Navy. Then-Secretary of State for Defence Phillip Hammond said in July 2012 that the UK would buy up to forty-eight F-35B short take-off, vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft in the next ten years of the newly agreed equipment plan.
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09/11/2014
Airmen of the AWACS Joint Test Force in Seattle, Washington have recently completed testing for an upgrade to the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. The AWACS Joint Test Force is comprised of Air Combat Command personnel assigned to Detachment 1, 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron, along with Air Force Material Command personnel belonging to the 96th Operations Group Detachment 2.
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09/11/2014
Little more than a decade ago, the skies over Afghanistan looked dramatically different than they do today. Heavy bombing from B-52 Stratofortress', B-1B Lancers and B-2 Spirit bombers could be seen along with F-16 Fighting Falcons, as well as the Navy's F-18 Hornet. Today a small reconnaisance squadron from Kandahar Airfield accounts for more than eight out of 10 of the RPA combat air patrols and reconnaissance missions over Afghan skies.
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09/11/2014
Boeing delivered the fifth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India, on schedule, on Sept. 9 as part of a contract for eight aircraft to support the Indian Navy’s maritime patrol requirements.
The aircraft arrived at Naval Air Station Rajali, after a flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field, and joined the four previously delivered P-8Is.
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09/11/2014
United States will lead a "broad coalition" to root out Islamic State (IS) militants, US President Barack Obama said in excerpts of his address, released by the White House. "I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat," Obama said. "Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy," US President has noted.
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09/11/2014
Washington does not have information who is behind the chemical attacks in Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry told journalists. “We do not have detailed information about specifically who issued an order, as we did on August the 21st event. We do not have specific information about what entity delivered it,” Kerry said on Wednesday.
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09/11/2014
France will participate in an air military operation against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, if necessary, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday as quoted by Reuters. "In Iraq ... we will take part in military air action if necessary. The situation in Syria is different," Fabius told students in a speech at the Sciences Po academy in Paris.
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09/10/2014
More than four years before the aircraft is scheduled to enter service, the US Navy already is considering modifying the Lockheed Martin F-35C to perform future missions beyond 2030.
Navy officials announced on 9 September that an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for the FA-XX aircraft would begin in calendar year 2015 and will consider modifying both the F-35C and the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, as well as building a new aircraft to fulfil the requirement.
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09/10/2014
Department of National Defense (DND) Undersecretary Fernando Manalo on Tuesday said that the South Korean F/A-50 underwent the process before being selected as the country’s premier jet fighter. The defense official made this statement in response to queries made by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate during the DND budget hearing at the House of Representatives.
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09/10/2014
Canadian soldiers will participate in a military exercise in Poland as part of international efforts to "promote peace and stability" in central and eastern Europe. The Canadian Army has sent 15 personnel to Lublin, Poland, where operation Maple Arch 14 takes place until Sept. 18.
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09/10/2014
The 22nd International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO 2014) was a good opportunity to take a closer look at the ambitious technical modernization program of the Polish Armed Forces. Poland is among the very few European countries that has been increasing its military spending, as part of a shift away from Soviet-era gear and toward modern Western systems.
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09/10/2014
he British government said on Tuesday that it will give heavy machine guns and nearly half a million rounds of ammunition to Kurdish regional forces battling Islamic State insurgents in Northern Iraq, the first time it has directly supplied weapons to the Peshmerga in this conflict.
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09/10/2014
On September 3, 2014 during a press conference about Mongolia trade agreements a reporter interrupted Vladimir Putin to ask a question about the military situation in Ukraine.
How Putin answered that question was both concise and thorough. Putin also took that opportunity to lay out the case of a peace plan, which the western media completely ignored.
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09/10/2014
The U.S. military says it launched five more airstrikes in support of Iraqi government troops and Sunni tribesmen protecting the Haditha Dam against fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that controls parts of northern and western Iraq. Central Command says that a combination of U.S. attack, fighter and drone aircraft destroyed or damaged eight armed vehicles, two of which were transporting anti-aircraft artillery near the dam. It says six other vehicles also were struck.
(Read More...)
09/10/2014
Boeing delivered on schedule on Sept. 4 the third Peace Eagle Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to the Turkish Armed Forces, further increasing the country’s self-defense capabilities. The AEW&C aircraft was delivered at Konya Air Base, the fleet’s main operating base. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the fourth aircraft for the program in 2015.
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09/10/2014
The flyover of two Russian aircraft over the Black Sea was planned and in accordance with international law and they did not approach a Canadian Navy vessel in the area, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Gen.-Maj. Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday. “On September 7, 2014, the crew of two aircraft, an Su-24 and an An-26, from the Russian Air Force successfully completed planned flights over neutral waters of the Black Sea in the area of the state borders of the Russian Federation.
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09/10/2014
Airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) militants’ positions in Iraq are extremely effective, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said. "The airstrikes that we conducted in support of Mosul Dam operations led to Iraqi forces retaking Mosul Dam. The airstrikes that we took in and around Amirli broke the back of the ISIL forces that were attempting to take Amirli. And now, over the weekend, these airstrikes conducted in support of Haditha Dam.
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09/09/2014
White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested Monday that President Barack Obama will launch a long-term drone war against the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), whether or not Congress approves. He repeatedly declined to say if Obama would seek permission from Congress to launch airstrikes in Syria, but insisted the president would like to get congressional “buy in.”
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09/09/2014
The Royal Air Force (RAF) has deployed three Tornado GR.4 combat aircraft to Chad to help search for missing Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in April.
The aircraft, from II Army Cooperation Squadron, departed Norfolk in late August, according to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly. The Tornados are operating from N’Djamena International Airport in Chad, where they are hosted by the French military detachment there, reports Air Forces Daily.
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09/09/2014
The Coalition might have marked their first anniversary in government with a dip in the polls, but they’re on the right track when it comes to military support in the Middle East. The latest Newspoll reveals the majority of Australians support the federal government’s decision to provide humanitarian aid and weapons - including 50 tonnes of small arms and ammunition - to forces opposing Islamic State (otherwise known as ISIS or ISIL) militants.
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09/09/2014
In an aggressive move to reclaim its maritime expeditionary heritage after 13 years of grinding land-based combat and counterinsurgency/nation-building, the Marine Corps has published a new capstone conceptual document that charts a new course into the future. Expeditionary Force 21 draws heavily on the Corps’ historic roles as a forward-deployed or fast-responding force willing and able to perform a wide range of duties.
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09/09/2014
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is meeting Monday with Turkey’s top politicians and its senior military leader to discuss forming a regional coalition to battle the Islamic State group. During his first official visit to Turkey, Mr. Hagel is expected to urge officials, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President Recep Tayip Erdogan, to have their country play a key role in the regional component of an international plan to combat the militant group, U.S. officials said.
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09/09/2014
Modern simulators used for practice make it possible to considerably speed up pilot training and to create training situations for experienced pilots in which aircraft operate at the peak of their technical capability. The quiet merchant town of Torzhok in the Tver Region is known not only for its ancient history but also for being home to one of Russia's best military helicopter training schools, the Center for Pilots' Military Retraining.
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09/09/2014
Russia’s Air Force does not depend on foreign components, United Aircraft Corporation CEO Mikhail Pogosyan said on Monday. “Clearly, our military aviation must not depend on foreign supplies, and we are pursuing this policy now,” he said. In civil aviation, the share of domestically-made components is 50% “This figure is higher when aircraft are upgraded. This [growth] happens faster now,” Pogosyan said.
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09/09/2014
In the summer of 1990, when Saddam Hussain's army marched into Kuwait, the U.S. marshaled an international coalition consisting of nations as eclectic as Argentina, Syria, Senegal and South Korea. But as the Islamic State jihadist group, also known as IS or ISIS, with a self-styled caliphate overruns large tracts of northern Iraq and Syria and shocks the world with a brutal campaign, building a similar coalition is proving to be exceedingly difficult.
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09/09/2014
India may acquire 126 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft from Germany, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported Monday. Indian and German officials are once again negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal for the delivery of 126 German-made fighter jets to India, the agency reported, citing German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
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09/09/2014
Russian reconnaissance and strike drone "Chirok" will begin tests in 2015, the CEO of the Moscow Research Radio Engineering Institute Yuri Nevzorov told RIA Novosti on Sunday.
"After the new year , we will launch the test. We have three models of the aircraft in total,” said Nevzorov during the 10th Anniversary of the International Gidroaviasalon exhibition in Gelendzhik, Russia.
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09/08/2014
A total of P24.7 billion is needed next year to fund 12 projects to enhance the military’s capabilities. The STAR obtained data showing that among the projects that the Department of National Defense (DND) wants to include in the 2015 budget are lead-in fighter trainer jets ammunition, long-range patrol aircraft, multi-purpose attack craft, rocket launchers and base upgrades.
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09/08/2014
About 1,500 Marines and sailors have been busily testing the capabilities of the Navy’s newest amphibious assault ship during a two-month transit in a region that rarely sees a warship of this size. Marines and sailors have been engaging important U.S. allies in this part of the world since leaving the Mississippi shipyard in July.
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09/08/2014
The head of the Arab League urged its members Sunday to confront Islamic State extremists "militarily and politically," issuing an apparent call to arms as President Barack Obama prepares to go to lawmakers and the American public with his own plan to stop the militants.
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09/08/2014
The United States on Sunday expanded its air war against Islamic extremists in Iraq, sending fighter jets to attack targets near the Haditha Dam in coordination with ground forces from the Shiite Muslim-dominated Iraqi military and local Sunni Muslim tribes. The operation was led by Anbar’s governor, Ahmad Khalaf, who received a serious head wound from shrapnel from a mortar round apparently fired by Islamic State fighters.
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09/08/2014
New details have emerged on the aircraft lineup for the new carrier Liaoning, which analysts say is a “plausible” mix of foreign-designed fighter jets and various helicopters, yet limited due to its lack of other necessary aircraft. According to the Aug. 28 edition of the Chinese-language Shanghai Morning Post, the carrier will house 36 aircraft.
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09/07/2014
American warplanes continued their airstrikes on the Islamic State militant group in northern Iraq on Friday and Saturday, destroying some of its military vehicles, the U.S. Central Command said. A mix of attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft were used to conduct two air raids in support of operations near Irbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, the Central Command said in a statement.
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09/07/2014
s many as 12 RAF Tornado GR4s jets could join eight members of the US-led “core coalition” for strategic bombing raids over Northern Iraq. Details of the countdown to combat emerged as Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond renewed Britain’s pledge to tackle the “pernicious threat” of IS at source, telling the Sunday Express that, while there would be no British boots on the ground, “we have ruled nothing else out at this stage”.
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09/07/2014
David Cameron used the runup to the Nato summit in south Wales to focus attention on the Islamic State (Isis) threat. The prime minister left the clear impression that Britain was moving closer to launching air strikes in northern Iraq in concert with the Americans, who are already conducting limited attacks.
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09/07/2014
The disclosure that the U.S. military is flying surveillance sorties over Syria to collect information on the Islamic State and identify potential targets means that one service’s fleet is busy in the region, experts say. The mission calls for a fleet that can best thwart Syria’s advanced air defense systems, the threat of which led military leaders to argue against enforcement of a no-fly zone over the country last year.
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09/07/2014
A tentative peace deal for Ukraine reached Friday raised hopes for a resolution of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, even as the U.S. and Europe beefed up sanctions aimed at pressuring Russia to leave the battlefield. After a day of continued fighting, Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russia separatists in the east of the country said they had stopped their military operations when the cease-fire went into effect at 6 p.m. local time.
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09/06/2014
The mission to crush the Islamic State out of existence leaves the US and the UK facing the unpalatable prospect of having to make common cause with foes in Iran and Syria. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has approved contacts with US military officials to help defeat jihadists, it was claimed last night. Ayatollah Khamenei has authorised his top commander to co-ordinate military operations with the US, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, sources in Tehran told the BBC.
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09/06/2014
RAF Panavia Tornado GR.4 combat aircraft have deployed to West Africa to join multinational operations against the radical Islamist group Boko Haram. The aircraft from 2 (Army Co-operation) Squadron left RAF Marham in Norfolk during the last week of August and have since begun operating over Nigeria from the French airbase at N'Djamena in Chad, according to defence sources in London.
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09/06/2014
The US Navy (USN) is to convert its stockpile of TV-guided AGM-65A/B Maverick air-to-surface missiles to the laser-guided AGM-65E2 configuration under a USD49.5 million contract awarded to Raytheon on 3 September. The conversion of 500 missiles will run through to the end of January 2017. Although not mentioned in the Department of Defense's (DoD's) notification, the contract most likely arises from the current USN air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq.
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09/06/2014
The US has openly expressed alarm over IS, saying the group was "beyond anything" it has previously seen. The US began launching air strikes on IS in northern Iraq on 9 August - at the request of the Iraqi government - but has said it will take a "broad international coalition" to defeat it.
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09/06/2014
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is no longer a peasant air force of ancient fighters incapable of projecting power beyond its borders. During the Cold War, there was no need for such an expensive force—or to fight a major war outside of China’s borders. Now, as China’s economy has expanded at a staggering rate, China’s interests have grown beyond its borders, indeed even beyond its traditional area of interest in East Asia to a truly global scope.
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09/06/2014
When a small plane began to drift off course early Friday, the North American Aerospace Defence Command anticipated a scenario it had seen before. “F-15 fighter jets are currently escorting an unresponsive small aircraft over the Atlantic, possible hypoxia,” NORAD tweeted Friday afternoon. “Hypoxia” - the medical term for oxygen deprivation - has been the culprit in several air crashes of the past.
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09/06/2014
David Cameron has reversed plans to mothball one of two new £3?billion aircraft carriers.
The Prime Minister said that the 65,000-ton HMS Prince of Wales will be brought into service instead of being kept as a reserve vessel. Defence cuts had meant that only one of the ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth, would enter active service.
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09/06/2014
There is a threat from terror groups such as al Qaeda but the country is ready to tackle it, IAF chief Arup Raha said on Friday in the light of reports that the international terrorist outfit has established a new branch to wage jihad in India. "There is a threat from such agencies but the nation is prepared for it," Raha said when asked about the al-Qaeda threat regarding the group starting operations in India.
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09/06/2014
The Russian Navy is to receive 10 new deck-based MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) jet fighters by the end of 2014, Navy Commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov said Friday. “The Naval Aviation Forces will receive 10 MiG-29K aircraft by the end of 2014,” Chikov said in the Black Sea Port city of Gelendzhik.
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09/05/2014
The forces responsible for Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal will conduct major exercises this month involving more than 4,000 soldiers, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of rising tension with NATO over the Ukraine crisis.
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09/05/2014
The US Marine Corps faces a new delay for Lockheed Martin F-35B entry into service if operating limitations caused by a recent engine problem cannot be limited by the end of September. “I need the rest of the test airplanes back to full envelope by the end of this month, otherwise we will start seeing delays in future milestones that we haven’t pushed up against yet,” says Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, chief of the Pentagon’s F-35 joint program office (JPO).
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09/05/2014
The suspended delivery of two French-built amphibious warships to the Russian Navy could give NATO an opportunity to buy a ready-made platform for its planned rapid reaction force, retired Adm. James G. Stavridis — former NATO Supreme Allied Commander — told USNI News on Thursday.
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09/05/2014
Dubbed “Peace Mission 2014,” the “antiterrorism” military exercise hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) took place last month in northern China amid growing tensions within the regional alliance. Five nations — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — sent a total of 7,000 soldiers to the six-day maneuvers that ended Aug. 29, including 5,000 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and 1,000 Russian soldiers.
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09/05/2014
NATO leaders began their summit by discussing what feels like yesterday's war. With eastern Ukraine burning and Islamic extremists rampaging across Syria and northern Iraq, western military allies turned their attention Thursday to the final withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan, slated for the end of the year.
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09/05/2014
US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron reaffirmed their commitment to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Thursday, as a major NATO conference got underway near the Welsh city of Newport. In a joint op-ed published in London newspaper The Times, the two leaders said the NATO alliance remained relevant in the face of crises in Ukraine and the Middle East.
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09/05/2014
Ample Strike 2014, a large aviation exercise of forward air controllers, pilots and other soldiers from 12 NATO member countries, started today, spokeswoman Magdalena Dvoráková, from the Czech General Staff, told the Czech News Agency. Four Slovak L-39 Albatros planes, two Slovak Mi-17 helicopters and one Lithuanian L-39 aircraft landed at the airfields in Prague-Kbely and Cáslav, central Bohemia.
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09/05/2014
Boeing and the U.S. Army have proven the capabilities of the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) in maritime conditions, successfully targeting a variety of aerial targets at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. “Under windy, rainy and foggy weather conditions in Florida, these engagements were the most challenging to date with a 10-kilowatt laser on HEL MD,” said Dave DeYoung, Boeing Directed Energy Systems director.
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09/05/2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would do everything possible to establish a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. “We will do everything possible in order to establish a ceasefire. Soldiers lose their lives, innocent civilians die. I, as President, will do everything possible,” Poroshenko said during press conference at the NATO summit in Wales.
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09/04/2014
Any military operation takes time to plan but an open house and air show can take years. Just ask Maj. Todd Wasilewski. He’s the air operations director for the Open House and Air Show at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Sept. 6 and 7. Wasilewski works in the standardization and evaluation office, where his primary duty is that of a KC-135 Stratotanker instructor pilot. He’s been at Selfridge for 13 years, five of them flying the C-130.
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09/04/2014
“Russia proposed to give MiG-29s to Lebanon two to three years ago,” Jaber said. “I said we don’t need it, because it will be over Syria or Israel or the sea within seconds and will either be shot down or be useless. So I proposed that they change it to helicopters.”
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09/04/2014
About 350 new U.S. troops will begin arriving in Iraq on Wednesday, bringing the total American military footprint there above 1,000 personnel for the first time in nearly three years. President Obama approved the additional troops — mostly soldiers and Marines — late Tuesday night. They will arrive via U.S. military aircraft and be assigned primarily to diplomatic security duties around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, military officials said.
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09/04/2014
The Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) new Advanced Jet Trainer, the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 aircraft, was inaugurated into 150 Squadron at Cazaux Air Base in France on Wednesday afternoon. Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen officiated the ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Ng emphasised the significant role of the M-346 aircraft in training the RSAF's next generation of fighter aircrew efficiently and effectively.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/rsaf-inaugurates-
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09/04/2014
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 James E. Groves III’s helicopter had completed a dive during a test-fire exercise north of Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan when trouble erupted. The main rotor of his Kiowa Warrior OH-58D wasn’t spinning quickly enough to keep him airborne, and a warning alarm went off as he attempted to climb from a height of about 200 feet.
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09/04/2014
Any air arm able to field 30 operational MiG-21s, 11 Douglas A-4K Skyhawks and which ordered up to 28 light combat jets would be placed well up the rankings in Flight International’s annual World Air Forces directory. It may come as a surprise, therefore, to learn that the aircraft listed above belong to a commercial company. Welcome to Draken International, the world’s largest private air force.
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09/04/2014
At this summer's Farnborough Air Show in England, the talk was dominated by the mishaps of one plane: the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. Due to be adopted by major air forces in the decades to come, it was supposed to be the star of the show. But in the end, the $100m-a-unit jet failed to turn up to its coming-out party after an engine fire in one of the production models grounded the fleet.
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09/04/2014
Deputy Air Chief Air Marshal S B P Sinha on Wednesday became the first officer of his rank to fly indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas and praised its performance, saying it handled "well" on the ground as well as in the air. Mr Sinha flew the aircraft (trainer version) in Bengaluru where he was on a two-day visit to Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) during which he took a review of various aspects of the Tejas programme.
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09/04/2014
United States Navy destroyer USS Ross has entered Black Sea, according to the statement in US Navy 6th Fleet official command account on Twitter. “USS Ross enters Black Sea, promoting peace and stability while working with NATO allies and partners,” the statement says.
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09/04/2014
India’s Air Force commanders have expressed interest in the Russian surface-to-air missile systems in the course of the joint Russian-Indian Air Force exercise “Aviandra-2014”, Maj. Gen. Sergey Babakov told journalists Wednesday. “They have expressed great interest in our systems, they probably need to modernize their weapons arsenal,” Maj. Gen. Babakov, head of the Russian Air Force's anti-aircraft missile troops, said.
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09/03/2014
Boeing has supported more than 1,000 missions for the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) program’s fleet of three C-17 airlifters, achieving a mission capable rate of nearly 94 percent during the five years it has provided maintenance, engineering and spares through a comprehensive performance-based logistics program.
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09/03/2014
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed with Russian President Putin by phone on a "ceasefire process" for the east. His office initially reported that a "permanent ceasefire" had been agreed but later revised its statement. The Kremlin stressed Mr Putin had not agreed to a ceasefire as Russia was not party to the conflict.
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09/03/2014
The US Air Force is moving ahead with plans to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet engine based on technological improvements achieved through an ongoing effort to produce a power plant for a future long-range bomber. In a request for information released 19 August, the air force said it plans to release a final request for proposals for the adaptive engine transfer programme (AETP) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, “notionally December 2014.”
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09/03/2014
Danny DeKeyser prepared for the ride of a lifetime by packing a couple of plastic bags in his pants pocket. He took them out when he felt a little air sick while flying over Southeast Michigan at speeds he'd never experienced before, but he didn't need them. DeKeyser, the second-year defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings, handled it well, his 40-minute flight Tuesday on a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet.
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09/03/2014
Islamic militants seized a dozen commercial aircraft in an attack on a Libyan airport last week. Now, intelligence agencies are warning the jets could be used in 9/11 style attacks.
“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” one official told The Washington Free Beacon this morning. “We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”
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09/03/2014
The U.S. Army awarded Boeing a $234 million foreign military sales contract to supply 24 AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopters to Saudi Arabia, affirming a long pending order. The Department of Defense announced the contract award on August 29; the estimated contract completion date is Dec. 31, 2016.
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09/03/2014
The video, titled “A second message to America”, includes warnings to Washington and its allies to halt military operations against Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq. An RAAF transport plane yesterday delivered its first cargo of weapons to Kurdish fighters battling the jihadist group and the Abbott government has left open the possibility of sending combat aircraft to mount attacks in Iraq.
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09/03/2014
The savagery of the jihadist campaign in Iraq would normally be enough to drive the world’s nations to military intervention, to stop the slaughter of thousands of men, women and children that is being promoted with pride by the terrorists calling themselves the Islamic State.
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09/03/2014
The military will hold its annual Han Kuang series of exercises later this month, including a drill to practice emergency takeoffs and landings of fighter jets on a freeway, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday. The drill is set for Sept. 16 on the Minxiong section of the No. 1 National Freeway, which passes through the southern county of Chiayi, military officials said at a news conference. It is one of four sections of that freeway designated as emergency runways in the event of war.
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09/03/2014
Should Canadians feel obliged to spend an extra $20 billion on defence because Russian President Vladimir Putin is bullying Ukraine? Of course not. Canada must do its share to deter aggression against our European allies, as we have in the past. But we can help them manage the threat without busting the bank.
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09/03/2014
Despite the ongoing hostilities in southeastern Ukraine, the United States plans to go ahead with the Rapid Trident military exercise, scheduled to take place in western Ukraine later this month and expected to involve up to 1,000 servicemen from NATO countries and other US allies, Reuters reported Tuesday. "At the moment, we are still planning for [the exercise] to go ahead," the agency quoted US Navy Captain Gregory Hicks, a spokesman for the US Army's European Command, as saying.
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09/03/2014
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered the last four F-16 aircraft to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) under Pakistan F-16 Modernization Program, at a ceremony held at TAI's facilities in Ankara, Turkey, on September 02, 2014.
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09/02/2014
Ukraine's defence minister has accused Russia of launching a "great war" that could claim tens of thousands of lives. Russia dismissed the comments, saying they only pulled the Ukrainian people further into a bloody civil conflict. The comments came after Ukrainian troops were forced to flee Luhansk airport in the east of the country amid an offensive by pro-Russian rebels.
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09/02/2014
Iraqi forces aided by US air strikes have broken through to the jihadist-besieged Shiite town of Amerli, where thousands have been trapped for over two months with dwindling food and water supplies. It is the biggest offensive success for the Iraqi government since militants led by the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State (IS) overran large areas of five provinces in June, sweeping security forces aside.
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09/02/2014
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described Russia’s incursion into Ukraine as an act of war, a significant escalation in rhetoric the day after an announcement of fresh Australian sanctions designed to hamper further action by President Vladimir Putin. “It is an invasion, let’s call it for what it is. It is an invasion of Ukraine and it’s absolutely, utterly reprehensible.
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09/02/2014
In his first state visit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with a kindred spirit, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe. The two leaders, wary of China's glowing clout in Asia, have agreed to strengthen defense ties.
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09/02/2014
Russia has delivered a batch of Mi-28 Night Hunter attack helicopters to Baghdad, Iraq's Defense Ministry said on its website. "These helicopters will be put into operation to contribute to the military's struggle against the Islamic State terrorist group," the ministry said Saturday. Russia has been ramping up its support for the Iraqi government as it struggles to contain the spread of the radical Islamic State from war-torn Syria to Iraq.
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09/02/2014
The Israeli air force (IAF) shot down a Syrian air force unmanned air vehicle (UAV) when it entered Israeli airspace on 31 August, according to local sources. The IAF shot down the Iranian-made Yasir UAV with a Raytheon Patriot surface-to-air missile after it crossed the border into Israeli territory. Israeli sources allege the aircraft was being used to gather data on rebel forces in Syria.
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09/02/2014
The F-15C "Eagle" represents a pinnacle of human technology in man's ability to break the hold of gravity and take to the air in flight. Its twin jet engines push the aircraft's 14 tons of titanium and aluminum to elevations of 65,000 feet at over two-and-a-half times the speed of sound. It can fly in any weather condition, night or day, and is one of the most successful combat aircraft ever designed.
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09/02/2014
Tony Abbott says an Australian C-130 Hercules aircraft was not shot at by extremists while delivering humanitarian aid to northern Iraq. The prime minister downplayed News Corp Australia reports the RAAF transport plane was attacked by Islamic State extremists as it dropped aid to the besieged town of Amerli.
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09/02/2014
The tanker test campaign was developed in five flights in which the A400M performed 33 dry contacts and dispensed 18.6 tonnes of fuel to an F/A-18 Hornet in 35 wet contacts. With a basic fuel capacity of 50.8 tonnes which can be increased by the use of extra cargo hold tanks, the A400M is the most capable tactical tanker in the market.
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09/01/2014
RAF transport planes have taken part in an air drop to bring urgently needed humanitarian aid to the besieged Iraqi town of Amirli, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said. The Hercules aircraft formed part of an international effort to resupply the town which has been under siege by Islamic State (IS) militants for nearly two months.
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09/01/2014
Barack Obama was on Sunday urged to take a tougher approach towards Russia and Syria, as Republicans and Democrats returned from their summer vacations in confrontational mood.
After a week in which the president was criticised for failing to develop military plans for tackling Islamic State militants inside Syria and taking a relatively cautious approach to Russian incursions in Ukraine, senior figures in Congress took turns to demand greater US intervention.
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09/01/2014
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told local media that unauthorised aircraft spotted in Maldivian airspace belong to the United States Air Force. CAA Director Abdulla Rasheed told local paper Haveeru the aircraft had originated from Foalhavahi – also known as the Chagos Islands – home to a US military base. “No one can enter the area, without our knowing. If anyone were to enter, they would have to gain our permission first,” Rasheed told Haveeru.
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09/01/2014
Accusing Russia of waging a campaign of “military aggression and terror” against his country, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine told European leaders here Saturday that their own countries’ security depended on stopping Russian troops from stoking a conflict in eastern Ukraine that he said could escalate into a wider war.
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09/01/2014
When a Chinese J-11 fighter intercepted and flew within 20 feet of a US Navy P-8 Poseidon on Aug. 19 off the Hainan Island coast, it set off debate in the US about whether the forward-deployed US military can continue to conduct the types of operations that strategic necessity requires.
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09/01/2014
Two RAAF E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft have returned to Australia after participating in Exercise Red Flag Alaska last month. The two 2SQN aircraft, supported by 59 personnel from the RAAF’s 49 Wing, took part in a number of ‘large force employment’ air combat exercises involving up to 60 aircraft during Red Flag Alaska 14-3, which ran from August 7 to 22.
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09/01/2014
The Greens this morning have tried to suspend Parliament to debate the threat of “mission creep” for Australia’s forces deployed to the region. Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday announced the RAAF’s involvement in the supply of military equipment to anti-Islamic State fighters, with the first mission to take place “in coming days”. But Mr Abbott played down talk that Australian troops could be sent into the country, saying there was no role “envisaged” for boots on the ground.
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09/01/2014
Israeli military have shot down a drone that flew into Israeli-controlled airspace near the Quneitra border crossing between the Golan Heights and Syria, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday. “The IDF intercepted a UAV that breached Israeli airspace from Syria near Quneitra. The UAV was targeted by a ‘Patriot’ missile,” the IDF statement said.
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08/31/2014
Iraqi forces have reached the besieged town of Amerli in northern Iraq, where thousands have been trapped by jihadists, military officials say. The apparent breakthrough comes after the US carried out air strikes overnight on Islamic State (IS) positions near the town. The UK, France and Australia joined the US in dropping humanitarian aid.
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08/31/2014
Thirty-two Philippine U.N. peacekeepers were rescued on Saturday from Islamists who fired at their post on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and trapped them for two days, U.N. officials said, while militants reinforced their siege of another group of 40.
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08/31/2014
Iraq has launched a major operation to liberate the town of Amerli which has been besieged by Islamic State fighters for more than two months. The operation to retake town started on Saturday with Iraqi troops and Shia militia involved in the fighting. The AFP news agency reported that Kurdish peshmerga were also involved in the operation.
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08/31/2014
The European Union has threatened to launch a fresh round of sanctions against Russia in response to ongoing aggressive military action in eastern Ukraine. The Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine marks a "point of no return" and risks a "state of war" with Europe, said EU leaders. The group of nations is prepared to ramp up sanctions against Russia, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko at a summit in Brussels on Saturday.
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08/31/2014
The U.S. military says fighter aircraft and unmanned drones have struck Islamic State militants near Iraq's Mosul Dam. In a statement issued Saturday, U.S. Central Command says the five latest U.S. airstrikes were in support of operations conducted by Iraqi security forces.
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08/31/2014
Canada is interested in joining a NATO joint expeditionary force of at least 10,000 troops that is being created to bolster the alliance’s eastern flank in an effort to check Russia’s creeping military takeover of eastern Ukraine, according to Britain’s Financial Times newspaper. The British-led division-sized force will include troops from at least six countries. It will be comprised of air, sea and land components as well as special forces.
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08/31/2014
New Delhi is increasingly concerned about the sluggish progress in the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project, a joint endeavour between India and Russia. Driving India's worries is the fact that the Russians are neither explaining why a prototype aircraft caught fire during a technology demonstration earlier this year nor addressing other technical doubts expressed by India.
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08/31/2014
The government has consistently ruled out the deployment of Australian combat forces on the ground in Iraq. However, special forces such as the SAS are not conventional combat ground forces. Their deployment would not breach the government’s commitment.
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08/31/2014
Two C-130 cargo airplanes lifted off into the summer sky from the New Castle Air National Guard Base early Saturday morning, the 45 airmen aboard bound for Germany and 10 days of hauling Army paratroopers during a large multi-nation training exercise. Taking part in Saber Junction is a big deal for 166th Airlift Wing. The Army-led training, involving 5,800 troops from 16 countries, is the biggest exercise the unit has ever taken part in.
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08/31/2014
Australian military aircraft will fly guns and ammunition into Iraq to help fight Islamic State militants, Australia's prime minister said on Sunday. "The United States government has requested that Australia help to transport stores of military equipment, including arms and munitions, as part of a multi-nation effort," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement.
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08/30/2014
When the leaders of the North Atlantic alliance wrapped up their Chicago summit two years ago and started preparing for their 65th anniversary meeting in 2014, they could have asked John Travolta to provide the soundtrack, “Stayin’ Alive.” At that point the alliance looked like a Cold War organization in search of a mission two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union. And all the while, it expanded its membership to the east, closer to Russia.
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08/30/2014
Following the fatal crash of a 104th Fighter Wing F-15C aircraft in the remote mountains near Deerfield Valley, Va. the family has asked that the unit share with the public the name of the pilot who was fatally injured Wednesday. Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot Jr. served with the 104th Fighter Wing as the full-time Wing Inspector General, responsible for the implementation of the Air Force Inspection System and as an F-15 instructor pilot with more than 2,300 flight hours.
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08/30/2014
Kiev and its Western backers accused Moscow of sending Russian troops and armor to fight alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine, dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis and prompting the U.S. and Europe to threaten new sanctions. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko convened an emergency meeting of his security chiefs Thursday and vowed that "Ukraine can defend itself."
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08/30/2014
How did I get into this? I’m in the cockpit of a fighter jet flying over Sweden and the pilot has apparently handed the aircraft over to me. At Mach 1.2 – that’s 1,500kph. When Saab test pilot Hans Einerth calmly says “Your controls”, I assume he is joking. “You want me to grab the joystick?” Yes, he replies, so casually that he sounds more like a father urging his toddler to let go of the handrail and slip down a playground slide than a man relinquishing control of a $50m Gripen fighter jet.
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08/30/2014
A team of research students and staff from Warsaw University of Technology have successfully demonstrated the first phase of flight test and integration of unmanned aircraft platforms with an autonomous mission control system. The demonstration marks a significant milestone in a partnership between the university and Lockheed Martin that began earlier this year.
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08/30/2014
Seven NATO's member states plan to create new response force of at least 10,000 soldiers in order to strengthen the alliance's defense capabilities in light of the escalating Ukrainian crisis, Financial Times wrote. Britain will lead the forces from Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway and the Netherlands, with Canada potentially joining in. The new NATO Response Force (NRF) will include air and naval units, as well as ground troops, according to FT.
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08/30/2014
Sweden increased the alert of its military forces due to the escalating crisis in Ukraine, Reuters reported citing the country's armed forces. "Given the serious nature of the development in Ukraine, the Swedish military is responding by among other things a higher alert status for the General Staff at headquarters and intensified intelligence gathering," the agency quoted Forsvarsmakten, Sweden’s military authority, as saying in a statement Friday.
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08/30/2014
Norway is sending a tank battalion to the Latvian-Russian border for two-months drills, VG newspaper reported. The drills are Norway's response to NATO's request to support the allies in light of the growing activity in the Baltics and are Oslo's contribution to calm the allies, Norway's Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide said in the Friday interview with the paper. He underlined that only excercises were in plan.
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08/30/2014
The second phase of joint Russian-Indian Air Force exercise “Aviaindra-2014” is set to take place in India in November, deputy chief of the Russian Air Force's General Staff, Aleksandr Lyapkin, told reporters Friday. “The second phase of the exercise will take place in India after the end of monsoon season, on November 10-21. The location isn't known yet, this will become clear in October, when planning is finished,” Lyapkin said.
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08/30/2014
India has confirmed its participation in the Aviadarts flight-skills competition hosted by Russia, Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of Russian Air Force Major General Alexander Lyapkin told RIA Novosti. “In 2015, another flight skills competition will take place, and an Indian crew plans to take part in it. As you can remember, this year China and Belarus participated in the contest,” Lyapkin said.
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08/29/2014
China’s efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from standoffs with U.S. military planes to announcing an air defense identification zone, according to two retired army officers. China could seek to restrict the air space around Hainan Island as the U.S. routinely runs surveillance flights in the area, retired Colonel Yue Gang said. The move would mirror a zone China set up in November over portions of the East China Sea disputed with Japan.
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08/29/2014
Kiev and its Western backers accused Moscow of sending Russian troops and armor to fight alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine, dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis and prompting the U.S. and Europe to threaten new sanctions. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko convened an emergency meeting of his security chiefs Thursday and vowed that "Ukraine can defend itself."
(Read More...)
08/29/2014
Now is the time for Saudi Arabia to man up. There is broad agreement that the black-clad savages of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham pose a profound threat first to neighboring Arab regimes and only then to Europe and the United States. Yet amid the debate over how a reluctant U.S. or timid Europe should respond, there is no discussion of what Saudi Arabia should do. This is a remarkable omission that ought to shame the Saudis.
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08/29/2014
The Czech Republic moved a step closer to completing a deal to sell 12 subsonic fighter planes to Iraq after the Defence Ministry and plane maker Aero Vodochody agreed on conditions, defence officials said on Thursday. The Czech army has a surplus of the L-159 fighters, made by Aero and used as training or light combat aircraft, and has been looking for a buyer. In July, the Czechs signed a contract to sell 14 L-159 planes to U.S. company Draken International.
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08/29/2014
U.S. Air Force Air National Guard Maj. Matthew Mutti said that if the pilot whose F-15C jet crashed in Virginia on Wednesday ejected, that pilot is trained, if not equipped, to survive in the wild. Every Air Force member who flies goes through an extensive 19-day survival, evasion, resistance and escape, or SERE, course taught at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State.
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08/29/2014
In case you haven't noticed, the military enjoys its abbreviations. That's especially true of the flying forces, which seemingly speak in nothing but shorthand. While we will endeavor to explain as many of those phrases as possible in this series, today, we'll focus on one of the most common types – the combat air patrol, or CAP.
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08/29/2014
If combat aircraft are sent, they would probably be six of the RAAF’s 24 Super Hornet fighter-bombers. They would need to be escorted to the Middle East by a flying tanker, possibly one of the RAAF’s KC-30s. If the RAAF tankers are not ready for such a mission, the Hornets could be refuelled by a US tanker based on the island of Diego Garcia or by a contacted civilian tanker.
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08/29/2014
Boeing will participate in the annual MSPO International Defence Industry exhibition in Kielce, Poland, which runs Sept. 1-4. The company will highlight several of its defense products and services including the AH-64 Apache and AH-6i combat helicopters, the KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker, and unmanned aerial systems such as the ScanEagle, among other programs.
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08/28/2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has cancelled a visit to Turkey, citing "Russian troop deployments" in the east of the country. Mr Poroshenko said his place was in Kiev in view of a sharp deterioration in the situation in Donetsk region.
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08/28/2014
In Australia’s remote top end U.S. fighter pilots are engaged in combat drills, while Marines sip beers at night in pubs in the tropical city of Darwin. Thousands of kilometers to the north, the U.S. finds itself in increasingly real standoffs with China’s air force. “The planes are noisy but they’re just a part of life,” said Rachael Molloy, 24, who sells crocodile skin whips at the evening beach markets in Darwin, which plays host to the 22-day exercises where jets roar overhead until late at
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08/28/2014
Three B-2 Spirits redeployed to the continental U.S. following a deployment here as part of U.S. Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region. The bombers, and approximately 200 support Airmen, assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri deployed here, Aug. 6, to improve combat readiness and ensure regional stability.
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08/28/2014
Australia has signalled its willingness to contribute Super Hornets to US-led air strikes in Iraq, with the defence force “at a high state of readiness”. The defence minister, David Johnston, said Australia was yet to be approached to provide assistance other than humanitarian relief, but would continue to talk to the US about steps to preserve civilian life from the threat posed by the Islamic State (Isis).
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08/28/2014
India is planning to deploy the MiG-29K naval combat aircraft in Vishakhapatnam to strengthen the security of the country's eastern coast. The MiG 29Ks are being deployed in INS Degha near Vishakhapatnam and would be also stationed on the INS Vikrant or the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being built at Kochi, Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said.
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08/28/2014
An F-15C fighter jet from the Massachusetts Air National Guard crashed in Augusta County near Deerfield Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. "Air Force and civilian first responders are responding to the scene," Army Col. Steve Warren said. At a news conference in Westfield, Massachusetts, Col. James Keefe of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard said that the missing pilot is an experienced flyer. He said the plane was on its way to New Orleans to have a radar installed.
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08/28/2014
Air Force and Navy unmanned aircraft built by the Northrop Grumman San Diego division have surpassed 100,000 hours of service in combat and operational support, the company announced Wednesday. The Global Hawk aircraft are part of Northrop Grumman’s high altitude long endurance, or HALE series. The 100,000 total hours milestone was exceeded in September 2013.
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08/28/2014
Determined to preserve the pro-Russian revolt in eastern Ukraine, Russia reinforced what Western and Ukrainian officials described as a stealth invasion on Wednesday, sending armored troops across the border as it expanded the conflict to a new section of Ukrainian territory.
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08/28/2014
The UN Security Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to Russia's press statement proposal, urging "a swift, through and transparent investigation" into the downing of a UN helicopter, which killed three Russian crew members and injured one in South Sudan.
“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest term the downing near Bentiu, Unity State, in South Sudan on August 26, 2014 of an UNMISS Mi-8 AMT helicopter performing a cargo flight to the area.
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08/28/2014
NATO is not looking for ways to set off a war with Russia, despite the alliance’s commitment to build up rapid response forces close to Russia’s border, a representative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told RIA Novosti. “We are not looking for war with Russia. We aim to prevent any kind of unusual, unconventional approaches that might come after NATO territory or NATO stability,” International Security Director at CSIS Katherine Hicks said during a Wednesday press briefing.
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08/27/2014
Islamic extremists captured a major government military airport in Raqqa, eastern Syria, on Sunday, completing their takeover of the entire province and dealing a humiliating blow to President Bashar Assad. The victory is further evidence that the Islamic State is determined to widen its grip on the region.
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08/27/2014
Three crew members of a United Nations peacekeeping helicopter in South Sudan were killed on Tuesday when their aircraft crashed on a routine cargo flight, and a fourth crew member was being treated for injuries, the UN said. Russia’s Interfax news agency said “preliminary information” indicated that the helicopter, operated by a Russian firm, had been shot down as it flew over an area that has been a flashpoint during a civil conflict that is now more than eight months old.
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08/27/2014
An A7 Corsair fighter jet crashed near the city of Komotini in Northern Greece on Tuesday morning August 26. The Greek pilot who was flying the old A7 Corsair managed to use the ejection seat mechanism and survive the crash. The incident occurred at around 10 am local time according to a witness. The fighter jet was participating in a training exercise at the Evros region and had taken off together with another A7 aircraft from the 116 Combat Wing.
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08/27/2014
The landing gear touched down and the aircraft skimmed down the runway just as it had many times before. This time, though, a routine flying mission became a major achievement for the 131st Bomb Wing as well as a career milestone for Lt. Col. Ryan "Poacher" Bailey, a Missouri Air National Guardsman who surpassed 1,000 flying-hours in the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber here Aug. 23.
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08/27/2014
For three weeks in August, the skies over Northern Australia – known here as the Top End – reverberated to the roar of military jet engines as the biennial Exercise Pitch Black was staged out of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Bases Darwin and Tindal; the two main military airports in Australia’s Northern Territory.
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08/27/2014
The U.S. military is relying on bases in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East to carry out airstrikes in Iraq, but is masking the locations and other details about the units and aircraft involved to avoid embarrassing partners in the region. The Persian Gulf monarchies have long hosted U.S. forces to bolster their own security. But most have shied away from acknowledging the American presence and are even more reluctant now with U.S. warplanes bombing Iraq.
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08/27/2014
Who controls China’s increasingly powerful military? The question is a recurring one for foreign governments and China watchers, and the Pentagon is raising it again – suggesting that recent highly charged midair encounters between Chinese and U.S. military aircraft may have been initiated by a rogue Chinese pilot or squadron.
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08/27/2014
The United Arab Emirates has secretly sent warplanes on bombing raids against Islamist militias in Libya over the past week, using bases in Egypt, US officials said. The two attacks carried out over seven days mark a dramatic expansion of the conflict as the United States and its European allies denounced "outside interference" in Libya. The strikes signaled a step toward direct action by regional Arab states that previously have fought proxy wars in Libya, Syria and Iraq.
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08/27/2014
The Taiwanese Air Force scrambled combat aircraft to pursue Chinese surveillance aircraft that made four separate intrusions into Taiwan’s airspace within less than 12 hours, a senior Taiwanese military official confirmed on August 26, one day after the standoff. According to information provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the first intrusion occurred at 8:33 a.m., when a single Y-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft that had taken off from Chenghai, Guangdong Province.
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08/27/2014
Russia and India plan on signing a contract to supply India with A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft, Beriev Aircraft Company General Director-General Designer Igor Garivadsky told journalists Tuesday. “We plan on signing a deal with the Republic of India to deliver the A-50 aircraft,” Garivadsky said.
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08/26/2014
A crash scene aired on Iranian state television Monday purported to show the wreckage of an Israeli drone shot down near an Iranian nuclear site, prompting questions about how a plane with limited range could have penetrated so deeply and whether it is indeed what Tehran says it is. The brief video showed what the channel described as parts of the battleship-gray drone scattered in an unidentified desert area. The channel identified the unmanned vehicle as a Hermes 450, a known Israeli model.
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08/26/2014
Australia’s options for an expanded military role in Iraq are “limited” or “symbolic”, strategic policy experts have said, while the opposition indicated it was yet to receive a government briefing on such action. The Australian newspaper reported on Monday the government was actively considering a greater role and could join the US in air strikes.
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08/26/2014
In seeking to turn back the advance of the barbarous Islamic State forces across Iraq and Syria, it is essential to staunch the flow of foreign jihadists joining the fight, including any more from Australia. Governments, including our own, are trying to do so. Yet Turkey, the country with the capability to interdict recruits travelling on the so-called “Jihadist Highway” en route to the Islamic State killing fields, is doing little to help.
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08/26/2014
Engineers at BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre are investigating a ‘smart skin’ concept which could be embedded with tens of thousands of micro-sensors. When applied to an aircraft, this will enable it to sense wind speed, temperature, physical strain and movement, far more accurately than current sensor technology allows.
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08/26/2014
Singapore appears to have more than its declared total of 24 Boeing F-15SG Eagle multirole fighters, with recent developments indicating that the small Asian city-state is already operating 32 aircraft, and looks set to bring that total up to 40. Located strategically at one end of the Straits of Malacca chokepoint where a quarter of the world’s annual maritime trade passes, Singapore plays a vital role in regional security and is a close security and defense partner with the United States.
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08/26/2014
My son Ian and I had already spent two days at the Pima Air & Space Museum outside Tucson, Arizona, walking the hangars and the terrific collection of aircraft parked outside. Pima is adjacent to the fence line of Davis-Monthan AFB, home of the “Boneyard.” Its official name is the Air Force’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group—the caretakers of nearly 4,000 U.S. military aircraft headed for scrap, storage, or potential rebirth, all parked on 2,600 acres of Arizona desert.
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08/26/2014
The Russian air force has just introduced three new jet fighters. Not the much-publicized Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter — which isn't ready yet — but three slightly different versions of the classic Su-27, all originating from the same Sukhoi design bureau but built by two separate manufacturers.
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08/26/2014
The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program continued a steady path of flight test milestones in August, including weapons separation, software compatibility and flight hours, all demonstrating program maturity. “The test milestones are a direct result of the detailed planning, coordination and execution between various government teams and the integrated test force,” said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's Vice President for F-35 Test & Verification.
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08/26/2014
The Islamic State (IS) militant group appears to have drone capabilities as is evidenced by a recent IS propaganda video containing surveillance footage of a Syrian military base. The 14-minute video, uploaded to YouTube on Saturday, shows aerial views of Syrian Army Military Base 93 near Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria. There is a caption over the footage that reads “From the drone of the army of the Islamic State.” The video does not show the drone itself.
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08/26/2014
Indian troops have arrived in Russia’s Lipetsk to take part in the joint Air Force exercise Aviaindra 2014, held August 25 to September 5, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Igor Klimov told the press Monday. “From August 25 to September 5, 2014 a joint Russian-Indian exercise Aviaindra 2014 will be held on the Russian territory under the Air Force commander-in-chief’s leadership. The official starting date of the drills is August 29, 2014.
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08/25/2014
Reporting on China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, which it rolled out in November 2013, has been highly (if understandably) skewed. (ADIZs are unilaterally declared areas that stretch beyond territorial airspace within which states impose reporting requirements on aircraft for purposes of national defense.) China’s ADIZ stretches into the East China Sea, beyond Japan’s designated “mid-point line,” towards the Ryukyu Islands.
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08/25/2014
The U.S. Air Force plans to revive its controversial push to retire the A-10 fighter jet in the face of fierce opposition from lawmakers. Congress is set to reject the existing Air Force plan to save $3.5 billion by retiring the fleet of A-10 "Warthogs," which were used extensively to provide air support to ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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08/25/2014
Airbus Group intends to ramp up flight tests this week to demonstrate that its newest jet model eventually should be allowed to fly routes taking it as many as seven hours from an emergency landing strip. Slated to be delivered to lead customer Qatar Airways Ltd. by the end of the year, the A350 would have unprecedented regulatory leeway compared with other twin-engine jets on ultralong polar or over-water routes.
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08/25/2014
If the extremist group fighting in Iraq and Syria that calls itself the Islamic State isn't stopped it will eventually seek to carry out an attack on British soil, U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned in an article published on Sunday. Writing in the Sunday Times newspaper, Mr. Hammond said security services estimated some 500 British jihadis had travelled to Syria and Iraq in recent years.
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08/25/2014
Islamic extremists captured a major government military airport in Raqqa, eastern Syria, on Sunday, completing their takeover of the entire province and dealing a humiliating blow to President Bashar Assad. The victory is further evidence that the Islamic State is determined to widen its grip on the region.
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08/25/2014
A group of US and Norwegian aviation inspectors plan to fly over Russia's and Belarus' territory this week under The Treaty on Open Skies, acting head of the Defense Ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center told journalists Sunday. "Between August 25 and August 30 of this year, as part of The Treaty on Open Skies, a join mission of the United States and Norway will conduct a flight over the territory of a group of member-states [Belarus and Russia].
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08/25/2014
Russia plans to launch a surveillance flight over Denmark's territory this week as part of The Treaty on Open Skies, acting head of the Defense Ministry's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center told journalists Sunday. "As part of The Treaty on Open Skies, the Russian Federation plans to conduct an observation flight aboard an An-30B, outfitted with digital surveillance equipment above the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark," Ruslan Shishin said.
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08/25/2014
Iranian Revolutionary Guards have downed an Israeli drone that was trying to spy on Iran’s nuclear facility in Nantaz, state news agency ISNA reported Sunday. "The downed aircraft was of the stealth, radar-evasive type and it intended to penetrate the off-limit nuclear area in Natanz... but was targeted by a ground-to-air missile before it managed to enter the area," ISNA quoted a statement by the Revolutionary Guards.
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08/25/2014
Russia’s Defense Ministry has dismissed allegations that Russian aircraft entered Finnish airspace without permission. “On August 23, 2014 a military transport airplane of naval aviation of the Baltic Fleet was carrying out a scheduled flight en route from airbase Pushkin in Leningrad Region to airbase Chernyakhovsk in Kaliningrad Region. The flight was carried out in strict compliance with the agreed itinerary.
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08/25/2014
Egypt on Sunday denied any link to unclaimed airstrikes that hit military camps in the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier this week, according to Agence France-Presse. "Egypt denies categorically reports and claims that Egyptian military aircraft struck sites held by militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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08/24/2014
An unidentified warplane bombarded militia positions near Tripoli airport overnight, leaving at least 10 people dead, a spokesman for an alliance of Libyan militias said on Saturday. The aircraft targeted an army base to the south of Tripoli and a nearby warehouse, Mohammed al-Ghariani, spokesman for Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn), said on An-Nabaa television station.
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08/24/2014
Drones are one of the many applications that involves M2M communication technology today. These M2M-enabled aircrafts, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), do not have a human pilot aboard and rely mostly on onboard computers that are controlled remotely. As the concept of connected and driverless cars is gradually being adapted, pilot-less aircrafts have long been made a reality.
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08/24/2014
This week's reported near collision between a Chinese fighter plane and an American surveillance aircraft in the East China Sea proves that China isn't afraid to strictly enforce its maritime border in the South China Sea, even if it has to risk a confrontation with the world's most powerful military.
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08/24/2014
U.S. President Barack Obama is to consider air strikes in Syria in the battle against jihadist terrorists who beheaded an American journalist. Ben Rhodes, Mr. Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said Friday that a strategy to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) needed to deal with both sides of the border in Iraq and Syria.
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08/24/2014
With sickening snuff videos and viral postings of mass executions, ISIS has developed the projection of terror way beyond any predecessor. It has also managed to make itself seem more militarily formidable than it actually is. Even though its capacity as a training camp and assignment center for jihadists who can be sent to blow people up in Europe, the U.S. and Asia poses an extreme new danger, this should not be confused with its threat as a land-based army.
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08/24/2014
The high level of co-ordination between Iraq's federal army troops and Peshmerga forces in the Kurdish region has resulted in successful joint operations against the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in the north of the country, Iraqi military officials said. "One of the fruits of the great co-operation between the Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga was the liberation of the Mosul Dam and the surrounding villages, as well as cities and towns in the mountainous province of Ninawa.
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08/24/2014
As Ukraine's standoff with Russia over its support of pro-Russian separatists escalates, President Obama must decide how the USA can prevent the conflict from spinning out of control. While Obama has been quietly letting Germany take the lead on the diplomatic front up until now, what he and his deputies communicate at talks Tuesday between Ukraine, Russia and European leaders in Belarus could play a pivotal role.
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08/24/2014
The breathtaking and ear-shattering game of darts above the Northern Territory ended Friday after three weeks of intensive action. Today, they’re taking off for home. Up to 110 aircraft from New Zealand, United States, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and New Caledonia participated in the swirling battle simulations in Australia’s northern skies with Australia’s RAAF.
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08/23/2014
The Pentagon on Friday blamed China for instigating a dangerous midair encounter with a U.S. military aircraft off its coast, saying that a Chinese fighter jet made several threatening passes during an intercept in international airspace. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the U.S. government filed a formal complaint with China about the near miss between a Chinese J-11 fighter jet and a Navy Poseidon P-8 patrol aircraft 135 miles east of Hainan Island.
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08/23/2014
China has been developing a native fifth-generation stealth aircraft called the Chengdu J-20. This aircraft is expected to compete with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corporation as well as Russia’s T-50. A Chinese entrepreneur was arrested for stealing F-35 and F-22 fighter jets’ design data. The stolen data was meant to help in redesigning the J-20, and has increased the likelihood of F-35 fighter jets to become obsolete even before they became operational.
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08/23/2014
Russia unilaterally sent an aid mission into rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Friday, saying its patience had worn out after a week of delays it blamed on the Ukrainian government, which called the move a “direct invasion.” Trucks ostensibly loaded with water, generators and sleeping bags are intended for civilians in the city of Luhansk, where pro-Russian separatist fighters are besieged by government forces. Shelling of the city has been ongoing for weeks.
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08/23/2014
President Barack Obama told a recent interviewer he did not want the U.S. military to become Iraq's air force. But he may have little choice. Iraq had only a fledgling air force when the United States withdrew in 2011. Washington has agreed to bolster Iraqi air power by selling Baghdad 36 sophisticated F-16 multi-role jet fighters and 24 Apache helicopters.
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08/23/2014
A Chinese hypersonic vehicle designed to deliver nuclear weapons at high speeds failed in its second test launch, the South China Morning Post reported. "It's necessary for China to boost its missile capabilities, because the PLA's [People’s Liberation Army] weapons are weaker than the US' shields, which are deployed everywhere in the world," Xudong Wang, a satellite adviser to China’s central government, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.
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08/22/2014
Senior Pentagon officials described the Islamic State (Isis) militant group as an “apocalyptic” organisation that posed an “imminent threat” on Thursday, yet the highest ranking officer in the US military said that in the short term, it was sufficient for the United States to “contain” the group that has reshaped the map of Iraq and Syria.
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08/22/2014
The heated and ongoing international debate regarding the combat effectiveness of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in a highly contested environment has led many observers to question the fighter’s survivability in the face of advanced Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) systems and very high frequency (VHF) radars. Yet, few have examined the issue closely using lessons drawn from the only incident in which a stealth aircraft was lost in combat.
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08/22/2014
GE Korea, the local unit of the United States-based General Electric, expressed a keen desire to participate in Korea’s next-generation fighter jet program once it gets off the ground. If Korea chooses GE jet engines, according to Khang Sung-wook, president and chief executive of GE Korea, it will help Korea nurture its aerospace industry since GE remains open to delivering its technological expertise.
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08/22/2014
Pro-Russian rebels have shot down another Ukrainian Air Force's Su-25 Frogfoot fighter aircraft in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko was quoted by 112.ua as saying: "Today a Su-25 attack aircraft has been shot down while on a combat mission. "The fate of the pilot is unknown yet but hope remains that he will be alright."
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08/22/2014
A Chinese jet fighter flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy P-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft near Japan this week in an encounter that highlights China’s continued aggressiveness in the region. The P-8, a new, militarized Boeing-737 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, was conducting routine surveillance of the Chinese coast over the East China Sea on Monday when the incident occurred, said U.S. defense officials familiar with reports of the encounter.
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08/22/2014
Drone is a dirty word in Whitehall. Ministry of Defence and Royal Air Force officials avoid using the description for the squadrons of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) – also known as remotely piloted air systems – increasingly being used by British forces. American-built Reaper UAVs have already been in service for several years with the RAF in Afghanistan, while Thales is building its Watchkeeper system for the British Army to replace the Hermes 450, an unarmed surveillance machine.
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08/22/2014
The Defense Ministry released images of a homegrown experimental combat plane designed to be Japan's first stealth fighter. The sleek jet features huge box-like intakes for its highly sophisticated engines. The aircraft, dubbed the Advanced Technological Demonstrator (ATD), is now undergoing trials. From tip to tail, it is 14 meters long with a nine-meter wingspan, slightly smaller than an operational fighter jet due to the scaled-down engines.
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08/22/2014
The U.S. Navy’s move toward developing a carried-based unmanned combat aircraft might eventually afford the service the ability to strike targets at long-range, but there are ethical and legal questions that linger should the Pentagon develop a fully autonomous system. As currently envisioned, the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) will be autonomous, but it will have a “man-on-the-loop” according to Rear Adm. Mat Winter.
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08/22/2014
The 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, received another Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifter today. Brig. Gen. Brian Robinson, vice commander, 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), Scott AFB, Illinois, ferried the aircraft from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., facility here.
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08/21/2014
The Middle East hosts a formidable array of air power. Between them, the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council possess more than 600 combat-capable aircraft. Add Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt, and you have 1,000 more. Why, then, is only the US dropping bombs on the jihadis of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) as they expand their “caliphate” in the heart of the region?
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08/21/2014
Flight restrictions on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 are hampering the Pentagon’s ability to conduct software tests that the plane must pass before it can be declared combat-ready by next July, according to the Pentagon’s weapons-testing office. The start of rigorous in-flight testing on the initial software for the Marine Corps version of the fighter is already five months late and may be further delayed by the flight restrictions imposed on the 20 test aircraft and 79 training jets.
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08/21/2014
Iraqi officials have given their American counterparts clear signals that Baghdad is willing to let U.S. fighter jets operate out of Iraqi air bases, a move that would allow planes to stay airborne longer and deliver more strikes. But the Obama administration, at least for now, doesn't seem all that interested.
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08/21/2014
The Air Force has temporarily grounded 82 of its aging F-16 fighter jets after structural cracks were found near the cockpits. The first cracks were discovered July 31 during post-flight inspections of a F-16D model, which is a two-seat variant primarily used for training. Subsequent inspections found that more than half of the F-16Ds were affected.
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08/21/2014
The Obama administration is not thought to be considering qualitatively new military options against the Islamic State (Isis) in the wake of its beheading of American journalist James Foley. While Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Isis “must be destroyed”, another US official said the horrific, recorded slaying had not changed US policy options for striking the jihadist entity that has overrun much of northern, western and central Iraq.
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08/21/2014
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is participating in a large-scale multilateral air combat exercise in Darwin, Australia, involving 100 aircraft and 2 300 personnel from seven participating nations. Codenamed Exercise Pitch Black , this year's biennial exercise will take place from Aug 1 to 22 and see the RSAF deploying about 300 personnel, six F-15SG and eight F-16C/D fighter aircraft, a Gulfstream 550 airborne early warning aircraft, and a KC-135R air-to-air refuelling aircraft.
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08/21/2014
The newest configuration of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-16V, has reached a major capability milestone with the integration of a new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. “Completing this milestone on schedule demonstrates our ability to meet program commitments,” said Roderick McLean, vice president and general manager of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed Martin.
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08/21/2014
The United States is considering the possibility of sending additional troops to Iraq to step up security in American offices, located in the country, Agence France-Presse reported. “We are considering sending fewer than 300,” a senior US official told the agency Wednesday, adding that the request was initiated by the State Department. An official decision on the issue has not been made yet, the source stressed.
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08/21/2014
Independence supporters have downed a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 Frogfoot attack plane over the Luhansk region late on Wednesday, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine said. Earlier a number of media reports suggested that a war plane had been shot down in the region.
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08/20/2014
Set aside the positive bilateral relations between China and India, the Chinese troops have started infiltrating in the Indian territory yet again. This time they have entered 25 to 30 km deep into Indian territory in Burtse area of North Ladakh, officials sources said. This is the very place where they had established their tents last year, which led to a tense 3-week stand-off.
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08/20/2014
Japanese battle tanks, helicopters and elite troops stormed the foothills of Mount Fuji Tuesday in a first-of-its-kind display of the tactics and equipment the nation's military could use to defend or retake islands in and around the East China Sea. The maneuvers involving some 60 Japanese military aircraft, including Apache attack helicopters, marked the first time Japan's Self-Defence Forces (SDF) have simulated a remote island battle as part of an annual live-fire exercise.
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08/20/2014
This undated photo obtained by The Associated Press from the Small Arms Survey, shows a man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS. Armed groups in Syria have an estimated several hundred portable anti-aircraft missiles that could easily be diverted to extremists and used to destroy low-flying commercial planes, according to a new report by a respected international research group. It cites the risk that the missiles could be smuggled out of Syria by terrorists.
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08/20/2014
Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon space plane, AFRL officials said.
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08/20/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will buy one more Lockheed Martin C 130J Super Hercules medium-lift aircraft apart from the 12 contracted for to make up for the loss of one plane in an accident in March. The IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, told India Strategic magazine (www.indiastrategic.in ) in an interview that the induction of the C-130Js, as also the heavy-lift Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs had "brought about a paradigm shift in our airlift capabilities".
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08/20/2014
The Air Force has grounded over half of its F-16D Fighting Falcons, the service’s Air Combat Command (ACC) announced Tuesday. The initial damage, described in a Pentagon release as “canopy sill longeron cracks found between the front and rear pilot seats,” was discovered after a routine post-flight inspection on one of the jets. The discovery of cracks led to a fleet-wide inspection order.
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08/20/2014
The bilateral training between the Greek and U.S. air forces continues this week with more large-force employments, or LFE. Fighter pilots normally fly together in what is called a four-ship formation -- four pilots with assigned roles and duties who protect each other. During this week's LFE, multiple groups of four-ships, both Greek and U.S., must partner to execute a mission or overcome a simulated threat.
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08/20/2014
The U.S. military, at the request of host nations in the region, is no longer identifying the specific land-based aircraft carrying out airstrikes in Iraq, a defense official told Military Times on Tuesday. When airstrikes against the Islamic State began Aug. 8, a Pentagon spokesman identified the aircraft involved as carrier-based F/A-18s. But when land-based aircraft joined the mission, U.S. Central Command identified them only generically, as fighters, bombers or drones.
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08/20/2014
Israel is interfering with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigations into alleged war crimes and human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, according to Amnesty International representatives. “We’re doing everything we can, both Human Rights Watch and us, to do all the documentation we can, both on the ground in Gaza and remotely. But not being able to have researchers there does create difficulties,” Deborah Hyams told Reuters Monday.
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08/19/2014
It was one small button push for man and one giant catapult launch for the Navy’s unmanned air combat program Sunday as the X-47B flew its first takeoffs and landings with F/A-18s on the aircraft carrier Roosevelt. Off the Virginia coast, two Hornets and one X-47B practiced launches and traps in the same pattern, testing the unmanned jet’s ability to take off and land safely, then move out of the way to allow a manned aircraft to come in right behind it.
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08/19/2014
US military aircraft have carried out 35 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq over the past three days, destroying more than 90 targets, the Pentagon said Monday. The strikes marked the most intensive US bombardments of IS positions since they began on August 8.
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08/19/2014
The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] C-130 Hercules reaches another major milestone Aug. 23 marking the 60th anniversary of its first flight at Burbank, California, in 1954. To honor this historic C-130 anniversary, Lockheed Martin invites members of the worldwide Hercules community to share their C-130 memories, experiences, photos and videos. From Aug. 18 through Sept. 30, stories can be shared through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.
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08/19/2014
Iraqi counterterrorism forces and Kurdish Peshmerga have retaken the Mosul Dam, previously controlled by Islamic State (IS) militants since August 7, AFP reports citing Iraqi security spokesman Lieutenant General Qassim Atta. According to BBC, he told state television that the dam had been “fully cleansed”. According to another source, IS militants still control the dam and are hiding in “sensitive places” of the structure to avoid airstrikes.
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08/19/2014
US military on Sunday conducted airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) insurgents, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL, near the Iraqi’s largest dam, located near the northern city of Mosul, according to United States Central Command website. “The strikes destroyed three ISIL armed vehicles, an ISIL vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft artillery gun, an ISIL checkpoint and an IED emplacement,” the US Central Command said. All strike aircraft exited the strike area safely.
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08/18/2014
The U.S. widened its air campaign against Sunni extremists in Iraq, sending bombers for the first time in support of a Kurdish ground offensive to retake the Mosul Dam and promising to keep up strikes until the strategic post is out of the hands of Islamic State fighters. Kurdish forces who launched the ground operation on Sunday managed to push back the militants from some positions around the dam by the end of the day.
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08/18/2014
RCAF aircraft were in Cyprus on Friday, waiting to pick up military equipment to transport into Iraq. Senior government officials said the two RCAF cargo planes would use Cyprus as a staging area for its flights. The C-17 and C-130J would be ferrying military equipment and ammunition to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.
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08/18/2014
The U.S. Central Command released a video, taken on Saturday, showing a U.S. airstrike targeting, and destroying, an Islamic State armored truck. With the aid of U.S. airstrikes, Kurdish troops are advancing on the Mosul dam, currently controlled by Sunni militants.
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08/18/2014
Independence supporters have downed a Ukrainian Air Forces MiG-29 fighter in the Luhansk region early Sunday morning, the pilot successfully catapulted and managed to escape, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Leonid Matyukhin told Ukrainian Channel 5.
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08/18/2014
Britain is stepping up its military involvement in the fight against jihadi forces from the Islamic State in Iraq after the defence secretary Michael Fallon confirmed that British warplanes are flying deeper into Iraq in a mission that could last "months". As David Cameron declared that Britain should be prepared to deploy its "military prowess" to help defeat the jihadis.
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08/18/2014
The much-awaited multi-billion Rafale combat aircraft deal with France has moved a step further with the defence ministry finalizing a 'draft contract', according to top defence ministry officials. Rafale was declared the lowest bidder in Janaury 2012 but the deal has not been inked so far on account of escalation in the cost. The Cost Negotiation Committee, which was set up in February 2012 to work out the modalities for the deal has not reached a conclusion after 30 months of negotiations.
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08/18/2014
The Lebanese Army has asked the United States for military aid that includes new fixed-wing airplanes to use as close air support while battling extremist militants encamped in the mountains outside Arsal, an official briefed on the request told The Daily Star. The aid request also includes replenishing the Army’s ammunition.
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08/18/2014
A military delegation from Denmark will conduct an observation flight over Russia under the Open Skies Treaty, an official at Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday. “From August 18 to 22, a mission from the Kingdom of Denmark will be conducting an observation flight aboard an An-30B over the territory of the Russian Federation under the Treaty on Open Skies," Ruslan Shishin, acting head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.
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08/17/2014
Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky said that the plane was shot down over the Luhansk region after launching an attack on rebels. The pilot ejected and was taken to a secure place, he said.
Further details about the incident or the condition of the pilot were not immediately available.
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08/17/2014
India’s Defence Sector includes the three Armed Forces (the Army, the Navy and the Air Force), and other Departments, primarily Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Defence Ordnance Factories. India has the third largest Army, the fourth largest Air force and the seventh largest Navy in the world but half of its defence equipment is considered to be largely obsolete.
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08/17/2014
Some 20 European Union (EU) ministers are meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss arms supplies to Iraq’s Kurds, an initiative well under way with France and the United States already sending weapons and Britain and Germany ready to do the same.Meanwhile, a UN Security Council meeting on Friday is expected to threaten sanctions against any country financing or backing the Islamic State (IS/ISIS). US jets have been involved in airstrikes against IS positions in Erbil since last Saturday.
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08/17/2014
The international community is at long last beginning to take a strong stand against Moscow's aggression in eastern Ukraine. There is solid evidence indicating not only that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by Russian-aided rebels in eastern Ukraine, but that the Kremlin has bolstered the rebels with heavy artillery despite toughened Western sanctions.
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08/17/2014
Canada is committing two cargo planes to move military supplies into northern Iraq as part of the international effort to bolster Kurdish forces in the embattled region. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a CC-177 Globemaster and a CC-130J Hercules transport will begin shuttling arms provided by allies to the Iraqi city of Irbil over the next few days.
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08/17/2014
Billed as Africa’s first home-grown military aircraft, the Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (AHRLAC) made its first test flight in South Africa this week, marking a milestone in the continent’s aviation history. On Wednesday, August, 13, as the AHRLAC descended from the Pretoria skies and taxied to a halt outside a hangar at the Wonderboom airport north of the South African capital, engineers and officials beamed and high-fived each other.
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08/17/2014
A large NATO aviation training with the participation of pilots and soldiers from 11 allied countries will take place in the Czech Republic in early September, Magdaléna Dvoráková, from the general staff press department, told CTK. Along with Czech Gripen fighters and Soviet-made Mi helicopters, there will be the F-16s combat aircraft and Apache helicopters, Dvoráková said.
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08/17/2014
A newly created division for the light combat aircraft (LCA) and a bid to make 80 per cent of its components locally are among recent moves taken to spur production of the made-in-India fighter plane once it crosses the last milestone for airworthiness, according to its developer and production agencies.
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08/17/2014
Air strikes by American fighter aircraft and drones have targeted Islamic State (IS) fighters near north Iraq’s vital Mosul dam. The Islamic State group seized the dam on the Tigris River on August 7th as part of their offensive which has seized large parts of Iraq. The residents near the dam say the airstrikes killed a number of militants, but that could not be confirmed.
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08/16/2014
What was the most effective aircraft in our arsenal in taking out the enemy's ordinance while also providing the best close support for our ground forces in the previous conflicts in this war zone? Could it be the A-10 Warthog? The Air Force plans to retire the A-10 in favor of the more versatile F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ("Maryland Air Guard losing attack aircraft, regaining cargo planes," March 11).
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08/16/2014
Last weekend, Squadron Leader Cameron Clark was playing with his daughter when the decision was made to prepare a humanitarian mission to help stranded Yazidi refugees in Iraq. It is a testament to the lightning speed with which the Australian Defence Force can deploy that by Wednesday evening, the 37-year-old pilot was taking off in a C-130 transport plane from Al Minhad Air Base carrying 10 tonnes of food, water and supplies.
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08/16/2014
President Barack Obama on Thursday promised to expand U.S. humanitarian relief to Iraqis threatened by the advancing army of the Islamic State militants. He took credit for alleviating the genocide threat to thousands trapped on a mountaintop but said the situation "remains dire" throughout the country. Obama also said U.S. airstrikes would continue to protect Americans and U.S. facilities in Iraq, and he said Washington has increased its delivery of military assistance to Iraqi and Kurdish forc
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08/16/2014
The commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mike Hostage, declared initial operational capability for the 552nd Air Control Wing's E-3G Sentry, an Airborne Warning and Control System Block 40/45 aircraft, July 28, here. "This modification represents the most significant upgrade in the 35-plus year history of the E-3 AWACS and greatly enhances our crew members' ability to execute the command and control mission while providing a building block for future upgrades.
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08/15/2014
The governor of the Iraqi Sunni heartland province of Anbar said he has secured a promise from the U.S. for support in the ongoing conflict with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, Reuters reported. Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi told Reuters his request, made in meetings with U.S. diplomats and a senior military officer, included air support against the militants who have a tight grip on large parts of his desert province and northwestern Iraq.
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08/15/2014
The U.S. military is turning its focus toward helping Kurdish forces launch a counteroffensive against Sunni militants now that the refugee crisis in the northern Iraqi mountains has abated, American officials said Thursday. American military planners are building a coalition of countries that have agreed to take part in the effort to fly in ammunition, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades the Kurdish fighters need to uproot extremist forces that call themselves the Islamic State.
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08/15/2014
Russia will fly the prototype next-generation strategic bomber in 2019 and develop a new interceptor by 2020 to replace the MiG-31 fleet. Addressing the media on Russian Air Force Day (August 12) the service’s commander Gen. Victor Bondarev also said a new a combat aircraft with forward-swept wings is in development and could emerge soon as a prototype.
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08/15/2014
Australia—U.S. warplanes are thundering across the tropical sky here every day this week as they participate in one of Asia's biggest air combat exercises. Their presence also points to the growing importance U.S. and Australian defense officials place on this remote port city, and its rugged Outback surroundings, as Washington looks for more places where it can expand its military footprint in Asia without triggering too much of a backlash.
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08/15/2014
India wants to set an example in defence joint production and co-development with foreign states by collaborating with old ally Russia and growing partner Japan to manufacture advanced fighter jets and state-of-the-art amphibious aircraft.
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08/15/2014
President Barack Obama on Thursday said that U.S. efforts in Iraq have allowed most members of a religious minority to escape a barren mountain range, though U.S. airstrikes will continue to combat the Sunni extremist group that calls itself Islamic State. "The situation on the mountain has greatly improved, and Americans should be very proud of our efforts," Mr. Obama said.
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08/15/2014
The United States has approved the possible sale of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Turkey following a request from the Turkish government, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. “The Turkish Air Force [TAF] intends to obtain these missiles to modernize its inventory, which will support its own air defense needs and improve its interoperability with the US and other NATO allies,” said the news release, published on the DSCA website.
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08/15/2014
The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia for an AWACS modernisation programme and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $2 billion.
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08/14/2014
Confusion swirled around the fate of an enormous Russian aid convoy as it apparently halted on Wednesday at a military base in the southern Russian city of Voronezh, temporarily suspending its march toward southeastern Ukraine. Moscow and Kiev seemed headed toward at least a standoff over the convoy, with Russia saying it still expected the hundreds of trucks to be allowed across the border and Ukraine vowing that they would be barred.
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08/14/2014
Things are moving very fast in Iraq. Three months ago the country barely got a mention in Cabinet meetings in Whitehall. British forces left in 2011, after 8 troubled years there, and even the Americans had only a very limited presence. Iraq was essentially being left to itself.
Today, following the lightning land-grab by the jihadists of Islamic State (IS) who now control roughly a third of Iraq and much of north-east Syria.
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08/14/2014
Japan's new defense white paper has done little to mend fences with Beijing, with the Chinese government complaining that its Asian neighbor is using the "China threat" to justify a bigger defense budget. Japan will spend about $49 billion on defense in the fiscal year to March 2015 -- up about 3 percent from the previous year - in the face of what it says is a worsening security environment in the region. It cites tensions on the Korean peninsula and territorial disputes in the sea lanes runnin
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08/14/2014
The Royal Air Force will deploy Tornado GR4 fighter jets in support of the growing military air campaign over northern Iraq, British officials said Tuesday. The officials stressed the aircraft would be part of humanitarian operations there, but the deployment nonetheless sparked speculation that Britain might soon join the United States in launching airstrikes.
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08/14/2014
Both the UN an the EU had demanded that the fighting in Libya stop. In a strongly worded statement released yesterday United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the ongoing violence and the refusal of those in the conflict to heed calls for an immediate ceasefire. UNSMIL said it “strongly condemns” the refusal to “refrain from the use of force to resolve political differences”.
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08/14/2014
Air-to-air combat was a staple of modern war almost as soon as the technology for aerial warfare became practical. From the early 20th century through the end of the Cold War, air battles were determining factors in military campaigns. Today, air superiority allows the United States to engage in conflicts around the world relatively free of the risks inherent in ground warfare — as is currently being demonstrated in the U.S.'s bombing of ISIS targets in Iraq.
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08/14/2014
Britain has finally decided to suspend sale of all military equipment to Israel and also revoke the licenses for arms if the cease fire is broken. The government has identified 12 licences for components which could be part of equipment used by Israel in its attacks on Gaza.
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08/14/2014
U.S. helicopters and MV-22 Ospreys are on the ground in northern Iraq and operating from a secure airfield protected by Kurdish forces, the latest sign of an expanding Iraq mission that now includes about 1,000 U.S. troops, defense officials said Wednesday. The Ospreys arrived overnight Tuesday as they ferried about 130 additional U.S. troops into the airfield, which is in or near the Kurdish city of Irbil, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
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08/14/2014
France has made a decision to supply arms to Iraqi Kurds so that they can help the Iraqi government fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, the Elysee Palace said in a statement Wednesday. “In order to reply to the urgent needs expressed by the regional authorities of Kurdistan, the head of state [President Francois Hollande] decided, having agreed with Baghdad, to send arms in the coming hours,” the statement reads.
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08/13/2014
Nearly 20 U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, deployed to Souda Bay, Greece, for bilateral training with the Hellenic air force Aug. 11-23. The Hellenic air force is Greece's air force, and the flying training deployment includes large force training events aimed to gauge the compatibility between the two nations with a focus on strengthening joint readiness.
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08/13/2014
Iraq’s new prime minister-designate won pledges of extra military and economic support from the Obama administration Tuesday, while Iran also endorsed the nominee, who called for an end to the sectarian feuds that have allowed Islamist extremists to seize a third of the country. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. is willing to provide more cash and military equipment to Iraq if Haider al-Ibadi can quickly form a new, more diverse government.
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08/13/2014
To strengthen the fighting and power projection capabilities of its air force, China is currently testing nine different new types of aircraft, according to the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review. One of those aircraft is China's first fifth-generation stealth fighter, the J-20. Photos released on a Chinese military website indicate that the J-20 is a multirole fighter designed for both aerial combat and ground attack because of its longer and larger build than Russian fighters such as the Su-33
(Read More...)
08/13/2014
Japan's new defense white paper has done little to mend fences with Beijing, with the Chinese government complaining that its Asian neighbor is using the "China threat" to justify a bigger defense budget. Japan will spend about $49 billion on defense in the fiscal year to March 2015 -- up about 3% from the previous year -- in the face of what it says is a worsening security environment in the region.
(Read More...)
08/13/2014
So once again the U.S. is bombing Iraq, as it has done under every U.S. president since George H. W. Bush. It’s worth remembering how thrilled U.S. diplomats were in 1984 when the U.S. finally established full diplomatic relations with Baghdad. The State Department’s Arab experts were overjoyed that the U.S. would have relations with, and a modicum of influence over, one of the largest and most powerful Arab states.
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08/13/2014
The negotiation for Rafale aircraft is on, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said Tuesday. The minister told the Rajya Sabha that Dassault Aviation of France, the original equipment maker of Rafale aircraft, had emerged as the lowest bidder for procurement of medium multi-role combat aircraft. "Given the complexity of the procurement case, the process of negotiations with Dassault Aviation on various aspects of the commercial proposal and provisions of draft contract is on," Jaitley said.
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08/13/2014
The business partners working on India's prestigious Light Combat Aircraft - a lightweight multirole fighter jet - have decided to ensure the indigenous content of components used in the aircraft touches 80 per cent in the next three years.
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08/13/2014
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., and Boeing have been selected to build a helicopter for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator Phase 1 program (JMR TD), paving the way for the next generation of vertical lift aircraft.
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08/13/2014
Russia's new Sukhoi fighter jets cost more than 1 billion rubles ($28 million), Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, the Russian Air Force commander-in-chief, said Tuesday. "New aircrafts appear, and their cost is enormous. Each plane costs more than 1 billion rubles: Su-30, Su-35, Su-34," Bondarev told Rossiya-24 television channel.
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08/12/2014
Moderate rebel forces are warning that they are in danger of losing their last foothold in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial center, and that government troops are pressing an offensive that is just three miles from completely cutting rebel supply lines.
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08/12/2014
The Obama administration on Monday made clear that U.S. airstrikes against the Islamist militants sweeping toward the capital of Iraq's quasi-independent Kurdistan were meant to blunt their advance while giving the Kurds' vaunted Peshmerga fighters, who have not easily dispatched with the Sunni guerillas, time to regroup. But as the Islamic State gains ground, the question is whether these storied Kurdish fighters are up to the task.
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08/12/2014
Vice President Joe Biden on Monday told Iraqi leaders the U.S. is ready to help a new government in its fight against Islamic State militants, signaling the potential for deeper U.S. involvement in Iraq. Mr. Biden spoke separately with Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Haider Al Abadi, the country's new prime minister-designate, by telephone the White House said. Mr. Masum selected Mr. Abadi on Monday to lead a new government.
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08/12/2014
Australia has pledged support to the United States to prevent further atrocities being carried out in Iraq. The offer came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Sydney ahead of the annual AUSMIN talks between the US and Australian defence and foreign affairs ministers in Sydney. Australia is planning the deployment of military aircraft to drop aid packages in northern Iraq following a request from the US.
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08/12/2014
The Pentagon’s top war planner said the military campaign’s impact remains limited after four days of airstrikes in northern Iraq, and the Islamic militants continue to be a powerful force capable of terrorizing Iraqi civilians and seizing territory. “I in no way want to suggest that we have effectively contained, or that we are somehow breaking the momentum of [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant],” said Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of operations, or “J-3” for the Joint Sta
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08/12/2014
Attracting an increasing number of foreign air arms, Anatolian Eagle has become a high-tech exercise that gives participating units the opportunity to assess their capabilities and readiness for war, to improve multinational cooperation, and to test new weapons systems: some extremely important tasks, especially for nations such as Turkey which face increasing instability, pressure and threats along their borders.
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08/12/2014
The president today lauded Iraqi President Fouad Massoum for naming Haider al-Ibadi as Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, calling it an “important step” on the path towards a more inclusive government that would “unite Iraq’s different communities.” Mobilizing international support to combat terrorism in the region would be “easier” once a new government was put into place, said Obama.
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08/12/2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced Monday that an international humanitarian mission would be sent to the war-torn east of his country, in a fragile move toward peace on a day in which fighting continued unabated. The announcement came shortly after the Kremlin said it was sending a “humanitarian convoy” of its own to Ukraine with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
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08/12/2014
From air strikes to humanitarian airdrops, the Pentagon kicked off operations in Iraq to combat terrorist attacks. Here are some specifics on the aircraft they're using — and perspective on the much-hyped 500-pound bombs. Two F/A-18 aircraft from The Boeing Co. — twin-engine multirole fighters known as Super Hornets and often used for air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons — dropped laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near Erbil.
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08/12/2014
Russia will start developing a replacement for its MiG-31 "Foxhound" interceptors in 2017, Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Air Force, said. “From 2017 we will start working on a new long-range interceptor to replace MiG-31,” he said. According to the official, the new aircraft is to enter service in 2025.
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08/11/2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Saturday that "Russia should not intervene in Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian convoys or any other pretext of 'peacekeeping,'" according to a senior State Department official. Kerry urged "all parties to work through international organizations" to provide humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine, the official said.
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08/11/2014
Russia and the West are at war – over fruits, veggies, meat and bank loans. The cause is Ukraine, a vast emptiness formerly unknown to the western world, but now deemed a vital national security interest worthy of risking a very scary war. Economic embargoes such as those launched by the US against Russia may seem relatively harmless. They are not. Trade sanctions are a form of strategic warfare that is sometimes followed by bullets and shells.
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08/11/2014
The U.S. military launched four airstrikes Saturday in northern Iraq designed to defend members of the Yazidi religious minority who were coming under attack from Islamic extremists, U.S. officials said. American aircraft also conducted a third airdrop of food and water for thousands of Yazidis stranded on Mount Sinjar, officials said. One C-17 and two C-130 aircraft dropped 3,800 gallons of drinking water and 16,128 meals, and were supported by U.S. fighter aircraft.
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08/11/2014
Australia will not rule out providing military “back-up assistance” to the US in Iraq, the defence minister, David Johnston, has confirmed. The Australian government’s initial focus is on humanitarian airlifts to provide food and water drops to people stranded on Mount Sinjar, but Johnston left the door open to a future role, saying right-minded countries could not “just sit back and watch atrocities unfold on their nightly television without taking some action”.
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08/11/2014
As fifth-generation fighters outgrow the Air Force’s premiere combat training exercise, the service should look to virtual training for pilots to test the limits of the F-22 and F-35, the outgoing head of Air Combat Command said. Red Flag exercises, held four times a year at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, train more than 27,000 people who fly or support air operations of 1,200 aircraft and 20,000 sorties each year, according to the base.
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08/11/2014
Admiral Harry Harris, the Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, has a reputation as a plain-spoken American military leader. In a long discussion with The Weekend Australian in his Hawaiian office this week, Harris amply fulfilled this high accolade. To render some of the take-outs in their starkest form: Harris thinks China is engaging in destabilising and provocative conduct at sea. He is worried that this could lead to an incident which escalates dangerously.
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08/11/2014
U.S. warplanes made a second wave of airstrikes Friday in northern Iraq against the militants who have besieged a religious group and threatened the city of Irbil, a Pentagon official said.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, spokesman for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, said the second wave of strikes used a drone to attack a mortar position while four FA-18 fighter-attack planes hit a seven-vehicle convoy outside Irbil.
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08/11/2014
Kurdish forces have regained control of two towns in northern Iraq seized by Islamic State militants, Agence France-Presse reported on Sunday. "The Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) have liberated Makhmur and Gwer," Peshmerga spokesman Halgord Hekmat told AFP. Hekmat said "US aerial support helped” to liberate the towns. Representatives of the regional authorities also confirmed that the Kurdish troops had recaptured the towns following fierce battles.
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08/11/2014
The United States conducted four additional airstrikes on positions of Islamic State (IS) militants, who took control of several provinces in Iraq, Associated Press reported Sunday, citing the US military. According to the agency, the operation involved manned and unmanned aircrafts of US Air Force. One truck and several armored vehicles, which reportedly were used by the militants to fight civilians, were destroyed as a result of the airstrikes.
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08/10/2014
The next time fighter jets take off from Nellis Air Force Base for a Red Flag air combat exercise, there will be fewer would-be “bad guys” to battle. Up-and-coming pilots who will be flying their first 10 simulated combat missions will face an adversary force that has fewer sparring partners, a sign of the times as the military reduces its planes and personnel and U.S. combat operations wind down in Afghanistan.
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08/10/2014
President Obama says it all the time – no combat troops will return to Iraq. But many experts believe it will be extremely hard to achieve Obama’s newly expanded military mission there without more Americans on the ground. “I think the slippery slope analogy is the right one for Iraq right now,” said Barry Posen, director of the Security Studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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08/10/2014
The U.S. Air Force has ordered 38 MQ-9 Reaper ER UAVs. This is an upgrade of the original MQ-9 design that allows longer endurance(up to 35 hours) by carrying two fuel tanks (one under each wing) that use a new fuel management system that ensures fuel is taken from the main fuel tank and the two external tanks in such a way that the aircraft does not become unbalanced.
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08/10/2014
US forces Saturday launched more airstrikes in northern Iraq to defend attacks on Yazidi civilians, the Pentagon said, on the second day of its military campaign. President Barack Obama had announced this week he had authorized US air strikes in part to help break the siege of Mount Sinjar, where fighters from the so-called Islamic State forces have cornered and reportedly threatened to kill thousands of civilian refugees from the Yazidi religious minority.
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08/10/2014
Australia's air force could be helping the humanitarian aid effort in Iraq within days, but military action has been all but ruled out. Prime Minister Tony Abbott today revealed US officials had asked for Australia's help. He said two RAAF C130 Hercules aircraft currently stationed in the United Arab Emirates could be dispatched within days.
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08/09/2014
The head of NATO called on Russia to "step back from the brink" of war by pulling its troops back from the Ukrainian border and warned further intervention in Ukraine would bring it greater isolation in the world. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the U.S.-led alliance's secretary general, made his call on Thursday during a visit to Ukraine in a show of solidarity after NATO warned of a possible invasion by Russia which, it said, had massed 20,000 troops near the frontier.
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08/09/2014
The U.S. has a massive force of ships and aircraft in the Persian Gulf for the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. The first airstrikes against the Islamic State were carried out by two aircraft from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, which is in the Persian Gulf along with the amphibious assault ship Bataan; the amphibious dock landing ship Gunston Hall; the cruiser Philippine Sea; and the destroyers Arleigh Burke, O’Kane and Roosevelt, according to the Defense Department.
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08/09/2014
U.S. military aircraft dropped humanitarian aid to Iraqis under threat from hardline militants in northern Iraq for the second straight night, the Pentagon said on Friday. "This airdrop was conducted from multiple airbases within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility and as with last night, included one C-17 and two C-130 cargo aircraft that together dropped a total of 72 bundles of supplies," the Pentagon said in a statement released late on Friday.
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08/09/2014
“I believe,” says Oleg Demchenko, “that my grandchildren will fly in the MC-21." It is a bullish statement from the Irkut president and says much about his faith in the longevity and sales prospects for an airliner that has yet to roll out, let alone perform its maiden flight. Still, with a claimed firm backlog of 175 orders and a further 75 aircraft covered by tentative commitments, alongside a programme that has not experienced any disasters over the last 12 months.
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08/09/2014
A C-17 air transport based in Charleston was among three U.S. aircraft that dropped supplies Thursday to Iraqi refugees trapped on a mountain in northern Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed Friday. The S.C.-based plane dropped fresh drinking water to the refugees, including Christians and ethnic Yazidis, who had fled advancing forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, terror group.
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08/09/2014
US fighters dropped bombs on Islamic militants in Iraq Friday, the Pentagon said, carrying out President Barack Obama's promise of military force to counter the advancing militants and confront the threat they pose to Iraqi civilians and Americans still stationed there. Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said that two F/A-18 jets dropped 500-pound (227-kilogram) bombs on a piece of artillery and the truck towing it.
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08/09/2014
The US campaign against a militant group that has taken control of huge chunks of Iraq has begun. Despite the near-total withdrawal of US ground troops from the country in the past five years, the Pentagon has many options for more airstrikes — and many options on deployment, given the air dominance US forces will have. On Friday morning, Pentagon officials said a pair of F/A-18 Super Hornets had bombed artillery belonging to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISL).
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08/09/2014
The South Dakota Air National Guard is providing two F-16 Fighting Falcon static displays for the Black Hills Community Appreciation Day. The aircraft are assigned to the 175th Fighter Squadron, part of the 114th Fighter Wing at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls.
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08/09/2014
The production of MiG-31 interceptor aircraft should resume, as they could prove effective for another 15 years, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Friday. “The aircraft had no rivals. That was the opinion of the Military-Industrial Commission, the Defense Ministry, the industry on the whole and even the State Duma, which used to hold special hearings on the subject of the interceptor. The production should be revived, as the jet is being upgraded.
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08/09/2014
Deliveries of the Mi-8AMTSh-VA helicopters, a variant of the Mi-8 medium twin-turbine transport helicopter modified for use in the Arctic, may begin as early as next year, Leonid Belykh, managing director of the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP), said Friday.
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08/08/2014
President Obama has ordered air strikes to protect US interests in the city of Erbil and and prevent the “genocide” of 40,000 Iraqi refugees isolated on a mountain. He told a gathering in Washington DC this morning that he had authorised the targeting of any Islamic State convoy or troop movements in the direction of the northern Kurd city of Erbil which is the location of a US support and training effort.
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08/08/2014
The release of the 2014 National Defense Panel report landed with a quiet thud last week as most of Washington headed out for August vacations. Much delayed from its original congressionally mandated release three months after the Quadrennial Defense Review, the NDP review seemingly ignored today’s intractable budgetary realties by arguing for an even bigger defense budget. At the same time, it offered few tradeoffs and even fewer creative ideas for building a more efficient military.
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08/08/2014
The Egyptian military has captured a large cache of anti-aircraft weapons delivered by convoys from Sudan and Libya. On Aug. 5, five policemen and four suspected insurgents were killed in a battle on the Matrouh highway, the usual convoy route along the Mediterranean coast. The sources said the insurgents attacked two security checkpoints on Matrouh.
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08/08/2014
United States military aircraft on Thursday dropped food and water to thousands of Iraqis beseiged by Islamic militants on a mountain top in norther Iraq, according to a senior Pentagon official. The military made the announcement after the planes had delivered the supplies and left the area. President Obama was scheduled to discuss the mission in a televised address Thursday night.
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08/08/2014
Russian strategic nuclear bombers and other military aircraft entered US air defense identification zones (ADIZs) at least 16 times over the past ten days, American defense officials confirmed on Thursday. “Over the past week, NORAD has visually identified Russian aircraft operating in and around the US air defense identification zones,” said Maj. Beth Smith, spokeswoman for US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
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08/08/2014
The federal government is scrapping plans to purchase as many as four new manned spy planes for domestic and international surveillance missions. The Department of National Defence notified military contractors on Tuesday that Ottawa is no longer considering purchasing the new planes, citing “security and technical feasibility” reasons.
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08/08/2014
Nearly two years after an international intervention against jihadists in Mali, France officially launched a successor operation on August 1st, dubbed Operation Barkhane. The goal is to combat terrorism in the Sahel-Saharan region. A total of 3,000 French soldiers will be deployed in five partner countries, the "G5 of the Sahel": Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
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08/08/2014
The U.S. Air Force announced Eielson Air Force Base is its preferred location for two new squadrons of F-35 fighters Aug. 7, less than a year after the base avoided losing an F-16 squadron. “Today, Alaska is a huge winner in this, but so is the nation because there is no question about our military readiness in Alaska,” Sen. Mark Begich said at a press conference held in Anchorage immediately following the announcement.
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08/08/2014
The United States has suspended the delivery of military aircraft to Iraq. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has rebuffed Iraqi requests for the combat aircraft after concluding that the Iraqi military was not capable of securing these platforms amid the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The officials said the F-16s no longer had a home with the ISIL siege on the Iraq Air Force base at Balad.
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08/08/2014
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has suspended its cooperation with the Afghan National Army (ANA) at various military facilities after the killing of a US major general, Der Spiegel reported Thursday. ISAF commander Joseph Dunford suspended the Afghan military support mission by ordering on Tuesday all international instructors and military consultants to remain in their camps until Friday, while the incident is being investigated.
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08/07/2014
Recent events have cast the Baltic States in a new light, as a barrier between Russia and the West. NATO, especially U.S. involvement, has shown the world the strategic importance of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Poland. NATO training exercises are being conducted in response to both the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the increasing Russian presence in the Baltic Sea region.
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08/07/2014
Lockheed Martin has delivered its first of three KC-130J tanker/transports to the Kuwait air force, providing the service with a new air-to-air refuelling capability. Carrying the registration KAF 326, the short-fuselage aircraft will be followed by another two contained within a production order signed in 2010. These are to be handed over before the end of this year, according to Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database.
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08/07/2014
Alenia Aermacchi has completed the first phase of integration tests of the Storm Shadow missile into the Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft. Working in collaboration with Cassidian and BAE Systems, the company evaluated various aspects of aeromechanical missile integration into the aircraft, at its facility at Decimomannu Air Base in Sardinia, Italy. The tests started in December last year with instrumented production aircraft 2 (IPA2).
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08/07/2014
Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of State Corporation Rostec, is pleased to announce that Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP) has produced its 850th Mi-171-series helicopter. The landmark aircraft was a Mi-171A1 built for Brazilian commercial operator Atlas Taxi Aereo. The Mi-171A1 is one of the latest commercial models of the world-famous Mi-8/17 series.
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08/07/2014
An arms embargo should be imposed on Israel, the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has said , as he warned that the level of misery and carnage in Gaza was likely to poison the remaining goodwill in the region for generations. Mitchell also said on Wednesday that UN schools in Gaza should not have been targeted for attacks since they were places of sanctuary.
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08/07/2014
Rising concerns that Moscow is poised to launch an invasion into Ukraine are well-grounded because Russian troops are continuing to mass along the volatile border between the two countries, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday. “There is no question that Russia continues to build up on the border.
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08/07/2014
India’s government officially opened up the defense industry to foreign investors Wednesday, allowing defense contractors from abroad to own up to 49% instead of 26% of Indian military equipment makers. The plan was first announced in the July 10 budget by new finance minister, Arun Jaitley. The cabinet approval is all the proposal needed to become a national policy.
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08/07/2014
The 15th P-8A Poseidon built by Boeing [NYSE: BA] arrives at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where it will help expand the U.S. Navy’s long-range maritime patrol capabilities. The aircraft, delivered on schedule July 31st, joined the other Poseidon aircraft being used to train Navy crews in preparation for deployment.
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08/07/2014
Boeing has received a contract from NATO worth approximately $250 million to install digital flight decks and avionics on 13 of the alliance’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, which are based on the Boeing 707 commercial airplane. The new technology ensures compliance with current and future air traffic control and navigation requirements, giving the aircraft broader access to airspace around the world.
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08/06/2014
Iraq's government sent its air force on Monday to back Kurdish forces struggling to blunt a jihadist advance, an extraordinary move that reflects alarm over the insurgents' brash new offensive against Kurds in both Iraq and Syria. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's authorization of air support came after the Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, lost a string of towns over the weekend to the militant group, which calls itself Islamic State.
(Read More...)
08/06/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
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08/06/2014
The USAF is working to extend the service life of its fleet of C-130 combat delivery aircraft by replacing center wing boxes on some of the planes and adding new avionics, electronics and instrumentation, service officials told Military?.com. The modernization effort encompasses maintenance and technological improvements to the older C-130 H-model planes as well at the more modern C-130J aircraft, said Col. Robert Toth, division chief for special operations, rescue and trainer programs.
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08/06/2014
No matter it is ceasefire or war time, the British government has decided to take a call on reviewing arms sales to Israel. The Downing Street has ordered a review of all the export licences in the aftermath of the Gaza assault that killed 1,700 Palestinians. An official spokesman of the PM's office confirmed that the government is getting ready to review all the export licences to Israel.
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08/06/2014
The United States (US) State Department has approved the sale of two C-130 planes to the Philippines in a move seen to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries. The package has an estimated cost of $61 million or roughly P2.67 billion and would include equipment, parts, training and three-year logistical support, a statement by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
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08/06/2014
Japan’s annual defence whitepaper underlines the importance Tokyo places on the industrial participation aspects of the Lockheed Martin F-35A programme, and casts a wary eye on airpower developments in China. The whitepaper, produced annually by the Ministry of Defense, touches on all aspects of Tokyo’s security situation, from the disruptive potential of non-state actors to challenges posed by major powers, namely China.
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08/06/2014
Russia’s aircraft maker Sukhoi has delivered another batch of its multirole fighters Su-30M2 to the country's Air Force, according to the company’s press office. “Under the state arms procurement program, the Sukhoi company handed over a batch of multirole fighter jets Su-30M2,” it said Tuesday in a press release.
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08/06/2014
The US and European Union are stepping up their campaign against Russia as the Ukrainian army intensifies its attack on the civilian population in the east of the country, unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe. Meanwhile, in leading political and military circles there is increasing talk of a direct military engagement with Russia.
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08/06/2014
Due to “inordinate delay” in intermediate jet trainer (IJT) programme of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated action to look for alternatives and extend the technical life of the Kiran trainer aircraft, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
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08/06/2014
Philippine News Agency – With two South Korean F/A-50 “Fighting Eagle” jet aircraft expected to arrive and be in commission by 2015, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) announced that it will soon form an assessment team that will sift through the technical specifications of the various fighter aircraft available and decide which one is the best and affordable for the country.
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08/05/2014
Kurdish military commanders and observers have been left stunned by an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq over the weekend which has seen the group seize control of a number of areas from Kurdish forces. Reports over the weekend said ISIS fighters had captured a number of towns in northern Iraq, and came close to seizing Iraq’s largest dam.
(Read More...)
08/05/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
(Read More...)
08/05/2014
When Russian forces invaded Crimea Ukrainian Air Force aircraft deployed near Sevastopol were dismantled, loaded on trucks and relocated to the mainland Ukraine. But 7 healthy MiG-29, MiG-29UB two seater Fulcrums and 3 L-39 stored there remained on the Crimean repair plant.
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08/05/2014
On a September day in 1974, Capt. Harold "Buck" Adams set the world speed record in the U.S. military's SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. At the controls of the twin-engine supersonic plane, Adams flew from London to Los Angeles in a blistering 3 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.
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08/05/2014
The U.S. Navy is greatly endangered by the global proliferation of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles. Some analysts, like Dennis Gormley, Andrew Erickson, and Jingdong Yuan at the National Defense University, say U.S. aircraft carriers in the western Pacific are sitting ducks for communist China’s missiles, especially their CM-400AKG Mach 5.5 Wrecker cruise missile and their DF-21 ballistic missile, dubbed “the carrier killer.” They are wrong.
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08/05/2014
The modernisation of the Indian air force is massive in scale and hugely expensive, but should deliver capability that will put the service at the forefront of any future conflict. At the beginning of this decade New Delhi embarked on a modernisation of the Indian air force on an unprecedented scale. The process is under way as part of the long-term integrated perspective plan, which spans a period of 15 years from 2012.
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08/05/2014
Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer plans to sign another contract with India in the framework of the joint project for the construction of a fifth generation multipurpose combat jet, Alexander Klementyev, a Sukhoi deputy director general told Itar-Tass. “We hope the contract [for experimental design works] will be signed soon,” he said.
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08/05/2014
The Cold War brinkmanship between Russia, NATO and the United States is back with military aircraft once again playing their deadly game of “chicken” in the skies. The latest incident at the weekend — involving a US “electronic intelligence” surveillance jet flying in what the US insists was international airspace over the Baltic Sea — is just one of an apparently escalating series of probe, counter-probe and mid-sky standoff. Such aerial bravado has been rare since the fall of the Soviet Union.
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08/05/2014
Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb (DMLGB) was successfully employed during recent U.S. Marine Corps weapons and tactics instructor training. During the training exercises at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona, AV-8B Harrier aircrews released 19 GBU-12F/B DMLGB weapons. The weapons were released in tactically representative engagements, and used various targeting modes against fixed targets.
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08/04/2014
Russia's defence ministry has announced it is holding military exercises this week involving 100 aircraft in the west of the country near the Ukraine border. A spokesman said fighter jets, helicopters and the latest bombers would take part in the operation. Every time Russia announces a new round of military exercises it is seen as a show of strength in the conflict with Ukraine, a BBC correspondent says.
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08/04/2014
The al Qaeda offshoot terrorizing Iraq is in the process of consolidating territorial gains and increasing the target list in Baghdad, a U.S. official and defense analysts say. But at this point, the Islamic State army of Sunni extremists does not have the capacity to take Baghdad, where a huge Shiite population and stiffer Iraqi forces defend the capital.
(Read More...)
08/04/2014
A U.S. surveillance plane is joining Singapore’s military in exercises as the navy tests the aircraft’s capabilities after the Pentagon found it ineffective at some tasks. The P-8A Poseidon, a Boeing Co. 737-800 modified with radar and sensors, is conducting anti-submarine and surface warfare sorties as part of the CARAT Singapore maneuvers that end Aug. 8, according to mission commander Lieutenant Commander Colette Lazenka.
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08/04/2014
The U.S. military acknowledged Sunday that an Air Force spy plane slipped into Swedish airspace without permission last month to avoid a possible encounter with a Russian aircraft.
The statement by Navy Capt. Gregory Hicks confirms widespread published reports alleging the July 18 incident.
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08/04/2014
As Israel began to redeploy significant numbers of its troops away from populated areas of Gaza on Sunday, an Israeli Air Force missile struck near the entrance of a United Nations school sheltering displaced Gazans in Rafah, killing 10 people and wounding 35 others. Even as Israel moved unilaterally to reduce military contact with Palestinians on the ground in Gaza, while waiting to see how the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad would respond, it continued to fight around Rafah,
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08/04/2014
In early July, hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of Kamal Shirkhani in Lavasan, a small town northeast of the Iranian capital Tehran. The crowd carried the coffin past posters which showed Shirkhani in the green uniform of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and identified him as a colonel.
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08/04/2014
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall last summer challenged defense firms to spend more of their money on internal research-and-development (IRAD) projects. Kendall’s comments sparked widespread debate and divided the defense industry into two camps: one that believed internal investments would spur future government business, and another that believed it could all be a colossal waste of money and time without detailed guidance of where to invest.
(Read More...)
08/04/2014
The Islamic State militants have seized control of Iraq’s biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns in the country’s north on Sunday, Reuters has reported, citing witnesses.
Concerns grow that the terrorists could use the dam to flood major Iraqi cities or deprive them of water. The militants on Sunday seized the towns of Wana and Sinjar.
(Read More...)
08/04/2014
Independence supporters in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said Sunday they can confirm having downed a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter plane. “It [plane] is lying between the towns of Yenakiyevo and Makiivka [Donetsk Region],” a spokesman for militia told RIA Novosti, adding that a search for the pilot is ongoing. In this area in eastern Ukraine, an intensive fighting between militia and security troops is underway. Ukraine’s military is using aircraft against independence supporters.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
Gaza Strip refugees who found housing in a school were bombed, leaving 20 dead and more than 100 wounded. The artillery shells struck the school around 5 a.m., and most of the dead were young men gathering for prayer at dawn. A classroom where women and children were sleeping was also struck. A refugee recounts that people were torn to pieces, and witnesses recall Gaza youth picking up body parts in preparation for burial.
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08/03/2014
Four days of fighting left nine IS fighters, three tribesmen and five civilians dead, UK-based Syrian opposition activists say. The jihadists' actions in the Ashara area had bred resentment locally, another activist based in Turkey said. In neighbouring Iraq, IS fighters fought Kurdish forces at Zumar. IS is dedicated to building an Islamist state in Syria and Iraq.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
Residents of Iraq's second-largest city, which has been under the control of ISIS since early June, have reportedly started clashing with militants, Tim Arango reports for The New York Times. They're chafing under the brutal rule of an organization too extreme even for Al Qaeda. But ISIS's assault on the region's cultural heritage has been particular cause for local alienation from the group.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
The Marines’ unmanned cargo chopper is headed for storage now that its time in combat is over. The K-MAX, a 6,000-pound aircraft built by Lockheed Martin, has returned home, the company announced July 24. Since 2011, the Marines used two of the drone helicopters to move gear and supplies around the combat zone in Afghanistan, carrying more than 4.5 million pounds of cargo and conducting thousands of delivery missions, according to a Lockheed release.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
Jordan’s national carrier on Saturday suspended flights to the Iraqi capital for security reasons, an airline official said. “Royal Jordanian suspended its flights to Baghdad today because of the security situation,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The airline was closely monitoring developments in Iraq and may extend the suspension of flights, added the source.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
The next big threat to American forces might be a flying IED. Officials are worried that proliferation of drone and improvised bomb technology means something as amateurish and cheap as a remote control plane could be turned into a low-tech but deadly weapon.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
Russian jets were flying over its former Soviet Union states as international monitors started their investigation on the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. Lithuania's Defense Ministry said a Russian aircraft was recorded "flying without a pre-agreed schedule" in waters near Estonia on Friday by NATO jets stationed in Lithuanian air base, Bloomberg reported, quoting its spokeswoman Viktorija Cieminyte.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
The anti-submarine Ilyushin Il-38 aircraft is based on a model that has demonstrated its effectiveness for decades. The modernized plane has a sophisticated targeting system and will significantly increase the combat capability of Russia’s Northern Fleet.
(Read More...)
08/03/2014
“And after the F/A-50s, we are hoping that we will soon acquire our first modern fighter aircraft,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in earlier report. It is also known that coming 12 FA-50 Philippine version will act as the country’s trainer and main fighter jets for the meantime, until PAF pilots have gained enough experience in flying supersonic jets and enough budget to acquire more capable and sophisticated aircraft.
(Read More...)
08/02/2014
Aircraft from more than a dozen military units will be operating in northern Michigan over the next several weeks as part of a major training exercise organized by the Michigan National Guard. More than 5,000 Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors will participate in the third annual Operation Northern Strike exercise, based primarily at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.
(Read More...)
08/02/2014
65,000-ton ships are hard to turn around, and they can drag a lot else in their wake. That’s the $10.4 billion (£6.2 billion) bet the Royal Navy has placed on its controversial program to build two new aircraft carriers. While a third smaller than American nuclear carriers, the ships’ costs have grown so much that the British government is considering temporarily mothballing the second ship, HMS Prince of Wales, as soon as it’s complete.
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08/02/2014
One of the newest fighter jets performed its first short takeoff and vertical landing, Friday, at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. The landing was executed by Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501’s (VMFAT-501) second F-35B to transfer to the Lowcountry since the squadron relocated from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. earlier this month.
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08/02/2014
China showed off newfound fighter-jet skills in 2011 with video suspiciously similar to a "Top Gun" clip. Now, the 1986 blockbuster has another parallel as Chinese pilots emulate Tom Cruise's character in fly-bys of rivals. Although not quite the scene with Cruise in an inverted-jet encounter, Chinese aircraft buzzed Japanese planes near disputed East China Sea islands in May and June in two of the neighbors' closest brushes since World War II.
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08/02/2014
A Jaguar combat aircraft of Indian Air Force today crashed near Bibber village in Kutch district while on a routine sortie from Bhuj air base but the pilot ejected safely. "A Jaguar fighter jet which had taken off from Bhuj air base for a routine sortie crashed near Bibber village, which is 30 kms from the base," an IAF official said. "The pilot ejected safely and is not hurt in the mishap," he said.
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08/02/2014
Eastern Military District combat aviation crews at airfields in the Far East were unexpectedly alerted, Aleksander Gordeyev, the head of the Eastern Military District, said Friday. “Pilots and crews of Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, Su-30CM aircraft and the new Su-35 fighter, as well as an engineering team and support units, were alerted at four airfields,” Gordeyev said.
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08/01/2014
A series of North Korean MIG fighter jets have recently crashed during flight training, Seoul officials said, presumably because of Kim Jong-un’s ambitions to boost his air force’s combat capability by using the old aircraft. According to officials in the South Korean military, three North Korean MIG-19 fighter jets crashed between June and July during training exercises, apparently due to defects in their engines.
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08/01/2014
The CH-53E Super Stallion served as the workhorse of the Marine Corps for more than 30 years; the three-engine helicopter is a heavy lift powerhouse. No aircraft in the Department of Defense can compare to the CH-53E Super Stallion, said Capt. Peter Neirheim, an instructor pilot with Marine Heavy Helicopter Training Squadron 302 and Virginia Beach, Va., native.
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08/01/2014
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the cornerstone of America’s future tactical air fleet—will survive its failure to show up at two major international air shows, at Fairford and Farnborough in Britain, this month. It was a good thing in that it showed that the U.S. and British military airworthiness experts had the authority and common sense to put safety first.
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08/01/2014
Russia’s decision to go ahead with the sale of Mi-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan, even in the face of official Indian concerns, is being seen by some quarters as evidence of a “major” regional re-alignment in the wake of the American drawdown in Afghanistan. In fact, the Russia-Pakistan dialogue for regional integration has been underway for some time now and beyond security cooperation.
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08/01/2014
Far from the PR fighting fields of Farnborough, the US Marine Corps is preparing for asurge in the combat capability of the Navy-Marine air/ground expeditionary force. The first squadron destined for initial operational capability (IOC) of the F-35B is the “Green Knights” of VMFA-121 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The aviators and maintainers of this storied squadron are working to bring the first F-35B squadron into service next year, along with MAWTS-1.
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08/01/2014
The US Air Force (USAF) wants to create a more "agile" acquisition system better suited to the rapidly shifting technology landscape, among other changes meant to help the service address looming budget constraints, top officials said on 30 July. Citing a new 30-year strategy document unveiled at a Pentagon press briefing.
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08/01/2014
BAE Systems PLC said on Thursday that it expects to win Saudi Arabian deals to bolsters its international order book this year as it pursues new buyers for the Typhoon combat jet to sustain production that is otherwise due to run out in early 2018. "We are pretty active on some very vibrant campaigns," Chief Executive Ian King told reporters. The company is targeting orders for about 100 more of the twin-engine fighter planes. "We are not lacking opportunities," Mr King added.
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08/01/2014
China showed off newfound fighter-jet skills in 2011 with video suspiciously similar to a “Top Gun” clip. Now, the 1986 blockbuster has another parallel as Chinese pilots emulate Tom Cruise’s character in fly-bys of rivals. While not quite the scene with Cruise in an inverted-jet encounter, Chinese aircraft buzzed Japanese planes near disputed East China Sea islands in May and June in two of the neighbors’ closest brushes since World War II.
(Read More...)
08/01/2014
The armed forces of China, Australia and the United States will conduct their first joint military drills in October, China’s Xinhua official news agency reported Thursday. Exercise Kowari, a joint military exercise involving the three armies, will take place in Australia, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense Geng Yansheng said during a regular press briefing on Thursday, Xinhua reported.
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08/01/2014
The United States is in negotiations to open a new military base in southern Uzbekistan that would bring $1 billion to the Uzbek budget annually, uzmetronom.com reported Wednesday.
“According to experts familiar with the situation, the main goal of a high-ranking American visitor, with the ranking of general, is to attain Uzbekistan’s consent to deploy an American contingent and military equipment, including aviation, in the Uzbek city of Termez.
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07/31/2014
The US Department of Defence has confirmed that the body of a teenage stowaway was found in the wheel-well of a military cargo plane. The plane had flown around Africa and then back to Germany, meaning that the DoD cannot confirm how long the body had been there, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby said.
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07/31/2014
The Air Force’s ability to continue developing a fifth generation fighter aircraft fleet ready to meet the challenges of future warfare, hinges in large part, on a steady influx of capable and trained F-22 Raptor pilots. Due to major collaborative improvements at the 43rd Fighter Squadron fighter training unit here, the Combat Air Force, or CAF, is set to receive the largest volume of basic course graduate Raptor pilots in the program’s history.
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07/31/2014
The world’s largest collection of tactical air support fighter jets is stored inside a 100,000-square-foot hangar across from the flight line at Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport. There are eight U.S.-built Douglas A-4K Skyhawks, nine Italian-made Aermacchi MB-339CB fighters and five Aero L-39 Albatross fighters. The hangar is also home to 28 Mikoyan MiG 21s, purchased from Poland, in various parts, waiting to be rebuilt.
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07/31/2014
The UK has set out a future combat aviation force structure to meet the country's post-2030 combat air requirement. In a House of Commons Defence Select Committee (DSC) report published in late July, the UK government sets out a future force structure that includes options for unmanned aircraft, additional buys and upgrades of ordered and current aircraft, as well as a clean-sheet design for a new manned fighter platform.
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07/31/2014
In an important program milestone enabling U.S. Marines Corps Initial Operational Capability (IOC) certification, the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B recently completed required wet runway and crosswind testing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. “This testing is absolutely critical to 2B flight software fleet release and the Marine Corps’ IOC,” said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's vice president for F-35 Test & Verification.
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07/30/2014
Azerbaijani military pilots has already conducted flights on the aircrafts, got thoroughly acquainted with technical and tactical instructions Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. Russia is planning to export Yak-130 (NATO code: Mitten) combat aircrafts to Azerbaijan. Irkut company, the manufacturer of the aircrafts, told APA in this regard. The Russian side has made a presentation of the aircraft for the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
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07/30/2014
Even before the Air Force’s new F-35 “fifth-generation” fighter jet is combat-ready, the service is looking ahead to what comes next. At an Air Force Association breakfast Tuesday, Gen. Michael Hostage, the head of Air Combat Command, said studies are underway to come up with a concept for a sixth-generation fighter plane. The aircraft could be completely different than any of its predecessors, Hostage said at the meeting in Arlington, Virginia. “It isn’t necessarily another single-seat fighter.
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07/30/2014
Czech airframer Aero Vodochody has confirmed two customers for most, possibly all, of the L-159 advanced light combat aircraft (ALCA) that were surplus to Czech air force requirements. American tactical flight support contractor Draken International will acquire up to 28 aircraft, redesignated L-159E. Meanwhile, a deal with Iraq finally reached the contract stage last month, an Aero Vodochody spokesman told AIN at the Farnborough Air Show.
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07/30/2014
Boeing today delivered the first multiyear II configured CH-47F Chinook helicopter to the U.S. Army one month ahead of schedule. The delivery was celebrated in a ceremony at the production facility in Ridley Township, Pa. “This delivery is an example of teamwork and commitment to the troops in the field,” said Col. Rob Barrie, project manager, Cargo Helicopter Office, accepting the aircraft for the U.S. Army.
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07/30/2014
The US State Department has approved the sale of 12 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to Tunisia. The Tunisians have also ordered 30 T700-GE-701D Engines (24 installed and 6 spares), 26 Embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigation Systems, 24 M134 7.62mm Machine Guns, integration of Precision Guided Rocket System capability to permit launch of laser-guided variants of 2.75 rockets.
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07/29/2014
Brazil has signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for the acquisition of three Airbus C295 search and rescue (SAR) aircraft, according to a news release from the company. The three aircraft will progressively be delivered to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) from the end of this year under the terms of an agreement which also includes a five-year Full In Service Support (FISS) contract.
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07/29/2014
The People's Liberation Army will need at least 400 Y-20 cargo planes produced by the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation in order to catch up with the force projection capabilities of the United States, Russia and India, according to a report published by the National Defense University of China cited in the party-run People's Daily.
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07/29/2014
A day which began with high hopes of peace ended in appalling bloodshed with 24 dead and the ominous prospect of a widening conflict. Ten children were killed in an air strike in Gaza City, while, across the border, nine Israelis were killed in separate incidents. The children were hit by a missile while playing in the Beach refugee camp, adding to the already extraordinarily high numbers of young victims in this war.
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07/29/2014
This is not the time to talk about reducing the number of F-15 fighter jets in Europe, given the situation in Ukraine, according to the new commander of the 48th Fighter Wing, which flies the only F15s in Europe. “What an exciting time to be in Europe and an exciting time to be at NATO, what an exciting time to be around this wing,” said Col. Robert Novotny, an F-15 pilot, who has been on the job for less than a week. “You know we have a lot of challenges, we really do.”
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07/29/2014
Thales announced that its Scorpion helmet-mounted sight and display system (HMSD) had been selected for all new weapons systems sales and upgrades by Airbus Helicopters. The unusual sole-source selection had been made “following a full and open competition,” Thales said. The Airbus Helicopters military product line that could be sold with the HMSD consists of seven helicopters, including the Tiger attack helicopter and the Cougar transport/combat SAR machine.
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07/29/2014
Grob Aircraft revealed another military customer for the G 120TP turboprop trainer. The Mexican air force has ordered 25 and optioned another 15 in a deal worth about $110 million including ground-based training aids. Indonesia, Argentina and Kenya previously selected the German-built aircraft. Powered by a Rolls-Royce 250-17B turboprop, the G 120TP is fitted with lightweight Martin Baker Mk17 ejection seats, and HOTAS controls.
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07/29/2014
More than seven months after it was cleared for being flown by IAF pilots, the entry of the first LCA Tejas in its newly-raised squadron in Bangalore is still awaited as the project has been delayed yet again. IAF has raised its 45 Squadron at Bangalore for allowing its pilots to fly the aircraft and was supposed to induct the first Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in March this year.
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07/29/2014
Russia’s Air Force will this year receive over 260 new aircraft, a senior defense official said Monday. “Over the past year, the Russian Air Force got more than 200 aircraft. This year, there will be many more of them - over 260; some 80 will be upgraded,” Russian First Deputy Defense Minister, Army General Arkady Bakhin, told journalists.
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07/28/2014
Israel renewed its offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after Palestinian rockets tore through a fledgling truce, prompting U.S. President Barack Obama to call for an immediate end to the fighting. Shortly after the Israeli military campaign resumed yesterday, Hamas offered to go back to a previous United Nations-backed cease-fire agreement that took effect July 25.
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07/28/2014
A fighter jet of the Russian Air Force crashed in southwestern Russia on Sunday morning, killing the pilot after he disobeyed an order to eject, military officials said, blaming the accident on a technical fault. There were no casualties on the ground. The accident happened at about 9:20 a.m. local time on Sunday when the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet went down in a steppe about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) northeast of the port city of Astrakhan.
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07/28/2014
The war and the Australians have come to Donetsk. As the town empties, forces loyal to the central government in Kiev on Sunday stepped up a ferocious new round of attacks on separatist rebels – forcing Canberra’s first substantive MH17 investigative team to abort what would have been its first day at the sprawling crash site.
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07/28/2014
After more than 14 years of continuous war in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention supporting insurgencies in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, the U.S. departs in a zero sum game that has cost tens of thousands of lives, trillions of dollars and leaves the Middle-East totally destabilizedwith conflict everywhere. To make matters worse and seemingly incomprehensible, evidence suggests the U.S. and its partners are planning for war against Iran.
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07/28/2014
The Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) developed for the U.S. F-35 Lightning II fifth generation stealth fighter lets American combat pilots see more of the sky than ever before. Its technology can even allow a fighter pilot to see an enemy aircraft flying below his jet or hidden from his view by the fuselage or wall of his supersonic fighter.
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07/28/2014
VICE News is out at the world's largest international naval exercise, Rim of the Pacific 2014, more commonly known as RIMPAC 2014, shooting footage for upcoming episodes of War Games. Like you'd pretty much expect from a major international naval exercise, a lot of the activity and training is related to stuff that ships do with and relation to each other.
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07/28/2014
From Foxtrot Alpha: A few months back Mike Ballaban posted one of the coolest combat aircraft videos of the year, called 'Fulcrum Drivers,' that put us right into the cockpit of the mighty MiG-29 during some jaw dropping maneuvers. Well now the Fulcrum and its master are back for 'Fulcrum Drivers II.'
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07/27/2014
Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced a 24-hour ceasefire after Israel ended its own truce amid continuing rocket fire from Gaza. All Palestinian militant factions would stop firing from 11:00 GMT, Hamas said. But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had already violated its own ceasefire and "Israel will do what it must do to defend its people".
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07/27/2014
Dutch experts have cancelled plans to head to the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, international officials say. Fighting between pro-Russia separatists and government troops in the area has prevented access to the site, they add. Earlier, Malaysia said it had struck a deal with the rebels to allow international police at the site.
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07/27/2014
The number of civilians caught up in Israel's Operation Protective Edge offensive has raised international concern and condemnation. During the three weeks since air strikes against Hamas in Gaza began, more than 800 people have been killed on both sides. The UN says the vast majority of Palestinian deaths are civilian. But figures from previous operations in the densely populated Gaza Strip over the last six years show it is not the first time civilians have paid a heavy price.
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07/27/2014
Under intense diplomatic pressure, Israeli leaders decided late Saturday to extend a halt to hostilities in the Gaza Strip through midnight Sunday, but said their troops would maintain defensive positions and continue to ferret out tunnels from Gaza into Israeli territory. Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates Gaza, rejected the extension of the temporary cease-fire requested by the United Nations, after renewing rocket fire on Israel on Saturday evening.
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07/27/2014
The rescue workers have left, and their tents are gone. The peppermint-striped plastic cordon flutters uselessly in the breeze. Farmers are harvesting wheat in a field where bodies had lain. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was blown out of the sky one week ago on Thursday, deepening tensions between Russia and the West and thrusting at least 10 countries whose citizens were on board into the middle of a war between Ukraine's government and pro-Russian rebels.
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07/27/2014
Europe will harden its line against Moscow after the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, but sniping between Britain and France shows that the road to political consensus will be long and hard, analysts said. The 28 European Union foreign ministers agreed July 22 to stiffen sanctions unless Russian President Vladimir Putin moves toward settling the Ukraine crisis.
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07/27/2014
The thinktank the China Strategic Culture Promotion Association (CSCPA) issued its "CSCPA Report on US Military Power 2013 and CSCPA Report on Japanese Military Power 2013" in Beijing on July 23, blaming the US for deploying more military strength in Asia-Pacific, reports Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po. The report said US military strength in the region increased by 6% in 2013 compared with 2012, reaching 154,100 personnel.
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07/27/2014
Knowing how and when to make a screen grab has suddenly become one of the basic skills of journalism. On the afternoon of July 23, a Russian soldier named Vadim Grigoriyev posted on the Russian social-networking site VKontakte that he'd "been shelling Ukraine all night." He added a couple of photos of artillery pieces and spent shells.
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07/27/2014
Mozambique recently revived its air force by shipping its eight MiG-21 fighters to Romania to be refurbished and upgraded. Some of these aircraft (six single seat fighters and two dual seat trainers) had not flown since the 1990s. Lack of maintenance, especially periodic refurbishment, is what left these aircraft grounded, baking in the tropical heat and rain for two decades.
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07/27/2014
The Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) F-15SG multirole fighter aircraft are participating in the Red Flag - Nellis multi-national training exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, US, for the first time. In addition to eight F-15SG fighters, RSAF has also deployed eight F-16C/D fighter aircraft, three CH-47 Chinook helicopters, and 290 personnel from its Peace Carvin II, Peace Carvin V, and Peace Prairie detachments for the air-to-air combat training exercise.
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07/27/2014
The awful crash of Malaysian Flight 17 in the Ukraine combat zone seems likely to have been caused by a long-range surface-to-air missile. At this writing, who launched the missile remains undetermined. Regardless of who’s guilty - why is a modern software-driven weapon capable of striking a civilian jet in the first place? All commercial airliners send out transponder signals that identify them as civilian.
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07/27/2014
After days of heavy combat among militias that highlights the chaos in Libya, the U.S. Embassy has been shut down and its staff taken to safety in neighboring Tunisia, the State Department said Saturday. It occurred under the protection of U.S. F-16 fighters and other aircraft, and there were no incidents.
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07/26/2014
A series of explosions at a school run by the United Nations sheltering hundreds of Palestinians who had fled their homes for safety from Israeli military assaults killed at least 10 people on Thursday afternoon and wounded many more. The cause was not immediately clear.
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07/26/2014
More than a week after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed over eastern Ukraine, the Dutch-led accident investigation team was preparing Friday to access the crash site for the first time to try to unravel what brought down the Boeing 777. In the coming days, investigators will undertake a focused but limited search of the crash site and debris from the jetliner, the Dutch Safety Board said Friday.
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07/26/2014
AH-64E Apache Guardians from 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, conducted deck landing qualifications aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) off the coast of Hawaii, July 19, as part of the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014.
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07/26/2014
Fairchild Air Force Base participated in a Red Flag exercise above the Nevada Test and Training Range, July 2014. This exercise is one out of a series of training programs that occur multiple times throughout the year, affording Airmen an opportunity to participate in exercises that showcase the most realistic combat training without real enemy fire. Red Flag occurs at Nellis Air Force Base, outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Eielson AFB, outside of Fairbanks, Alaska.
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07/26/2014
The first of 12 new Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft for the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) departed the company's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, on 22 July. The departure, which was disclosed on the Lockheed Martin Code One blog, saw the first four Block 50 F-16s begin the 13,500 km ferry flight to the sultanate.
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07/26/2014
A military base in Poland could soon be repurposed to support NATO in its mission to reassure eastern European allies of its oversight amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict. NATO’s top commander in Europe, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, told a briefing in Naples this week that he plans to recommend “having capability in the forward area — preposition supplies, preposition capabilities, and a basing area ready to rapidly accept follow on forces.”
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07/26/2014
Barely a year after the world's most sophisticated drone proved it could take off and land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the project is at a crossroads, with huge implications for the future not only of drone warfare but US seapower writ large. The US navy will soon release a request for proposals from a handful of defense companies for the development of the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike vehicle, or UCLASS.
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07/26/2014
North Korea recently lifted a flight ban on most of its older warplanes. This ban was imposed in May after a MiG-17 crashed into the sea off the west coast. There was a mechanical failure and given the age of most North Korean aircraft and shortages of spare parts and fuel for flying time over the last decade it was felt prudent to ground most of the air force until the oldest aircraft could be checked for any common problems.
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07/26/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the process of inducting more Su-30 MKI aircraft and Light Combat Aircraft, parliament was informed Friday. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha that Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft and Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft would also be procured.
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07/26/2014
The Iraqi government Friday confirmed that Russia has begun delivery of attack helicopters and warplanes as part of an arms deal intended to bolster the foundering military effort to retake the nearly half of Iraq lost this year to Islamist militants.
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07/25/2014
Organizations, businesses and military forces from across the globe gathered in Farnborough, England, to celebrate 100 years of aviation at the Farnborough International Air Show, or FIA, July 14 -20. FIA is a biennial international trade show for the aerospace industry to demonstrate the latest in both civilian and military aircraft capabilities.
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07/25/2014
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, supplied with an increasing amount of advanced weaponry by Russia, have downed more than ten aircraft over the past three months. Since May 2, pro-Russian separatists have been confirmed to have shot down 11 aircraft over eastern Ukraine. Since shooting down flight MH17 on July 17, the rebels have downed an additional two Ukrainian Sukhoi 25 fighter jets.
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07/25/2014
Australia is to take delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet on Thursday from Lockheed Martin. It plans to buy another 72. Australia is building a $1.47 billion New Air Combat Capability Facility and has been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defense Darren Chester announced on Australian Defense Forces Website.
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07/25/2014
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation Thursday, creating new uncertainty in his nation at a crucial moment in its military offensive against pro-Russian rebels in the east. The move was sure to distract Ukrainian politicians even as leaders from around the world push for unfettered access to the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down deep inside rebel-held territory.
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07/25/2014
The Swedish defence export agency FXM announced that the Saab Gripen will not be entered for Denmark’s new fighter competition. Denmark has issued an 800-page “Request for Binding Information” (RBI) on alternatives to the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter; it is one of two international F-35 partners that has not yet committed to the program. The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon are the other contenders in Denmark.
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07/25/2014
Why would India buy the Rafale combat aircraft rejected by every other interested country—Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, and even the cash-rich but not particularly discriminating Saudi Arabia and Morocco? The French foreign minister Laurent Fabius’s one-point agenda when he visited New Delhi was to seal the deal for Rafale, a warplane apparently fitting IAF’s idea of a Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in the service’s unique typology.
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07/25/2014
This week, Lockheed Martin officially took delivery of a key part of the F-35 fighter’s combat functionality—the pilot’s helmet. The most expensive and complicated piece of headgear ever constructed, the F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) is one of the multipurpose fighter’s most critical systems, and it's essential to delivering a fully combat-ready version of the fighter to the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the Air Force.
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07/25/2014
A ceremony was held today at Lockheed Martin, commemorating the official roll out of the first two F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). “Today, we celebrate a milestone in the U.S.-Australia partnership, a partnership built on strength, friendship, and technological innovation,” said Frank Kendall, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics.
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07/25/2014
After lifting more than 4.5 million pounds of cargo and conducting thousands of delivery missions for the U.S. Marine Corps, the Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace Corporation [NYSE: KAMN] K-MAX cargo unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has returned to the United States following a nearly three-year deployment in Afghanistan.
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07/24/2014
Lockheed Martin (LM) and BAE Systems reported progress this month on their rival upgrades for F-16 Fighting Falcons. Two aircraft from each company’s launch customer (Taiwan for LM, South Korea for BAE) are now in rework, ironically just a few miles from each other in Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, the ferry of Iraq’s first two new Block 52 aircraft in September is looking unlikely.
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07/24/2014
It’s become popular to depict American UAVs as some kind of super weapon and a danger to world peace. Anyone who understands how modern warplanes operate knows this is not true, but the mass media and many politicians who find it useful to follow whatever idea the mass media is behind have created a fictional reality in which UAVs do unspeakable things that are unique in human history.
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07/24/2014
Starting on Saturday the SA Air Force (SAAF) will stand up and be counted for operational and combat readiness when Exercise Winter Solstice 1V starts. The two week long exercise will see portions of airspace over Eastern and Northern Cape utilised by jets, helicopters and transport aircraft in partially simulated field training exercise.
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07/24/2014
After more than a dozen years fighting wars against unsophisticated opponents and technology in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Air Force is refocusing its training on tests ripped from the headlines — surface-to-air missiles, chemical weapons and cyber warfare. The training, according to military analysts and the service's top boss, a former fighter pilot himself, is vital to the service as it faces increasingly sophisticated threats from Eastern Europe to the Pacific.
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07/24/2014
The horrifying deaths of 298 passengers of a jetliner shot down over Ukraine have focused the world's attention on a previously unrecognized threat: the proliferation of surface-to-air missiles in the hands of rogue, non-state actors. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was brought down by a BUK-17, a high-tech Russian-built missile designed to intercept high-speed, high-altitude combat aircraft.
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07/24/2014
Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have confirmed they have submitted bids to replace the Royal Danish Air Force’s aging F-16 combat jet fleet but Saab has withdrawn from the competition. The Danes invited two European and two US bidders to respond to a request for binding information by July 21 to supply between 24 and 30 jets. Only three of the contenders replied with bids.
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07/24/2014
Two Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets were shot down on Wednesday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The planes were downed in an area of heavy fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists, near where a Malaysia Airlines jet was blown out of the sky last week, killing 298 people and drawing international dismay.
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07/24/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently demonstrated its Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) dual-mode guidance section during a second internally funded flight test at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. During the test, the rail-mounted JAGM flew 6.2 kilometers and initially acquired the target using its precision strike, semi-active laser. The dual-mode guidance section then engaged its millimeter wave radar, and the moving target was destroyed.
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07/24/2014
More than 90 countries are sending their military attaches to Russia’s international air force crew competition Aviadarts, Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief said Wednesday. “The costs [of organizing the competition] are comparable to those of the military training,” Bondarev said, without providing the exact figure.
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07/23/2014
The US Air Force’s most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, saw “action” for the first time in South-East Asia in this year’s biennial Cope Taufan joint exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force. More than 40 aircraft were involved in Cope Taufan 2014, which took place from June 9 to 20 (see graphic). It was the biggest such exercise to date and also saw the deployment of a home-grown, purpose-built Command and Control System which proved well up to the complex task.
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07/23/2014
The fully-networked nightmare child of Skynet and a guided missile. More prosaically, it’s the fruit of the USA’s 20-year Joint Strike Fighter programme, designed to replace a multiple older planes in one swoop. This single-seat, single-engine, fixed-wing craft, made by Lockheed Martin, will go into service not only with all three of the US Armed Forces’ major plane-flying forces but also with nine of its allied nations.
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07/23/2014
ndia is still negotiating a long-delayed purchase of fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation. India initially agreed to the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault in 2012 but the purchase has been stuck in negotiations which still continue, Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said in a response to a question in the upper house of Parliament Tuesday.
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07/23/2014
What's been described as "one of the world's most unique military aircraft," the MV-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor, will return after a four-year hiatus at this year's AirVenture. Although the aircraft appeared at AirVenture 2010, this year will be the first time it will perform its full Level III flight demonstration at the event — one of only nine such air show appearances this year across the country.
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07/23/2014
For the Air Force conditions are equally discouraging, according to the report. There are only 28 combat aircraft in flying conditions, and the 'newest' are five Mirage, not all of them operational and which will have to be decommissioned quite soon. “If during a parade you see a wing of ten military aircraft, it does not mean the ten are in combat condition” points out Horacio Jaunarena, a former Defense minister.
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07/23/2014
Landing an aircraft in a low-security environment or transporting potentially hostile personnel are just occupational hazards for combat aircrews. To combat a large variety of threats, the Air Force has fly-away security teams, or FASTs. FAST members are security forces Airmen trained to protect mobility aircraft and travel on planes such as C-17 Globemaster III's and C-130H Hercules here at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.
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07/23/2014
Boeing on July 17 delivered on schedule the first of four upgraded French Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The upgraded aircraft will increase the fleet’s surveillance, communications and battle management capabilities. The Mid-Life Upgrade – the largest set of modifications to AWACS aircraft for France – will provide the crew with more actionable information and better situational awareness and increase mission effectiveness and efficiencies.
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07/23/2014
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it believed that an end to military hostilities around the crash site of the Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine would prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. “We remain convinced that a stop to military actions in the area around the crashed plane, as well as in eastern Ukraine as a whole, would guarantee that such tragedy would never happen again, thus saving many innocent lives,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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07/23/2014
Jeppesen now offers operators an enhanced version of its industry-leading FliteDeck Pro electronic flight bag (EFB) solution for iPad. New iOS 7-compliant features and functionality of FliteDeck Pro will help airlines and other large operators work more efficiently, with improved access to critical flight information and shared data between devices.
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07/22/2014
ISIL (al Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant) is attracting a specific type or recruit (Islamic fanatics, especially the young, especially teenagers, who are not good for much beyond being suicide bombers) and that is becoming a problem. Many of these recruits are foreigners and foreigners are particularly unpopular in Iraq, especially if they are armed and looking to kill Iraqis.
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07/22/2014
Swedish defence firm Saab has declined to provide a bid for a 30 billion ($4.37 billion) Danish fighter contract while reports indicate that US firm Lockheed Martin is set to land the deal. Three candidates are officially in the running to receive one of Denmark’s biggest public purchases of all time when the military purchases new fighter jets by July 1st 2015.
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07/22/2014
There are still too many unanswered questions about the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 over eastern Ukraine on Jul. 17, 2014. Among them, one of the most important deals with the possible error made by the operator inside the SA-11 “Gadfly” (“Buk”) TELAR (transporter erector launcher and radar) who did fire one or more missiles against a civilian plane.
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07/22/2014
For many people, “nonstate actors” are supposed to be ill-equipped militias, warlord bands or Vietcong insurgents in black pajamas. Because they lack sophisticated weapons, so the common assumption goes, they resort to irregular guerilla tactics. But if they somehow got modern precision weapons, it is often argued, they would quickly become a grave danger to state militaries like the Americans’ – or the Ukrainians.
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07/22/2014
The Russian Navy is now equipped with a modernised Ilyushin Il-38 aircraft, designed to hunt down and destroy enemy submarines. The plane is equipped with a conceptually new targeting system and is another example of how platforms long used by the army and navy have been given a new lease of life after modernisation.
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07/22/2014
Four days after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine, the carrier and other major airlines are still flying over war zones, underscoring how crucial that airspace is to the industry. Airlines have discretion to plan flight routes along airways they think are safe, but rely on governments to issue warnings if they deem airspace unsafe.
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07/22/2014
Airbus Group NV (AIR) said it favors a pan-European deal on military drones after an Anglo-French agreement from which it’s excluded received government backing and the U.K.’s Taranis model began testing stealth technology. A bilateral approach to developing a combat drone that could succeed aircraft such as the Eurofighter ignores both the capabilities of other countries and the success of more inclusive aerospace programs.
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07/21/2014
The revival of the Pentagon’s storied F-35 alternative engine program is unlikely despite a US Senate panel raising that possibility, experts say. Finding billions of dollars for such an effort within the Pentagon’s already capped budget would prove a herculean task, particularly if sequestration caps return in 2016, these experts say.
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07/21/2014
Russian military aircraft will be patrolling Finnish airspace Sunday and Monday as part of annual Open Skies exercises. The military drills will also see the Russians conduct surveillance runs in Estonia.
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07/21/2014
Ukrainian officials said “irrefutable evidence” proves that Russia’s military operated the missile system that blew a Malaysia Airlines jet from the sky, killing 298 people. “This terrorist act was committed with the help of the Russian Federation. We know clearly that the crew of this system were Russian citizens,” Vitaly Naida, Ukraine’s chief of counterintelligence, told reporters on Saturday.
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07/21/2014
For the first time students from the U.S. Air Force Weapons School got to fly with the newly upgraded Sustainment Block-16 B-1B Lancer during the student's Integration Phase (IT) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Airmen from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron here brought the B-1B to Nellis AFB, allowing weapons school students hands-on time with the new technology.
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07/21/2014
China sent a surveillance vessel to waters off Hawaii even as the country participated for the first time in the world’s largest international naval exercise led by the U.S. The auxiliary general intelligence ship is outside U.S. territorial seas, yet within the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, Captain Darryn James, chief spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
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07/21/2014
Republicans and Democrats showed a rare display of bipartisanship last week when members of both parties criticized the Pentagon’s $58.6 billion war budget request, but experts say Congress will likely approve the measure. US lawmakers directed the majority of their frustration at a$5 billion White House request for the newly created counterterrorism partnership fund.
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07/21/2014
The awful crash of Malaysian Flight 17 in the Ukraine combat zone seems likely to have been caused by a long-range surface-to-air missile. At this writing, who launched the missile remains undetermined. Regardless of who's guilty - why is a modern software-driven weapon capable of striking a civilian jet in the first place? All commercial airliners send out transponder signals that identify them as civilian. In most cases, what's employed is a protocol called Mode C, which is not used by militar
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07/21/2014
India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark-1, already 20 years late, likely will miss its final operational clearance (FOC) deadline set for the end of 2014, an Indian Air Force source said.
In the run-up to the FOC stage, handling tests are being performed on only one aircraft while the remaining five are still in production. Ideally, handling flight tests should be performed on at least six aircraft to ascertain their operational readiness, the source said.
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07/20/2014
NATO’s main public website published rebuttal of a series of russian accusations against NATO which are based on misrepresentations of the facts. Here is document that sets the record straight.
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07/20/2014
Japan’s defense ministry wants funding to purchase Osprey aircraft starting next year, with the addition of more than a dozen tilt-rotor aircraft over the next few years, despite homegrown protests and concerns regarding the aircraft’s safety. During a recent trip to Washington, D.C., Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera lauded the ability and performance of the controversial helicopter-airplane hybrid in the Philippines, where it was used extensively in typhoon relief operations.
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07/20/2014
The Ukrainian government said on Saturday that it had proof that Russia had provided the surface-to-air missile system that shot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 people aboard. That claim came as officials from Malaysia and the Netherlands pleaded for politics to be put aside so they could recover their dead, still lying in a field in a war zone.
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07/20/2014
At least 330 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, have died and 2,400 others have been wounded since Israel launched a major military offensive in the Gaza Strip 12 days ago, medical sources told Efe. The number of people killed has risen sharply since the Israeli army escalated its "Operation Protective Edge," a campaign of massive air raids and naval barrages intended to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, by launching a ground invasion Thursday night.
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07/20/2014
It is practically invisible, it gives the pilot a 360 degree vision and it has the most powerful fighter engine in the world. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Britain's £70 million stealth jet, is an "infinitesimally small” single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft. “I see everything that happens, 360 degrees around me, at astonishing distances,” said Billy Flynn, F-35 Lightning II pilot.
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07/20/2014
Signaling the end of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics' monopoly in the domestic aerospace arena, the Modi government on Saturday gave the formal nod for the Indian private sector to tie up with a foreign collaborator to supply 56 transport aircraft to the IAF.
TOI on Wednesday had reported that the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley, would clear the proposed Rs 13,000 crore project in its meeting on Saturday.
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07/19/2014
F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets that had been grounded at Nellis Air Force Base resumed flying Friday. Nellis spokeswoman 1st Lt. Sarah Ruckriegle said the four F-35s assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron were cleared to return to the skies after the nation’s fleet was grounded earlier this month following a June 23 fire in one in Florida.
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07/19/2014
History was made once again as crews with the 49th Maintenance Squadron returned the famed F-117 Nighthawk to the Holloman Heritage Park. The completely restored aircraft takes its place in the park following a 4-month restoration project. "After sitting in the New Mexican sun exposed to wind, snow, rain and birds the F-117 had begun to look extremely shabby," said Jim Burrett, 49th Wing historian.
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07/19/2014
Indian Air Force uses a World War-II era lighting system for the landing of fighter and transport aircraft at the Leh airbase at night due to lack of any facility for advanced airfield lighting, CAG pointed out today. The government auditor has found that IAF was using solar gooseneck flares for running flight operations at night at Leh airbase.
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07/19/2014
The US Air Force (USAF) has successfully completed the first flight of the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft upgraded with the new APG-82(V)1 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system. Around 47 F-15E fighter aircraft belonging to the 389th and 391st Fighter Squadrons are scheduled to be fitted with the radar by 2017.
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07/19/2014
When a plane like Malaysia Airline Flight 17 is suddenly dropped from the sky by a missile attack launched from a vehicle no larger than a tank, the temptation is to look for the technology that will protect airline passengers from such threats. So should we be equipping commercial passenger planes with missile defense systems?
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07/19/2014
The United States is not planning to give weapons or “lethal” assistance to Ukraine following Thursday’s downing of an airliner in its conflict zone, nor does it plan any major U.S. military response to the crisis, the Pentagon said Friday.Press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby repeated U.S. calls for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine but said the “focus” of American assistance to Kiev will remain on non-lethal supplies and equipment.
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07/19/2014
The awful crash of Malaysian Flight 17 in the eastern Ukraine combat zone seems likely to have been caused by a long-range surface-to-air missile. At this writing, who launched the missile remains undetermined. Regardless of who’s guilty — why is a modern software-driven weapon capable of striking a civilian jet in the first place?
(Read More...)
07/19/2014
There is no proposal at present to export the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) or BrahMos missile, parliament was told Friday. "There are no proposals at present to export the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and BrahMos supersonic cruise missile," Jaitley told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
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07/18/2014
The Buk surface-to-air missile system that pro-Russian separatists allegedly used to shoot down the Malaysian plane has been sneaked into Russia overnight, Anton Herashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, says on Facebook. (BBC Monitoring)
A total of 121 bodies found at Malaysian plane crash site as of 0700 local (0400 GMT), Ukraine's State Emergencies Service says - (BBC Monitoring via UNIAN news agency.)
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07/18/2014
A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft. As plumes of black smoke rose up near a rebel-held village of Hrabove, an Associated Press journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border.
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07/18/2014
Philippine President Benigno Aquino told his country's neighbours on Thursday that efforts to modernise the military were not aimed at them but rather at strengthening national defence capabilities and tackling disasters. Aquino has allocated 75 billion pesos ($1.72 billion) over five years to upgrade maritime security operations and humanitarian response, buying frigates, fighter-trainers and anti-submarine helicopters.
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07/18/2014
British and Italian Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft are to be able to employ the MBDA Storm Shadow long range cruise missile after a GBP150 million contract to integrate the weapon was announced at the Farnborough International Airshow 2014. Speaking at the show on 16 July, the UK Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne said the contract is between the four Typhoon partner nations and the industrial consortium that builds the aircraft.
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07/18/2014
The Pentagon may delay the planned withdrawal of U.S. Air Force F-15C fighter jets from Europe, and possibly increase aircraft rotations to the continent, as part of an effort to reassure allies and boost assistance to the region in the wake of Russia's recent aggression in Ukraine, officials told members of Congress Wednesday.
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07/18/2014
The first 389th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle received a Radar Modernization Program, or RMP, upgrade here in June. The inaugural flight with the new radar system was flown by Capt. Matthew Riley, a 389th Fighter Squadron pilot, and Maj. Jacob Lindaman, a 389th FS weapon systems officer.
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07/18/2014
The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday vehemently denied accusations of shooting down a Ukrainian combat plane, calling the claim ‘absurd.' “This claim, as well as all previous accusations by Kiev against the Russian Defense Ministry, is absurd,” a high-ranking military official told RIA Novosti.
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07/18/2014
The Navy landed a 44,000-pound drone aircraft on the USS George H.W. Bush for the first time last summer, a technical feat that was hailed by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at the time as a historic development in a program that would “radically change the way presence and combat power are delivered from aircraft carriers.”
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07/18/2014
BAE Systems launched a new version of the Striker integrated display helmet for combat aircraft pilots here at the Farnborough Airshow this week. Mark Bowman, the company’s chief test pilot, demonstrated how BAE has leveraged its work on an alternative helmet-mounted display (HMD) for the Lockheed Martin F-35 to produce Striker 2.
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07/18/2014
The Ukrainian government said on Thursday that a Russian military plane had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet in Ukrainian airspace the previous evening, a serious allegation of direct intervention by Russia’s armed forces. If confirmed, the confrontation would represent the first open and direct involvement by Russia’s military in eastern Ukraine since the separatist rebellion began there in April.
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07/18/2014
The Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) P.1HH HammerHead demo aircraft has reached a major milestone and successfully validated its autonomous flight modes. The Mubadala-owned Piaggio Hammerhead has validated and fine tuned its advanced control laws, including augmented modes, flight envelope protection and automatic flight, plus the automatic management of the ground run both in takeoff and landing.
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07/17/2014
The Air Force is cutting thousands of manning and organization officers, and creating a new numbered Air Force to oversee intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the service announced today. A total of 3,459 positions will be cut in an effort to save $1.6 billion over the next five years. The move comes about a year after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the services to cut headquarters staff by 20 percent.
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07/17/2014
The British Royal Air Force plans to finish technological upgrades of as many as 59 Tornado aircraft by 2016 as part of a modernization plan to keep the plane relevant as the F-35 and Typhoon come on line, officials said at the Farnborough International Airshow. The upgrades included outfitting the planes with precision weapons, improved information exchange and secure communication technology, said Dave Waddington, Tornado Force Commander, RAF.
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07/17/2014
The first B-2 Spirit to "slip the surly bonds of earth" celebrates its 25th anniversary of flight July 17, 2014, providing the Airmen and civilians who work with the airframe a chance to reflect on the strategic impact 20 aircraft can have in the entire Department of Defense arsenal. The image, first envisioned by World War II pilot and poet John Gillespie in his poem High Flight, is illustrative of the first Spirit to ever achieve flight.
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07/17/2014
The Army has lost an initial Senate skirmish over a hotly disputed plan to take Apache attack helicopters away from National Guard units in a budget-cutting move that has infuriated governors and state military leaders. The proposal, which would transfer dozens of the sleek Apache combat aircraft to active-duty units and give larger, multiuse Black Hawk helicopters to the Guard, has gotten high-level support at the Pentagon.
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07/17/2014
ighter jets roared off an American aircraft carrier into a gray sky on Wednesday as the United States kicked off a joint naval exercise off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, with the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, calling for strong punishment if North Korea initiated a military provocation.
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07/17/2014
The Modi government is all set to kick-start private sector entry into domestic aerospace arena by giving the green signal to the Rs 13,000 crore project to supply 56 transport aircraft to IAF. The project was put on hold by the previous UPA regime last year after the then heavy industries & public enterprises minister Praful Patel and some others strongly opposed the move to virtually keep state-run units or PSUs like Hindustan Aeronuatics (HAL) out of the mega programme.
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07/17/2014
My first reaction to photos of the Textron Airland Scorpion was not positive, I will admit. The tandem cockpit, twin canted vertical stabilizers and slender straight wing made it look too much like a Citation wearing a Super Hornet costume for Halloween.
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07/17/2014
The Ukrainian combat aviation received reinforcements from Canada. The Canadian government proposes to deliver nearly 20 combat aircraft CF-18A to the Ukrainian military. The information appeared on social networks. Russian English-language television channel Russia Today reported the same.
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07/17/2014
Egypt has become the largest customer for the tactical airlifter, the Airbus C295. It has ordered eight more of the type, taking its total fleet to 20. The new batch of aircraft will be delivered to the Egyptian Air Force by Airbus Defence and Space beginning next year and will follow the 12 aircraft previously ordered, of which six are already in service. The contract also includes a service support package for spares, training, and maintenance of the fleet.
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07/16/2014
The Pentagon is resuming test flights of its new-generation F-35 fighter while investigating the cause of an engine fire last month, but the plane will operate with restrictions and will not fly in the Farnborough International Airshow in England. The Pentagon's press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said it was a "difficult decision" to cancel the hoped-for participation at Farnborough, but the Pentagon remains confident that any of the plane's technical issues can be fixed.
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07/16/2014
Two U.S. military KC-130 air refueling tankers arrived Tuesday at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture in the first transfer under a bilateral agreement to reduce the burden on Okinawa of hosting U.S. bases.
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07/16/2014
Beechcraft Defense Company is highlighting its portfolio of military and defense products and services at the Farnborough International Airshow this week, emphasizing recent program milestones and orders. The company is displaying its T-6C trainer and AT-6 light attack aircraft at the Textron Aviation chalet in Farnborough, United Kingdom.
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07/16/2014
Selex ES’s Raven ES-05 active electronically scanned array radar has been selected to equip the next-generation Saab Gripen E combat aircraft. The two companies have a long-standing relationship on the Gripen programme that stretches back to 2009. A production-standard radar is already fitted to the Gripen E demonstrator.
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07/16/2014
Ukraine has made fresh charges of Russian involvement in its conflict with separatist rebels, suggesting Moscow may have had a role in an air strike on Tuesday that killed 11 people. The accusations come a day before European Union leaders meet to discuss the crisis, where they might consider adopting fresh sanctions against Russia.
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07/16/2014
The Ukrainian armed forces conducting a military operation in the country’s embattled southeast have suspended combat aviation flights in the area to investigate a recent crash of a military plane, the operation’s press center said on Tuesday. “Aviation flights have been suspended until a special order due to the investigation of Ukrainian Armed Forces' An-26 military transport plane crash in the Luhansk Region on July 14, 2014,” the press center said on its Facebook page.
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07/16/2014
India's negotiations with French aviation major Dassault for 126 Rafale Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for $20 billion "are progressing well" and the contract is likely "sooner than later in the current financial year (2014-15)" a top military commander has said.The Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, in an interview to India Strategic (www.indiastrategic.in) ahead of the Farnborough Air Show, the first in fact after he assumed office about six months ago.
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07/16/2014
The UK and France have stepped up co-operation on a project that could lead to the two countries developing a military drone capable of combat operations and highly covert surveillance. The British and French governments signed a deal at the Farnborough air show in the UK on Tuesday under which £120m will be spent on a feasibility study about joint development of an UCA – a project involving six companies led by BAE Systems of the UK and France’s Dassault Aviation.
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07/16/2014
The Russian Helicopters holding delivered the last batch of Mi-171E transport helicopters built at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant to Chinese company Poly Technologies, a company spokesperson stated Tuesday. It's the last batch under a contract for 48 helicopters signed in 2012 by the Chinese company and Russia's arms exporter Rosoboronexport. In total, with additional contracts, 52 helicopters were delivered, the statement said.
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07/15/2014
Ukraine’s top defense official said Monday that Russia may have shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane, an action that would represent a dramatic new step in the months-long conflict that has engulfed eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists immediately asserted responsibility for the downing of the An-26 plane over Luhansk, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery Heletey said the aircraft had been flying too high for their shoulder-mounted rockets to reach it.
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07/15/2014
The most intimidating aircraft in the world is 25 years old this week and is about to become even more advanced. The nation’s fleet of B-2 stealth bombers, the pride of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, is poised to get nearly $10 billion in upgrades over the next several years to ensure it remains the most fearsome attack platform in the U.S arsenal.
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07/15/2014
The Farnborough International Airshow has kicked off in a small town west of London, although many Russian aerospace industry delegates had to stay at home due to visa problems. The week-long event, which combines a well-respected trade exhibition for aerospace and defense industries with a spectacular airshow, will run until July 20.
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07/15/2014
The successful consolidation of key parts of Russia’s aerospace industry into the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is more evident at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow then at any time since the group’s formation back in February 2006. In several press briefings in the months ahead of this year’s show, CEO Mikhail Pogosian, who has been at the helm for much of this vital re-ordering of the once scattered Russian design bureaus, research bodies and production facilities.
(Read More...)
07/15/2014
The integration of new weapons on some combat aircraft has become so expensive that European Defence Agency (EDA) held a workshop to discuss the problem. But Saab (Hall 4 Stand E5 and Chalet C35) has some helpful suggestions, based on its experience with the Gripen. The Swedish fighter served as the development platform for the Iris-T and Meteor air-to-air missiles, and other weapons were successfully added on time and budget.
(Read More...)
07/15/2014
The Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace is ready to test by this year end a smaller version of its 290-km eponymous supersonic cruise missile for deployment on combat aircraft and submarines. BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai also supported the idea of the country relying on its own weapons and systems to meet the needs of its armed forces, saying that Indian defence scientists and production agencies have proved their capabilities in this regard.
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07/15/2014
The Czech Defense Ministry on Monday signed a contract with local aircraft producer Aero Vodochody on the sale of the state's redundant L-159 combat aircraft to the U.S. company Draken, said Aero Vodochody Vice-president Petr Kudrna. Aero Vodochody has a license with Czech government for the sale of military materiel abroad.
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07/15/2014
The U.S. Air Force has extended Boeing’s [NYSE: BA] work remanufacturing warhead arming devices for the nation’s air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), helping to ensure the readiness of the system. Under a new two-year contract, valued at $7.3 million, Boeing will remanufacture warhead arming devices for the air-launched cruise missile. The contract includes an option for six additional years at an estimated value of $50 million.
(Read More...)
07/15/2014
Russian Helicopters Company is to present its latest models of civilian and combat helicopters at the Farnborough International Airshow 2014 in Britain, the company’s spokesperson stated. Together with Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Russian Helicopters will present Ansat-U, a light helicopter designed for training military pilots.
(Read More...)
07/15/2014
The first modernized Il-38N anti-submarine warfare plane will be delivered to the Russian Navy on July 15, an Ilyushin Aviation Complex spokesperson told RIA Novosti. The company completed repair and modernization work on the first mass-produced Il-38N anti-submarine warfare plane for the Russian Navy.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
BRITAIN’S Special Forces will be backed by a £1.1billion war chest in the battle on terror, David Cameron will announce today. Drones, state-of-the- art radar and high-tech surveillance equipment will beef up our military might at home and abroad. They will also provide vital intelligence for the SAS on secret missions or in hostage situations. The equipment will also be used to counter the rising threat from Isis militants in Iraq.
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07/14/2014
The U.S. Marine Corps' new aviation chief this week said he plans to hold down "big wish lists" for upgrades to existing warplanes and helicopters so he can maximize purchases of new planes like the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
Eurofighter is wheeling out some heavy artillery for Farnborough, with the world premier on Tuesday of the new Captor-E active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar which it believes will power up its export sales campaign. The AESA-equipped aircraft on display is a UK Royal Air Force Tranche 1 single-seater. IPA5 has been extensively modified at BAE Systems' site at Warton in Lancashire to carry Captor-E and performed its first "shakedown" flight last week.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
The Farnborough air show opens today with Prime Minister David Cameron announcing a £1.1 billion package of investment in military capabilities such as drones. Visiting the biennial show in Hampshire, Mr Cameron will be unable to see the new F-35 fighter aircraft which had been due to be at Farnborough today but has still not been given clearance to fly by the Americans following an engine fire in Florida last month.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
Sub-Saharan African countries have ramped up acquisition of sophisticated multirole fighter aircraft and combat helicopters in a continental buying spree driven by efforts to confront evolving security threats, but also by national aspirations to assert regional power.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
Raytheon Company has started integrating Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) capabilities for the U.S. Air Force's largest airplanes to ensure that the service meets an international deadline for equipping military aircraft with the latest satellite-based cooperative aircraft tracking technology.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
The Philippines has offered a US$1.5 billion budget to defense contractors around the world for phase one of its three-tier armed forces modernization program. It wishes to strengthen its bargaining chips in the dispute over the South China Sea's disputed territories, reports the US Defense News Weekly.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine is shaping Moscow’s military priorities, but also sparking a response by some East European NATO members. In Russia, the Defense Ministry is planning to boost the country’s air defense capability in Crimea while some East European neighbors are raising military spending to overhaul their air defense and air combat capacities.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
The UK’s new military air safety regime has contributed to the delayed entry into British service of some new platforms, such as the Airbus A330MRTT Voyager tanker, the Thales Watchkeeper UAS and the L-3 Integrated Systems Airseeker (the UK version of the USAF’s RC-135 Rivet Joint SIGINT aircraft). As a result, some UK aerospace industry managers have expressed dissatisfaction with the Military Aviation Authority (MAA), in off-the-record comments to this editor and others.
(Read More...)
07/14/2014
There’s the beloved Warthog. The stealthy Raptor. And now: the Pegasus. These names for the A-10, F-22 and new KC-46 tanker — just like all other U.S. military aircraft names — were put through the wringer at an Air Force office established to make sure new planes get names that reflect their missions.
(Read More...)
07/13/2014
An Israeli air strike hit a home for disabled people on Saturday as the Operation Protective Edge in Gaza continued for a fifth day, with the death toll passing 120 Palestinians. Two were killed in the strike that hit a charitable association for the disabled in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, while three others died in a second attack in western Gaza City, local health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
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07/13/2014
In Ukraine the Russian backed Donbas separatists have suffered serious defeats in the last few weeks and are further weakened by internal disputes and less support from Russia. Ukrainian security forces have entered most rebel held areas and basically crippled Russian efforts to annex the Donbas. The two Ukrainian provinces (Donetsk and Luhansk) which comprise the Donbas are now mostly under government control.
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07/13/2014
A Chinese businessman in Canada hacked into Boeing’s computers and stole information about United States military aircraft and weapons, the Justice Department said on Friday, describing a corporate espionage case that is unusual for the huge amount of data involved. The businessman, Su Bin, spent years taking data from Boeing, the FBI said in court documents, and working with two unidentified contacts in China sought to sell the information to companies there.
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07/13/2014
Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) downed a Mil-24 (Mi-24) helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force, the Novorossiya news agency of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk said on Saturday. On the outskirts of the town of Snezhny in the Donetsk region the militiamen managed to shoot down a Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter from a shoulder-carried air defence system and to destroy the enemy’s several combat units, it said.
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07/13/2014
Despite the new administration’s plans to hike defense spending by 20 percent, funding will rise by only 2.3 percent above proposals announced by the outgoing government due to India’s sluggish economy. In addition, the government is boosting foreign direct investment (FDI) from 26 percent to 49 percent. Yet analysts say that since foreign investors lose out on the control that a 51 percent stake provides, the new FDI limit still won’t be lucrative for the overseas firms.
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07/13/2014
The Royal Saudi Air Force’s Typhoon aircraft completed 10,000 flying hours recently, BAE Systems Saudi Arabia PR and communications director Monther M. Tayeb told Arab News. “The Typhoon aircraft’s performance is significant in the history of any fleet. Eurofighter Typhoon is the world’s most advanced swing-role combat aircraft simultaneously providing deployable air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities,” he said.
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07/13/2014
For United Aircraft (UAC), Russia’s state-owned aerospace giant, the last 12 months appear to have been a period of consolidation and reinforcement. Its two flagship civil programmes have made solid if unspectacular progress, largely avoiding the calamities of previous years. And on the military side, deliveries of current models have continued apace to its defence ministry clients in Moscow - as well as healthy number to export customers.
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07/12/2014
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera arrived at the Pentagon on Thursday in a gleaming MV-22 Osprey, the revolutionary, though controversial, tilt-rotor aircraft that can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane. The point was plain — and plane. If I’m riding in it, Onodera seemed to say, it’s safe.
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07/12/2014
The U.S. knows Russia and Iran are providing fighter aircraft to help Iraq combat Islamic extremists, but Washington is not coordinating assistance with either Russia or Iran, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday. Hagel was asked at a Pentagon news conference about reports that Iranian and Russian planes are flying combat missions over northern Iraq and why Washington is not seeking to coordinate with them.
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07/12/2014
Textron Inc. and AirLand Enterprises LLC are in advanced talks to sell as many as 100 Scorpion combat jets—developed by the partners on their own dime—in an unusual move for military aircraft. "We are well beyond initial discussions with at least three potential customers," said Bill Anderson, president of the Textron AirLand venture that has developed the Scorpion. The plane has been on the market less than a year and first flew in December.
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07/12/2014
The threats to peace and order on the global seas are growing. China’s authoritarian government launched 17 new warships in 2013 and is in the process of producing 30 more this year. One of the country’s aircraft carriers nearly grazed a U.S. missile cruiser off the Chinese coastline in December, prompting U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Harry Harris to bemoan China’s “increasingly assertive behavior in the region.”
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07/12/2014
Air power is about more than fighters and bombers. In the case of the U.S. Air Force, it is also about supporting the rest of the joint force with vital enablers such as aerial refueling, long-distance transport, and timely intelligence. This commentary is about the intelligence — or to be more specific, what the military calls “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance” (ISR).
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07/12/2014
Airbus Defence and Space Military Aircraft is scheduled to deliver the first of 22 A400M airlifters to the Royal Air Force in September. The delivery of aircraft MSN15 not only will mark the start of operations by a third country, but also represents the introduction of new capabilities as an important step along the type’s development roadmap. To get those capabilities into service has necessitated an intensive flight-trial campaign in the first part of this year.
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07/12/2014
Japan scrambled its Air Self-Defense Force jets a record number of times between April and June to deter Russian and Chinese aircraft approaching its airspace, amid rising tensions over territorial disputes. The Japanese Air Force has been repeatedly tested since April, with fighter jets being sent to monitor unidentified aircraft approaching Japanese airspace no fewer than 340 times in the space of twelve weeks.
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07/12/2014
Russia is to present the most advanced military aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow in England, Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport reported, RIA Novosti reports. "We traditionally participate in this prominent airshow and try to present the latest trends and the most promising export models there.
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07/12/2014
The naval variant of India's indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) is due to soon begin ramp trials. Avinash Chander, scientific adviser to the Defence Minister and Director General Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), told India Strategic magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) that the LCA-Navy had already done more than 25 test flights from a runway.
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07/12/2014
Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. [NYSE: UTX] have been selected to help develop the Joint Common Architecture (JCA) standard for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Science and Technology program, an element of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative.
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07/11/2014
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who concluded his two-day India visit on Wednesday, informed the top Indian leadership that London was ready to supply Eurofighter military aircraft to the South Asian country. He lobbied the Narendra Modi government to purchase the Eurofighter jets from the UK, suggesting that those would be far better compared to combat jets manufactured by France’s Rafale.
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07/11/2014
This is the hi-tech cockpit of America's new $1 trillion fighter jet – which uses Siri style voice control. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin displayed the cockpit of an F-35 fighter jet in Britain for the first time yesterday at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The F-35 jet cost a staggering $1 trillion to develop and the RAF has ordered 14 at £180 million each.
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07/11/2014
MBDA’s Meteor missile has successfully completed a firing campaign on board the Saab Gripen fighter, marking the complete validation of the integration of the weapon with the aircraft.
The testing of the beyond visual range air-to-air missile was conducted in March in collaboration with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), and was the last major milestone the Meteor had to pass before it could enter operational service on board the Swedish air force's Gripen C/Ds.
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07/11/2014
Britain and France plan to sign a memorandum of understanding for the study of a combat drone, bringing their air forces closer to an advanced fighter program worth billions, defense ministry spokespersons of the two countries said. On July 15, during the Farnborough International Airshow, Defense Ministers Philip Hammond and Jean-Yves Le Drian are due to sign the agreement to launch a two-year feasibility study for the high tech combat drone, the French spokesperson said.
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07/11/2014
The Defense Department said on Thursday it had launched a contest to develop a new long-range bomber, which is expected to pit Northrop Grumman Corp. against a team led by Boeing Co. BA 0.00% and Lockheed Martin Corp. for a contract that analysts value up to $80 billion. A decision is expected next spring on who will build between 80 and 100 bombers that the Pentagon wants to peg at less than $550 million apiece and enter service in the middle of the next decade.
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07/11/2014
The first UK appearance of the combat jet due to be used on Britain's new aircraft carriers has been cancelled. It was hoped the F-35B Lightning IIs would be at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, Gloucestershire which, starts on Friday. But last week the entire fleet of F-35's was grounded in the US following an engine fire.
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07/11/2014
In its first major military decision since taking office, the new Indian government is backing the completion of India’s first indigenously-built aircraft carrier. According to local media outlets, the Narendra Modi government agreed on Wednesday to release funds to complete the construction of the long-delayed Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), the INS Vikrant.
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07/11/2014
Today, the Department of Defense announced an agreement aimed at reducing the price of an F-35 Lightning II 5th generation fighter to the equivalent of today’s 4th generation fighters by the end of the decade. Designated “The Blueprint for Affordability,” the DoD and F-35 industry partners – Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems signed an agreement to implement cost reduction initiatives to lower the production costs of F-35 aircraft.
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07/11/2014
Russian long-range aviation bases are increasing their presence in the Arctic, the press service of the Eastern Military District reported Thursday. "The crews of Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers at the Arctic long-range aviation base in Amur Region, have tripled their flying rate this year. By performing these tasks, the crews gain valuable experience in offline piloting over featureless terrain for a long period of time," the chief of the press service, Colonel Alexander Gordeyev, said.
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07/10/2014
Extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, pose a “clear and imminent threat” to the United States, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday, singling out lawmakers who may have been underwhelmed by his classified testimony on Iraq and Afghanistan from Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
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07/10/2014
The Pentagon is considering under what circumstances it will recommend President Barack Obama authorize the use of a missile-equipped drone to kill the leader of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, CNN has learned. Any such mission to kill al-Baghdadi would have to be approved by Obama, according to several defense officials CNN has spoken to at length.
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07/10/2014
The Canadian military has released details on its new $100 billion wish list for new gear, and it's a revealing look at how the service views the future of war. The laundry list of hardware was released as part of Ottawa’s new procurement strategy, which was hastily installed following the government’s bungling of the F-35 acquisition process.
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07/10/2014
An Air Force report into the crash of a Pave Hawk helicopter in which North Idaho airman Staff Sgt. Afton Ponce was killed concluded Wednesday that bird strikes against the helicopter caused the crash in early January. Ponce was among the four airmen killed when their helicopter crashed on January 7, 2014.
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07/10/2014
Northrop Grumman Corp. has decided to build the next-generation bomber at its Palmdale, Calif., factory if it wins the $50 billion contract, a senior Northrop official told California lawmakers last week. A Northrop win would mean at least 1,500 new jobs in Palmdale and $420 million in tax breaks.
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07/10/2014
Russian-Chinese joint military drills are aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, not threatening alleged enemies, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday during a meeting with students from Beijing University of Foreign Languages.
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07/09/2014
The Pentagon’s costly fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is grounded, just a week before the military’s jet of the future was to have its coming-out party at two air shows in Great Britain.
The latest problem for the $400 billion program, which is already seven years behind schedule, came after an engine on one of the F-35s caught fire during a June 23 takeoff from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
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07/09/2014
India on Tuesday successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a defence base in Odisha, an official said. It has a range of 290 km and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg. The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.
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07/09/2014
A timely report on the UK’s maritime air power capabilities has claimed the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier – officially named on 4 July – is a wise acquisition, based on the strategic advantage the vessel will bring to the nation. The Royal Aeronautical Society’s paper, Current and Future Maritime Air Power for the UK, released on 3 July, says although the design and development have been debated in recent years, it remains an advantage for the UK to possess the HMSQueen Elizabeth.
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07/09/2014
Stephen F. Cohen published an article in The Nation on July 1 entitled “The Silence of American Hawks about Kyiv’s Atrocities.” It makes for an interesting read, though it places virtually all the blame for the distressing crisis in Ukraine on the Ukrainian government and Washington. That situation, however, cannot be painted in the black and white strokes used by Dr. Cohen; there are many shades of gray.
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07/09/2014
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday he had raised a $12 billion fighter jet deal being negotiated by French company Dassault with India’s government during talks with his counterpart in New Delhi, suggesting London has not given up all hope on the giant contract.
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07/09/2014
If you drool at air shows and dream of someday flying in a military jet without having to do any extra push-ups, this might be your chance. A Harrier jump jet goes up for auction later this month, and one lucky new owner could put this former military training plane in the skies again. You’ll just have to ship it over in a container first.
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07/09/2014
Jordan is to arm the six IOMAX Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA) Block 1 precision strike turboprop aircraft that were gifted to the country by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2013, a senior company official has confirmed to IHS Jane's . This new capability will allow the BPA aircraft to carry six GBU-58 250 lb precision-guided bombs and/or six AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Additionally, precision strike weapons training will begin immediately for the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF).
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07/09/2014
Deepening its involvement in the crisis in Iraq, Iran has sent three Russian-made attack planes to the Maliki government that could be deployed against the Sunni militants who have wreaked havoc on Iraqi military forces, American and Iraqi officials said Tuesday. Delivery of the Su-25 aircraft, which American officials said had already conducted missions in western and northern Iraq.
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07/09/2014
It appears Ottawa has put on hold its decision to purchase next-generation F-35 fighter jets. It should go one step further and junk the purchase of any new fighters, period – saving $45-billion in the process. Canada does not need fighter aircraft. New Canadian fighters would almost certainly never be involved in serious strike or aerial combat operations and are not required to protect Canada’s populace or sovereignty.
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07/08/2014
Sixteen people were killed and five injured when a Vietnamese military helicopter crashed in the capital Hanoi early Monday during a training exercise, a top military official said. "The plane was carrying 21 people and it crashed during a parachute training exercise, killing 16 and injuring five others," Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, army deputy commander, told AFP.
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07/08/2014
The Iraqi Government is reportedly threatening to cancel a defence agreement with the US over the latter's delay in the supply of fighter jets. Unnamed sources close to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Sunday Times that he is planning to cancel the strategic framework agreement signed with the US in 2008. "If Maliki revokes the agreement, Obama will see both Russia and Iran step in to fill the gap, especially where military contracts and logistics are concerned," one source said.
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07/08/2014
Raytheon has been awarded a more than $163 million contract to maintain a medium range air-to-air missiles program. Raytheon will provide engineering, program management and contractor logistics support for the AMRAAM central processing unit, Raytheon said Thursday. Raytheon will perform the task in Tucson, Arizona until Jan. 31, 2017.
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07/08/2014
The top US commander in Europe said he will probably need more troops to counter the renewed military threat from Russia that is roiling the far eastern region of Europe. But first he has to persuade the Pentagon to officially halt the US military drawdown that has been underway in his command since the Cold War ended.
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07/08/2014
With a few teeth-clenching exceptions (the Korean War's MiG Alley battles), since 1944, American land, sea and air forces have enjoyed the military and diplomatic benefits of U.S. air superiority. Unfortunately, in 2014 there are strong indications that America's air advantage is diminishing.
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07/08/2014
This month’s U.K. aviation-show extravaganza is shaping up very differently for two new fighter planes at opposite ends of the price spectrum. For the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program at $399 billion—time is running out to prepare for its planned international debut at two upcoming U.K. airshows starting Friday. The F-35 fleet remains grounded in the U.S. as investigators probe the cause of a June 23 engine fire on one of the planes.
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07/08/2014
Defence and security company Saab and FMV have concluded missile integration firings with Gripen and the MBDA Meteor BVRAAM (Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile). These latest firings, conducted earlier this year, further verified missile integration with Gripen and validated seeker performance and missile range. This was the last major trials task required to clear the new missile for operational service on the Gripen C/D multi-role fighter.
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07/08/2014
Airmen from 17 different squadrons participated in the third annual 432nd Wing Hunt here, June 27- July 2. The remotely piloted aircraft crews, which fall under the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing, were tested on their tactical skills in both the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, using real-world scenarios during the competition.
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07/08/2014
Moscow and Baghdad have signed an urgent contract to supply Iraq with Russian Su-25 attack aircraft (estimates vary from five to 10 units). For Iraq, these supplies are a matter of national security. Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki’s government is in dire need of attack aircraft in order to support ground forces on their mission to confront Islamists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), who have taken control of large parts of the country in recent weeks.
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07/08/2014
Prime Minister Tony Abbott sat in the pilot seat of a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at the time he announced his government will buy an additional 58 planes at a cost of at least A$12.4 billion. But imagine if there was no need for a pilot to fly inside the so-called fifth generation aircraft. The F-35 is said to be the smartest and most complex fighter jet on the planet, designed to conduct lethal strikes on air and ground targets without being detected by radar.
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07/07/2014
As the Fourth of July weekend comes to an end, most Americans are still recovering from BBQs and fireworks displays. For several hundred U.S. military personnel, however, the end of the weekend just marks the start of another week in Iraq, helping the struggling Iraqi government fend off the militants that have taken over a vast swath of territory.
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07/07/2014
Recently the web site of the Russian company that makes the MiG-29 fighter posted a document stating that four Syrian MiG-29s had been upgraded in 2011 to the MiG-29SM standard. When this tidbit made the Western news media the document on the Russian web site suddenly had the reference to the four Syrian MiG-29s removed.
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07/07/2014
Afghan forces are struggling to wrest back control of territory from the Taliban in an operation seen as critical to preserving Kabul's hold in the country's south in the wake of a U.S.-troop drawdown. A resurgent Taliban last month amassed hundreds of fighters in northern parts of Helmand province—a hotbed in the long-standing insurgency against Afghanistan's central government and the focus of President Barack Obama's troop surge in 2009 and 2010.
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07/07/2014
The antiquated state of North Korea’s military equipment has resulted in a series of accidents, with the most recent being a half-century-old Soviet-era fighter that came crashing into the West Sea. A North Korea source told the JoongAng Ilbo recently that a MIG-17 fighter jet crashed into western waters late May. After the accident, Pyongyang issued a mandate prohibiting the use of Air Force aircraft, including the MIG-17 model.
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07/07/2014
India has sought foreign technical assistance to help reduce the weight of its military training aircraft being developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Development of the HJT-36 Sitara intermediate jet trainer aircraft has struggled with technical issues and three incidents, delaying adoption by the Indian Air Force (IAF), its sole customer.
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07/07/2014
Driven out of their key stronghold in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia separatists regrouped yesterday in the city of Donetsk, vowing to renew their fight against the government in Kiev before thousands of cheering supporters at a rally. Ukrainian troops on Saturday forced the rebels out of Slovyansk, a city of about 100,000 that had been the center of the fighting. The government's success there suggested it may finally be making gains in the months-long battle against the insurgency.
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07/07/2014
Defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems has seemingly borrowed from Hollywood script-writers with futuristic concepts for military and civil aircraft. The company has revealed four technologies it reckons could transform the way aircraft engineering could evolve by 2040. Dubbed ‘The Transformer’, one design envisages smaller combat jets that join together in flight to boost fuel efficiency and increase their range before splitting up to attack.
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07/07/2014
rom fabric and wires to fly-by-wire, almost 100 years of Carrier Aviation will be represented at RNAS Yeovilton Air Day on Saturday, July 26. With the Royal Navy's next generation aircraft carrier being named on July 4 and edging closer into service, types as diverse as the WW1-era Sopwith Triplane, the cutting-edge Dassault Rafale and the Wildcat HM2 will highlight naval airpower, past, present and future at the show.
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07/07/2014
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ visit to India will hopefully pave the way for an early finalisation of the long-stalled agreement on France’s delivery of Rafale fighter aircraft to India. While his visit did not culminate in an announcement as to when an agreement will indeed be signed, face-to-face talks between the two sides could have provided a push for a tying of the last knots before the finalising of an agreement.
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07/06/2014
Despite complaints by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the United States has been slow in its delivery of F-16 fighter jets, no Iraqi pilot team has qualified to fly the aircraft in combat and none will be ready before mid-August, according to an official at the U.S.-based program where the pilots are being trained.
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07/06/2014
Australia's newest and most expensive defence technology acquisition, the high-tech F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has been grounded in the US where it is being built, after one of the stealth bombers experienced an unexplained engine fire. Australia is expected to take possession of its first two JSFs within weeks - more than two years after they were originally planned to be delivered.
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07/06/2014
So, what is happening? Why have leaders from three P5 nations chosen to visit New Delhi in such a short space of time? Is there a common thread in their India visits? Well, here is one word answer: business. No, it is not business in the sense of trade and investment. It is much more lucrative than that. It pertains to defense deals which are generally big-ticket and tend to go into billions of dollars.
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07/06/2014
As friction increases between China and Vietnam over the South China Sea, an important question is how Vietnam’s military, famed decades ago for its resilience and guerrilla warfare, measures up. For the last two months, Chinese and Vietnamese Coast Guard vessels have been jostling each other around a billion-dollar Chinese oil rig that Vietnam says was unilaterally placed in its waters by Beijing.
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07/06/2014
The Lockheed F-117A Night Hawk was an aircraft developed over decades and benefiting from a combination of advanced American engineering and also unique theories about stealth from a Russian scientist that Ben Rich, Lockheed’s top man over the design of secret new military aircraft, believed would give a new American fighter an edge over any other jet or ground defenses.
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07/06/2014
The lack of noise within the aircraft was noticeable compared to the C-17, C-130 or other aircraft. The seats are more comfortable as well. I did not hear the engines start up, and so was surprised when the aircraft took off. And then the incredibly rapid takeoff demonstrated its capability to lift from very, very short fields. The plane had a very stable performance in flight. And all of this is happening inside a very large cargo aircraft.
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07/06/2014
Foreign forces, small in numbers but militarily potent, are already in Iraq, positioned to shape the outcome of the bloody sectarian war threatening to tear the country apart. But it’s clear that while the U.S., Russia and Iran are willing to commit military personnel, munitions or both to the fight, the three have different and sometimes opposing objectives.
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07/05/2014
Russia is letting separatist rebels use its territory to attack Ukrainian border posts, a top security official charged Friday as clashes in southeastern Ukraine killed nine more government troops. National Security Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy also said Russia was massing troops near the Ukrainian border — a statement that could not immediately be verified.
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07/05/2014
ncredible images have been released by the Department of Defence which captures Australian military aircraft during some recent aerial refueling operations. Some of them include hornets flying in a formation over Australia's Northern Territory while another shows a Seahawk helicopter on the deck of HMAS Melbourne in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney.
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07/04/2014
The area controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) expanded suddenly after ISIS made a move into central Iraq from the east of Syria. While the world spoke about this expansion, weapons that ISIS seized, many of which were U.S. weapons given to the Iraqi army, became the main point of discussion.
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07/04/2014
For the economy Japanese prime minister Abe has arrows, for foreign policy he wants missiles and for the constitution, well, has just driven a tank over it. The world changed on July 1. That sentence is not a resort to a clapped-out cliché. When the Tokyo cabinet "reinterpreted", in fact overrode, a key clause in its constitution meant to ensure the country's post-war pacifist approach, it ushered in an era of uncertainty.
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07/04/2014
Five new Reaper drones, the most recent addition to the RAF’s arsenal, have started combat operations in Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The unmanned aircraft, which are based at Kandahar airfield, are being used to collect intelligence to help UK and USAF operations, with the latest deployment doubling the RAF’s Reaper force in the region.
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07/04/2014
Russia is likely to deliver additional Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence (MoD) by September this year. Russian ambassador to Baghdad Ilya Morgunov told RIA Novosti that the country will supply five to ten Su-25 fighters to Iraq by the end of summer. The contracts for military hardware signed in 2013, are being implemented according to schedule Morgunov added.
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07/04/2014
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was awarded a $163,223,113 fixed-price/fixed-price-incentive/cost-plus-incentive contract for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) Program Support and Sustainment (PSAS). The PSAS contract provides sustaining engineering, program management, contractor logistics support and accomplishes the diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortage tasks of extending the life of the AMRAAM Central Processing Unit.
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07/04/2014
The U.S. Army has started equipping aviation brigades with drones as it retires aging reconnaissance helicopters and pushes to further integrate unmanned technology amid budget cuts. Combat aviation brigades at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Carson, Colorado, are expected to finish divesting OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters and adding RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial systems later this year, according to Col. Thomas von Eschenbach.
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07/04/2014
The mass media recently made much of a study of American UAV accident reports. These revealed that since 2001 there have been 194 major accidents (an incident causing more than two milliondollars’ worth of damage, which usually, but not always, means the UAV was too badly damaged to be repaired) since 2001. That’s about 15 a year. This is old news to people in the military of those who read military aviation publications regularly.
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07/04/2014
Iraq's military is incapable of mounting an offensive against Sunni militants who have seized large sections of the country, the top U.S. general said Thursday, suggesting the U.S. might have to play a larger role in helping Iraqis defeat the regional threat. Initial assessments from U.S. military teams in Iraq have found that the country's military can defend Baghdad, but wouldn't be able to uproot the extremist group known as Islamic State, which is consolidating control across the Middle East
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07/04/2014
Procurement of so-called fighter drones to protect German armed forces remains controversial, but Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has finally disclosed her plans for the aircraft: The German military should receive drones, she said, but these can only be deployed with parliamentary approval. EurActiv Germany reports.
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07/03/2014
On Jul. 1, all the seven operational Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) have completed their deployment to Imam Ali Airbase where they will join the ex-Russian Air Force Su-25s already delivered to Iraq in the air war against ISIS (Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
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07/03/2014
Iraq has taken delivery of its first batch of Mil Mi-28NE 'Havoc' (Night Hunter) attack helicopters, as well as additional Mil Mi-35M 'Hind' assault helicopters, Russian state media announced on 2 July. The first three Mi-28NE helicopters and four new Mi-35M helicopters arrived in-country aboard Antonov An-124 'Condor' transport aircraft, a military-diplomatic source reportedly told the ITAR-TASS news agency.
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07/03/2014
It's still not clear where the 750 US troops now deployed to Iraq are going to be, or what they're going to be doing. On Tuesday, however, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that one of their most important tasks will be to assess whether Iraq's military and police are up to protecting their territory and/or taking back the parts of the country overrun by hardline Sunni militants.
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07/03/2014
The crash occurred approximately 35 miles southwest of Fort Drum, New York according to an Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report released today. The mishap aircraft and mishap aircrew were assigned to the 17 4th Attack Wing, Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York. The aircraft, valued at $10.6 million, was destroyed on impact; there was no damage to private property.
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07/03/2014
The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) has reportedly received from Iran a number of Sukhoi Su-25 'Frogfoot' ground-attack aircraft to augment those already supplied by Russia. A video and statement posted on the Iraqi Ministry of Defence (MoD) website on 1 July announced that a second batch of five jets had arrived "over the skies of Baghdad" to join the five aircraft that came from Russia aboard an Antonov An-124 'Condor' cargo aircraft on 29 June.
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07/03/2014
The Pentagon insisted Tuesday that there is "no mission creep” in Iraq despite the rising number of U.S. troops in the embattled country with more on the way. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, confirmed that 650 American troops were on the ground in Iraq, all of them dispatched by President Barack Obama since June 16.
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07/03/2014
The US Navy (USN) has awarded billions of dollars in contracts for US and Australian Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, as well as for US Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, the Pentagon announced on 30 June. A USD1.94 billion fixed-price-incentive-fee contract was signed for the full-rate production of 11 Lot 38 F/A-18E aircraft and 21 EA-18G aircraft for the USN and 12 EA-18Gs for Australia, the Pentagon said.
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07/03/2014
Boeing recently helped expand the U.S. Navy’s maritime patrol capabilities with delivery of the 14th P-8A Poseidon aircraft. The P-8A, delivered on schedule, is now with its squadron at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. Boeing will deliver seven more of the maritime patrol aircraft this year.
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07/03/2014
Boeing today confirmed that the new 787-9 Dreamliner and the P-8A Poseidon will participate for the first time in flying displays at the Farnborough International Airshow, which runs July 14-20. This year's airshow marks the 40th anniversary of Boeing's participation at Farnborough.
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07/02/2014
The US Air Force has begun conducting armed unmanned air vehicle (UAV) operations over Baghdad, to protect advisers deployed to aid in the fight against insurgent militants in Iraq. The UAVs are flying alongside armed manned aircraft, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm John Kirby said in a statement on 30 June, and have been deployed to escort US military advisers who have entered the country to help the Iraqi government counter the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS) terrorist movement.
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07/02/2014
Almost 70 years ago, a pioneering British company performed the first test of an innovation which was to transform the cockpit of the jet fighter, and has since saved the lives of thousands of pilots. Carried out on 24 July 1946, the milestone was the first in-flight use of an ejection seat. Conducted from the rear cockpit of a Gloster Meteor flying at 278kt (515km/h) and 8,000ft, the test subject was not a fighter pilot, but volunteer Bernard Lynch, who worked for Martin-Baker as a fitter.
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07/02/2014
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's timing was impeccable: July 1 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), the de-fanged fighting force that has protected the country since its creation from the ashes of post-World War II Japan. Following the announcement, it is also the day that, some would argue, the name ceased to have any meaning.
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07/02/2014
Vladimir S Mikhaylov, the former commander of the Russian Air Force and director of the Moscow-based United Aircraft Corporation's Military Aviation Programs Directorate, told Russia's Radio RSN on June 28 that China is about to sign a contract to import Sukhoi Su-35 fourth-generation fighters from Russia.
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07/02/2014
France has proposed to give India a 1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) credit line to fund sustainable infrastructure and urban development projects, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday. The credit line would be available over three years and would be delivered through the French Development Agency, Fabius, who began his India visit on Monday, told reporters in New Delhi.
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07/02/2014
Violence in Ukraine escalated sharply Tuesday, as artillery shells and airstrikes pierced the relative calm of a 10-day ceasefire hours after President Petro Poroshenko allowed it to expire. Both sides appeared to be readying for a protracted battle after days in which the fighting diminished but did not disappear.
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07/02/2014
The big gray aircraft that wheel above the Pine Barrens played a critical role for America in Iraq and Afghanistan, fueling the air bridge for troops and equipment, stretching halfway around the globe. But the KC-10 Extender air refueling tankers at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst may be in danger of early retirement. The jets and the thousands of New Jersey jobs they support are in a squeeze between tightening budgets and the time lapse for bringing on the Air Force's next-generation tankers,
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07/02/2014
The F-35 Lightning II European debut in July will be welcome, but it remains the Punch and Judy program of the defense aerospace sector, with boosters and detractors taking turns to bash each other’s argument as to the project’s value — or lack thereof.
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07/02/2014
A U.S. Air Force crew ferried the 20th C-5M Super Galaxy to Travis Air Force Base, California, from the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facilities here on June 30. Travis’ second Super Galaxy, Aircraft 85-0010 was delivered 28 days ahead of the contracted schedule. A total of 52 Super Galaxy aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to the Air Force.
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07/02/2014
Iraq is to receive from five to ten Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft by September, Russian Ambassador to Baghdad Ilya Morgunov said Tuesday. "From five to ten [planes] will be delivered by the end of the summer,” Morgunov said. “The contracts [for military hardware], signed in 2013, are being implemented according to schedule.”
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07/01/2014
Pro-Russian separatists likely used weapons supplied by Moscow to shoot down Ukrainian aircraft in recent weeks, NATO's top commander General Philip Breedlove said Monday.
Russia was maintaining a large troop presence near Ukraine's border and had provided anti-aircraft weapons and other hardware to the rebels, Breedlove told a Pentagon news conference.
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07/01/2014
BAE Systems is restructuring part of its operations in Saudi Arabia to allow greater local participation as part of a government programme to increase the industrial base of the world’s largest oil producer. The UK-based defence contractor said on Monday that it was creating a holding company with Riyadh Wings Aviation Academy that would control the stakes it owns in three local Saudi businesses.
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07/01/2014
On a day in which the Department of Defense awarded 29 separate defense contracts, Raytheon came away the big winner Friday, winning no fewer than six separate awards - and more than half the funds on offer, $469.2 million in all. Raytheon's big win of the day was a $275.4 million contract modification to supply the U.S. Navy with an unspecified number of Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) all-up rounds (AUR refers to live-fire rounds, completely assembled and lacking only wings and fins for guidance).
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07/01/2014
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius on Monday said he was “pretty optimistic” that the $20 billion (around Rs.1.2 trillion) deal to supply India with 126 Rafale fighter jets would be clinched early—something he said would open the doors for further defence cooperation with India.
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07/01/2014
When the Air Force was split off from the Army to form an independent military service after World War Two, airmen got almost all the planes and soldiers got almost all the helicopters. Ever since then, Army Aviation has been about rotorcraft. There are heavily-armed Apache helicopters for killing enemy armored vehicles, agile Black Hawk helicopters for lifting troops into combat areas, and twin-rotor Chinook helicopters that carry larger numbers of soldiers, supplies and equipment.
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07/01/2014
International political and security developments are casting a shadow on this year’s Farnborough International Airshow. The U.S. and its allies are presenting strong fronts as they draw down forces in Afghanistan. But given the threat of new sanctions and unrest in Ukraine, the Russian military will not bring its aircraft to the show.
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07/01/2014
Iraq has received the first batch of Sukhoi Su-25 'Frogfoot' ground attack aircraft that have been supplied by Russia, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 29 June. Video footage was released of at least one single-seat Su-25 being offloaded from an Antonov An-124 'Condor' strategic transport aircraft at an undisclosed airbase in Iraq, with the MoD saying that five aircraft had been delivered in all.
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07/01/2014
Boeing today formally offered to the Republic of Korea (ROK) the KC-46, the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation tanker, as Korea prepares to acquire four aircraft for its first tanker squadron. “We’ve been a strategic and industrial partner with the Republic of Korea for more than six decades and remain committed to helping Korea strengthen its defense capabilities and aerospace industry,” said Eric John, president of Boeing Korea.
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07/01/2014
Boeing and the Royal Canadian Air Force today celebrated the delivery of the 15th CH-147F Medium-to-Heavy-Lift Helicopter, ensuring advanced operational capability for the Canadian Chinook fleet. “The Medium-to-Heavy-Lift Helicopter project is making an exemplary contribution to the Canada First Defence Strategy,” said Col. Andrew Fleming, program manager for the Medium Heavy Lift Helicopter Project Management Office.
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06/30/2014
Russian military advisers helped to prepare Iraq’s air force to use five newly delivered combat planes in its campaign to recapture areas of the country’s north that fell to an al-Qaeda breakaway. The used Russian Sukhoi combat aircraft arrived in Iraq as government ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships, pressed their offensive to drive Sunni fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from the northern city of Tikrit.
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06/30/2014
On the country’s southern coastal tip lies a facility as big as three soccer fields in which Korea Aerospace Industries’ engineers are busily producing its flagship aircraft and helicopters to meet their delivery deadlines. KAI makes FA-50 fighter jets, supersonic trainer T-50s, which the light attacker was based on, and the Surion utility helicopter. Now it seeks to expand its portfolio to accommodate the defense needs of Korea’s armed forces, as well as those of its allies.
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06/30/2014
Thus far, Iraq’s rapid unraveling has not been a major concern for Moscow. The situation in the country rarely features prominently in Russian news reporting — where Ukraine and Russian domestic matters dominate — and does not appear to be a top priority for senior Russian officials, though Russian President Vladimir Putin did recently express “full support” for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s efforts to combat militants driving the Iraqi military from cities and towns.
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06/30/2014
For all the glitz and glamour of its high-tech sector, Israel is a small country with limited resources, still forced to devote a large chunk to the military. One reflection of that down-to-earth reality is up in the sky. The Israeli Air Force has to make every dollar count, especially as the cost of the best warplanes and defense systems skyrockets. The air force’s aptly named Extension of Life Division helps keep costs down by keeping old planes up.
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06/30/2014
When Queen Elizabeth II arrives at Rosyth dockyard just outside Edinburgh at the end of this week to name the first of two aircraft carriers being built by a BAE Systems-led consortium, the Royal Navy’s new flagship and the British head of state are sure to hog the limelight.
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06/30/2014
Royal Air Force Typhoons have flown 1,000 miles from Lincolnshire to Turkey to take part in a special combat air exercise. The XI squadron based at RAF Coningsby has taken to the skies to train alongside the Turkish Air Force and other international partners to increase a working relationship in the event of emergency operations.
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06/30/2014
The Indian Air Force or IAF may lose its traditional conventional edge against Pakistan if the contract to buy 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft or MMRCA is not clinched immediately, senior IAF officials told Defence Minister Arun Jaitley at an extensive briefing recently.
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06/30/2014
DRDO's claim about being in a position to export Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has been dismissed as premature and unrealistic by former top IAF officers who want it to focus on getting the indigenous fighter plane inducted into own air force first. "It is good to have ambitions but there are several miles to go before we can talk or think about exporting LCA.
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06/29/2014
On Saturday, thousands of Iraqi troops backed by tanks and air power attacked Tikrit from four directions, state TV said. It said there had been complete success in clearing Isis from the city, with some militant commanders among the 60 killed. It said the other insurgents there had fled. Tikrit fell on 11 June to rebels of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis).
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06/29/2014
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have highlighted the ongoing tensions between China and countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, with the US also weighing in recently with its proposals for a bigger military presence in the region. Both Vietnam and Malaysia are undergoing regional military build-ups, and the Philippines doubled its defence budget in 2011 after pledging to conduct joint military exercises with the US.
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06/29/2014
It remains to be seen whether the United States will opt for manned or unmanned airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq. Today, Jacquelyn Schneider and Julia Macdonald weigh up the pros and cons of both options and remind us that any type of military response will confront significant problems.
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06/29/2014
Marines are coming to grips with the reality that they will not have the big-ticket hardware that they had hoped for. So they are adjusting their plans and strategies with the knowledge that they will have to live with existing equipment and lower-cost alternatives. The Marine Corps is determined to modernize its tactical aviation arm and acquire the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. But other desired weapons will have to wait.
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06/29/2014
The last Avro Vulcan, one of the coolest warplanes of the Cold War era, takes to the skies again this weekend. The plane, born of the days when the world seemed constantly under threat of nuclear war, was meticulously overhauled some time ago, but has flown intermittently because keeping it aloft is so expensive. The nonprofit Vulcan to the Sky Trust, which owns and operates the plane, is bringing it out again for the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
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06/29/2014
The Obama administration is flying armed aircraft over Iraq, defense officials said on Friday, adding that the flights were aimed at gathering intelligence and ensuring the safety of US personnel on the ground rather than conducting strikes. "What I would tell you is that we continue to fly both manned and unmanned aircraft over Iraq at the ... Iraqi government's request, predominantly for reconnaissance purposes. Some of those aircraft are armed," Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman,
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06/29/2014
It was recently revealed that Serbia had no combat aircraft available for duty, mainly because money had not been spent by the Defense Ministry to buy batteries for the aircraft. Serbia doesn’t have much of an air force to begin with (26 MiG-21s, four MiG-29s and 18 J-22s) and the cost of maintenance has been a struggle keep up with. The air force insists that three MiG-21s and three MiG-29s are available for service but no one has seen any of them flying lately.
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06/29/2014
Tucked inside a hangar at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is a fleet of tactical jets that rivals what many small countries possess. They belong to Draken International, which is vying for a potentially game-changing contract with the U.S. Navy. The company already provides a variety of aviation services for the U.S. Department of Defense and the civilian marketplace. These services include threat simulation, aerial refueling and airborne adversary support.
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06/29/2014
The U.S. Air Force has grounded its fleet of stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) after one aircraft caught fire on takeoff Monday at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. While the pilot got out of the stricken jet without injury, the roughly $200 million machine could be a total loss. “The airplane aborted during takeoff due to a fire in the rear of the aircraft, the pilot egressed safely without injury, and the fire was extinguished.
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06/28/2014
Frustrated with the pace of U.S. jet and attack helicopter deliveries, the Iraqi government is negotiating the return of decades-old planes from Iran as it desperately tries to cobble together air power to turn the tide against al-Qaida-inspired insurgents. Iran has been “receptive” to the demands and is working on refurbishing an unspecified number of jets, Ammar Toma, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s defense and security committee, said Friday.
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06/28/2014
IT’s a $30 million combat jet with a serious problem: The wheels won’t go down. Watch how this pilot uses a $30 stool to save it. It was supposed to be just a normal day’s flying for US Marine Corps Captain William Mahoney. He was aboard his AV8B Harrier, taking off from the assault ship USS Bataan earlier this month, when something went thud.
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06/28/2014
The Department of Defense awarded $2.2 billion worth of defense contracts in its Thursday evening announcement of contract awards, released after stock markets closed for the day, handing out 17 separate contract awards. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman won four of them.
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06/28/2014
A Department of Defense report to Congress looks at Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2014. It is 96 pages and looks at China's military capability and what if China decided to retake the island of Taiwan by force? A chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely at the moment. The election of a less hardline-nationalist government in Taipei has smoothed over cross-Strait relations
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06/28/2014
The European Council on Friday said it would give Moscow three days to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, or it will impose new sanctions against Russia, according to a statement published Friday. The European Council also set conditions for the de-escalation.
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06/27/2014
U.S. Navy warships teamed up with Philippine crews on Thursday for combat drills, as a maritime dispute simmers between China and the Philippines in the nearby South China Sea. The two sides chose Subic Bay as the venue for the exercises a year ago, and not in direct response to any of the recent incidents which have soured Sino-Philippine relations. Even so, the proximity of Scarborough Shoal—one of the territories disputed by Beijing and Manila that lies 120 miles to the west of Subic Bay.
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06/27/2014
As the first armed American drones began flying over Iraq on Thursday, Shiite political leaders were locked in meetings to try to decide who should be the country’s next prime minister. For the first time, some of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s own party members expressed doubt that he would be a viable candidate.
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06/27/2014
The C-145A Skytruck is a light cargo and troop transport aircraft designed and manufactured for the US Air Force (USAF). The aircraft is primarily used to assist Aviation Foreign Internal Defence (AvFID) missions of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The C-145As were deployed to support theatre special operations commands in Afghanistan and eastern Africa. The Air Force Special Operations Warfare Center operates up to ten C-145A Skytrucks.
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06/27/2014
If you’re a resident of Georgia there’s a strong chance that sometime next year an Afghan pilot trainee could be flying over your head. Moody Air Force Base, Ga., was selected as the most likely option for the new Afghan pilot training location, the Air Force announced in a news release. Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, and Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., are also being considered as potential sites, but Moody is preferred.
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06/27/2014
The Obama administration asked Congress on Thursday to authorize $500 million in direct U.S. military training and equipment for Syrian opposition fighters, a move that could significantly escalate U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Money for the assistance, which would expand a CIA covert training program, is included in a $65.8?billion request for the Pentagon’s Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO.
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06/27/2014
The drawn out drama over the signing of the Rafale jet fighter contract means the Indian Air Force (IAF) will rely on its heavy hitter, the Sukhoi-30MKI, to boost its dwindling fighter fleet. The 25-ton Su-30 – NATO reporting name Flanker – is the IAF’s elite fighter-bomber. Filling its low-end fighter needs will be the locally developed Tejas II light combat aircraft, while the Rafale is meant to straddle the middle tier as an intermediate fighter.
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06/27/2014
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $1.28 billion contract to Sikorsky Aircraft for the first of what could be an order of 112 combat rescue helicopters. Thursday’s contract award to Sikorsky is the first step in what could be a $7.9 billion deal for up 112 helicopters.
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06/27/2014
There is a pressing need for the new Indian government to engage with Myanmar at the highest levels as Pakistan and China are all set to enlarge their strategic footprints in Myanmar by selling fighter aircraft to that country. Myanmar government is planning to procure an unspecified number of JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft. JF-17 is the joint project of Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) of China.
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06/27/2014
France is likely to seek an early clinching of a $20 billion (around Rs.1.2 trillion) deal to sell India 126 fighter aircraft during the visit of foreign minister Laurent Fabius to New Delhi early next week, people close to the development said on Thursday. Both sides are to sign 15-16 preliminary pacts to cement cooperation in higher education during Fabius’ three-day visit.
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06/27/2014
Russian Defense Ministry is planning to substitute 95 percent of imports from Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Tuesday. “The work is on schedule. The whole process of import substitution will carry on as planned, and by the end of the specified period, dependence on supplies from Ukraine will be decreased by 95 percent,” Borisov said during a visit to an aircraft factory in Russia’s Far East.
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06/25/2014
Military aircraft that conducted air strikes against ISIS military targets in western Iraq are believed to have been from Syria’s air force, a U.S. official told ABC News. Such air strikes would be a regional escalation of the conflict inside Iraq where the Islamic militants have taken over cities in northern and western Iraq and threatened the stability of the Iraqi government.
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06/25/2014
A spokesman for the Office of the Adjutant General of the Iraqi armed forces has said that his country has returned 130 military aircraft to Iraq, which were held in Iran for more than 20 years. General Qassim Atta explained in a televised press statement that the Iranian authorities have equipped the aircraft with "sophisticated weapons". "The planes," said Atta, "will participate in the battles against ISIS to liberate the city of Mosul from its control."
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06/25/2014
The Afghan Air Force hit a huge milestone by completing the first ever all Afghan air crew C-130 flight June 16, 2014 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Their mission consisted of cargo, CASEVAC and PAX transport. The Afghan Air Force has been working hard the last 11 months with U.S. Air Advisors from the 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron accomplishing this flight goal eight months ahead of schedule.
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06/25/2014
Russian air forces conducted snap drills in the Central and Far Eastern military districts, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. MiG-31MB interceptors from Volga, Urals and Siberia airbases, strategic bombers TU-95 and TU-22 took part in the drills in the Central Russia.
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06/25/2014
On her first official visit to Nellis Air Force Base, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said Monday she will stress to her colleagues in Washington what she heard from local airmen: Don’t let automatic budget cuts under sequestration happen again.
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06/25/2014
Kyle Mizokami, a defense expert from San Francisco, wrote about five pieces of Indian military equipment which could pose a threat to the People's Liberation Army on the battlefield in a recent article for the Washington-based National Interest magazine. This follows another two articles by Mizokami on five American and five Japanese weapons China should fear,
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06/25/2014
The fire that struck an Air Force F-35A as it took of from Eglin Air Force Base should have limited operational effect on the Joint Strike Fighter program if initial conclusions by program officials are accurate. The Air Force has paused its aircrafts’ flights. The Navy did not. The Marines also “paused” and are expected to get back into the air tomorrow.
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06/25/2014
With the ISIS forces entering the outer region of Baghdad, the move towards Iraq’s capital lead to a lot of equipment being captured by those forces. This new and advanced equipment will likely play an important role in future battles. It is important to look at some of the tanks and artillery that might become key players on the battlefield in various conflicts around the world.
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06/25/2014
India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said it can export combat aircraft and missiles at a much lower production cost than other countries, including China.
DRDO chief Avinash Chander told Press Trust of India that the agency has suggested a 'single window clearance' for time-bound sale of arms to friendly foreign nations.
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06/25/2014
Myanmar will purchase the Sino-Pakistan jointly produced JF-17 Thunder multirole fighter aircraft, according to local news reports. According to the Burma Times, Myanmar is looking to purchase a license to domestically produce the J-17 aircraft, which is called the FC-1 Xiaolong in China. If the report is accurate, it would make Myanmar the first foreign purchaser of the jet.
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06/24/2014
ISIS is continuing its blitz-like offensive in Iraq, conquering more and more territory. With its sights set on Baghdad and the Shiite shrine cities, the prospect of the capital falling to the terrorist group is causing international panic. And Iraq’s neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, could be the next trophy in ISIS’ expanding cabinet.
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06/24/2014
French conglomerates Alstom and Vinci signed a 2 billion euro ($2.72 billion) deal with Qatar on Monday to build a tram system in the future Lusail City, while the two countries also discussed a possible defence contract. The deal, which will see the light rail system starting to operate in 2018-20, was signed in front of journalists during a visit to Paris by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
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06/24/2014
In all the pontificating on what now should be done (and what should have been done previously) in Iraq, one subject oddly never seems to be on the table. I find this a bit strange, because it really should be a subject worthy of debate -- if only to add to the finger-pointing about what could have been done to avoid the current situation. From hawks to isolationists, though, nobody seems to ever bring up the possibility of Iraqis performing their own airstrikes.
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06/24/2014
What’s better than flying on an IL-76MD like I did in North Korea? Flying on an IL-76TD somewhere outside of the most restrictive, hostile-to-photographers country on Earth, obviously. So, you probably want to know what an MD does differently than a TD. Letters and a lack of observer’s post/tail gunner in the rear area under the tail. For a civilian IL-76TD, it is faired over.
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06/24/2014
The projected cost to upgrade F-35 jets built by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth has declined by about $920 million, or 36 percent, in less than two years, according to the Pentagon’s latest analysis. The estimate for improvements and corrections for planes already built or planned in the first 10 contracts to be awarded through 2016 has dropped to about $1.65 billion from $2.57 billion projected in September 2012, the Pentagon said in an annual assessment to Congress.
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06/24/2014
Australian defence chiefs have told a hearing of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation committee that Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s coalition government is considering whether to acquire a number of short take-off and vertical landing Lockheed Martin F-35Bs.
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06/24/2014
A Lear Jet with two people on board has crashed after colliding mid-air with a German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon over Olsberg, in Germany. The Learjet was a target plane operated by the “Gesellschaft für Flugzieldarstellung” (GFD), a civilian company cooperating with the German Air Force for air targeting exercises. The Eurofighter involved in the collision was operating with another aircraft of the same type within a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) training.
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06/24/2014
Boeing has signed separate agreements with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) and Fokker Technologies to explore advanced maintenance opportunities for Dutch rotorcraft and expand efforts to make the Netherlands a regional hub for military and civilian aircraft support services. Boeing and the RNLAF signed a strategic partnership agreement that builds on an existing support contract for Dutch AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to identify new areas of long-term cooperation.
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06/24/2014
Drones are to be deployed for a snap check of combat readiness in Russia’s Central Military District, a spokesman for the Central Military District, Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin told journalists Monday. “Zastava unmanned aerial vehicles, which perform air control of the advance and alignment of Central Military District forces, will allow us to assess the results of the snap check of combat readiness.
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06/24/2014
Russia has put the Kaliningrad early warning radar station on experimental combat duty, the press service of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy) told RIA Novosti Monday. “The Voronezh-DM missile attack early warning radar station located in Kaliningrad Region has gone on experimental combat duty.
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06/23/2014
The military said it had attacked nine targets in response to the killing of a 15-year-old boy in a strike in the occupied Golan Heights on the border between the two countries on Sunday. Two others, including the boy's father, an Israeli defence contractor, were injured when a blast hit their vehicle. Israel called the boy's death the most substantial incident in the Golan since start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
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06/23/2014
India is gearing up for the next round of military exercises with the US, including the top-notch "Malabar" naval war games in the Pacific and the intensive "Yudh Abhyas" counter-terror drills in Uttarakhand, in the first such maneuvers after the Modi government came to power last month.
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06/23/2014
The House approved a $570 billion defense spending proposal on Friday that would save the A-10 aircraft fleet, prohibit another base closure round and reject most of the Pentagon’s planned pay and benefits trims. The vote came after two days of floor amendments and repeated complaints from military leaders that Congress has again failed to help them hold down long-term spending, instead rejecting program cuts to avoid short-term pain.
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06/23/2014
BRITAIN could provide logistical support for US strikes to combat insurgents involved in the deepening crisis in Iraq, Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has said. The Work and Pensions Secretary’s comments yesterday came amid reports of a Cabinet rift over how strong the UK support for any US military action should be. Mr Duncan Smith said “we have got to do what we can” to support the US if president Barack Obama takes action against the extremist militant group Islamic State of Iraq.
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06/23/2014
As they plan their response to the crisis in Iraq, President Obama and his top aides are hoping to replicate elements of an often-overlooked and relatively successful U.S. military operation in another war-ravaged Middle East nation: Yemen. An impoverished country on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has played host to a powerful and ambitious network of Islamist militants linked to Al Qaeda.
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06/23/2014
China recently held air force training exercises involving the use of designated stretches of highway for emergency airfields for fighters and transports. The first time this was done was in 1989 and so far it is known that ten stretches of highway in Liaoning (adjacent to North Korea), Shandong (facing South Korea across the Yellow Sea) and Fujian (opposite Taiwan) provinces have been designated for such emergency use.
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06/23/2014
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing on the need for increasing arms exports, DRDO has said India can sell combat aircraft and missiles whose production cost would be “much lower” than some of the weapons sold by countries such as China.
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06/23/2014
The Russian Air Force is to receive its first unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) into service by 2020. It is expected that state trials or field tests of the new UCAVs may start in 2017. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov, research and development work for this project is now nearly complete. Drone fighters are able to tackle strategic tasks because they are difficult to detect and have better combat sustainability than manned aircraft.
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06/21/2014
On the heels of President Obama’s announcement that up to 300 U.S. military advisers will be sent to Iraq to help combat the threat from a Sunni terror group, an awkward question was raised: What happens if the U.S. troops, many of them Special Forces, run into Iranian soldiers who are reportedly already in Iraq in numbers?
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06/21/2014
The crisis in Iraq is increasingly taking on a political tone as calls are growing for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down. The Shiite leader, who faces criticism that his failure to promote reconciliation among the country's myriad religious sects sparked the widespread Sunni anger that has emboldened the al-Qaida breakaway group that has overtaken large sections of northern territories. Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Ali al-Sistani.
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06/21/2014
Only last year, the U.S. European Command was facing some of the deepest cuts of any region in the U.S. military. Now, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Pentagon finds itself focusing on the continent in a way not seen in decades. Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama said he would ask Congress for an additional $1 billion to increase Washington's military commitment to the continent.
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06/21/2014
For Britain’s aerospace industry and plane-spotters alike the waiting is almost over. In less than three weeks the much-vaunted F-35 combat jet will make its debut in UK skies. The appearance of the Joint Strike Fighter over the Royal International Air Tattoo is set to make the two-day charity air show at RAF Fairford a sell-out event.
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06/21/2014
India’s first indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile Astra was test-fired successfully from fighter aircraft Su-30MKI by the Air Force from a naval range off Goa on Friday. Defence sources said the launch conducted at an altitude of 6 km was a control and guidance flight which successfully demonstrated interception of an electronically simulated target at long range.
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06/21/2014
An 11th-hour ambush by a group of House Republicans that would retire the military’s entire A-10 aircraft fleet, including the planes based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, was fought off by U.S. Rep. Candice Miller during an intense Capitol Hill battle over the new defense budget.
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06/21/2014
Contrary to speculation, development of the JF-17 aircraft continues apace with avionics and weapons carriage capability improvements, work ongoing on future variants, and impending establishment of the third squadron. Chief Project Director of the JF-17 program, Air Vice Marshal Javed Ahmed, told Defense News the program was “as per schedule and there are no delays,” saying the current fleet had logged 10,000 hours and flown over 13,500 sorties.
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06/21/2014
Anti-aircraft defense in Kamchatka will be reinforced with new S-400 Triumf systems, the Ministry of Defense said Friday. “They acquired new military hardware there – air defense missile system S-400, which in the near future will be delivered to the anti-aircraft division in northeast Russia,” Pacific Fleet spokesman Roman Martov said.
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06/21/2014
Paratroopers and coastal troops taking part in a large scale exercise in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad successfully “eliminated” a group of militants, according to the Russian Baltic Fleet’s press office. “In the exercise’s scenario, intelligence was received about an illegal military group’s presence in one of the districts of Kaliningrad Region. A motorized infantry regiment was alerted,” said the statement.
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06/20/2014
Iraq has asked the United States to carry out air strikes on Sunni jihadists, who attacked the country's main oil refinery and seized more territory in the north. The appeal came as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were pressing a week-long offensive that has brought them close to the capital, and as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledging to face down "terrorism."
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06/20/2014
President Barack Obama said he’s sending as many as 300 U.S. military advisers to assist the Iraqi army battle an insurgency and is prepared to take additional “targeted” action if necessary. The advisers will work with the Iraqi army to set up joint operations centers to coordinate intelligence and planning with the Iraqis without engaging in the fighting, he said.
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06/20/2014
Latin America's armed forces are increasingly working together to ensure peace in the region and promote unity, Ecuadoran Defense Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said Thursday. In an interview with Xinhua, Espinosa noted the region's various military corps are interconnected, and coordinate their work and constantly exchange information.
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06/20/2014
An Air Force general defended plans to replace the long-range U.S. bomber fleet, amid questions on the project’s necessity, the Washington Times reports. “We need to actually have an unemotional debate about what’s going on and how we need to modernize, and how we need to protect America from its only existential threat,” Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak said in comments reported on Wednesday. Harencak, the Air Force assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, spoke week
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06/20/2014
This week several countries met in Rome to support the Lebanese armed forces. This came not a moment too soon, at a time when the civil war in Syria as well as domestic security threats in Lebanon have strained the capabilities of the military institution. The institution’s newfound focus on counterterrorism, border control, and internal security has imposed a considerable financial and logistical burden on Lebanon.
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06/20/2014
A village assembly in Gunma Prefecture on Thursday approved future Japan-U.S. joint exercises in its municipality involving MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps. The resolution passed by the assembly of Shinto, a village hosting the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Somagahara training range, said the municipality will accept joint exercises between Japan and the United States involving the tilt-rotor aircraft within the range.
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06/20/2014
Iraq is negotiating with Prague about the purchase of Czech Russian-made Mi-24 helicopters, Defense Minister Martin Stropnický (ANO) told journalists today, adding that Iraq is interested in buying seven Mi-24s immediately and a further 40 in the future. Furthermore, the Czech-Iraqi negotiations about the Czech sale of redundant subsonic fighters L-159 are under way, but the current crisis has complicated these talks, Stropnický said.
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06/20/2014
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BAE Systems a GBP5 million (USD8.5 million) study contract to evaluate integrating the MBDA Brimstone missile system onto the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. The contract, which was announced on 19 June, is geared not just at equipping the Typhoon with the Brimstone air-to-surface missile by 2018, but with exploring a common launcher approach which could also be used for other multiple weapons stores such as SPEAR 3.
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06/20/2014
Members of Marine Attack Squadron 542 and various other squadrons with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing continue to work closely with field service representatives from Boeing in an attempt to arm the Marines with a larger set of skills and a wider knowledge base. The mission of 2nd MAW is to conduct air operations in offensive air support, anti-air warfare, assault support, aerial reconnaissance, electronic warfare and control of aircraft and missiles.
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06/20/2014
Saab has carried out the first test flight of its new ESTL self-protection system onboard a Gripen multi-role combat aircraft at an undisclosed location. ESTL is an advanced missile approach warning system (MAW) designed to safeguard any type of fixed-wing aircraft against existing and future radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) threats.
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06/19/2014
President Barack Obama and congressional leaders believe he does not need authorization from Congress for some steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency sweeping through Iraq, the Senate's top Republican and Capitol Hill aides said after the president briefed senior lawmakers Wednesday.
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06/19/2014
The flightline is filled with aircrew and C-130 Hercules engines are starting up for another Afghan air force casualty evacuation mission. Within two years, the Afghan air force has made significant improvements to their casualty evacuation capabilities, or CASEVAC, as they continue to take the lead and ownership of day-to-day operations. The aircrew is now working hand-in-hand with medical personnel to accomplish the mission.
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06/19/2014
New Zealand on Tuesday released its Defence Capability Plan (DCP), which calls for increasing the defense force’s “proficiency at joint operations and growing its combat, combat support and combat service support capabilities,” said Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman. The DCP is the second such document since the 2010 Defence White Paper, and is not merely a list of projects, Coleman said.
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06/19/2014
The U.S. Air Force is planning to request proposals from industry to finally provide needed communications connectivity between fifth- and fourth-generation fighters. The service has long projected a need for so-called "5th to 4th" capability. This need is made even more urgent as the timeline for fielding the stealthy, fifth-generation F-35 has stretched out due to technical challenges in development and funding limitations at Air Force headquarters.
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06/19/2014
RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft yesterday intercepted and shadowed a group of Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea after they came close to Latvian airspace. The sizeable force included four Russian Air Force SU-27 ‘Flanker’ fighter aircraft, a Tupolev Tu22 ‘Backfire’ bomber, an early warning aircraft and a transport plane.
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06/19/2014
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, the country’s sole military aircraft manufacturer, is set to unveil a Rs. 6,000-crore modernisation programme with a focus on manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and combat purposes, the company said on Tuesday. The modernisation plan spreads out through 2020; HAL will use Rs. 1,200 crore during the current year (2014-15) alone, its Chairman, R.K. Tyagi, told The Hindu.
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06/19/2014
A full-size model of the F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter stands brazenly amongst the historic combat aircraft on the main display floor of the Royal Air Force museum at Colindale, North London. It is an incongruous sight. What is the JSF, still in development and with no operational record, doing on parade amongst the great aircraft that fought in two world wars and many subsequent conflicts?
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06/19/2014
An article by Ajai Shukla seems to be promoting co-development of Tejas Mark II with Saab, noting that the manufacturer is skilled at making advanced combat aircraft which are simple to maintain and low in cost, but in my opinion this is a bad idea and India should not do anything of the sort. Shukla seems to recommend scrapping the Rafale purchase.
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06/19/2014
Russia plans to supply Pakistan with Mi-35 combat helicopters to fight drug trafficking, head of the Russian delegation at the international defense and security exhibition Eurosatory 2014 Igor Sevastyanov said Wednesday. “We are currently holding consultations. We are talking about Mi-35 helicopters, we plan to supply them at the request of the Pakistani anti-drug trafficking agency,” Sevastyanov said.
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06/19/2014
Orders from abroad for S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapons systems are being processed, Igor Sevastyanov, the head of the Russian delegation to the Eurosatory 2014 international military exhibition, told journalists Wednesday. “There are not so many states ready to buy this system. We have a number of requests, and the federal agency is considering them very carefully,” said Sevastyanov, without specifying any further details.
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06/18/2014
As Islamic militants continue their murderous advance across Iraq, they have a new target in their sights: the city of Baquba, less than 40 miles north of Baghdad. Gunbattles erupted in the city, only a 45-minute drive from the capital, on Tuesday as fighters and Iraqi government forces clashed.
Civilians are fleeing violence there and elsewhere in Iraq even as the United States bolsters its manpower in the region while it mulls what action to take.
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06/18/2014
“There is huge potential to export missiles made in India. Several countries have evinced interest, but we need a policy clearance from the Central Government,” Avinash Chander, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation, has said.
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06/18/2014
The Indian Navy is carrying out feasibility studies and tests to scout for alternative air defence systems for its largest warship, the INS Vikramaditya, that is currently vulnerable to air attacks due to an inordinate delay in the Indo-Israel protection system that was to be installed two years ago.
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06/18/2014
Cessna parent company Textron has released the first image of its Scorpion combat aircraft in a new two-tone grey color scheme that has eventually replaced the initial overall white livery. The new “camouflage” gives the multi-role, low cost twin-engine jet a more aggressive appearance.
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06/18/2014
Pakistani combat aircraft destroyed a bomb making factory in the tribal region of North Waziristan and at least 25 militants were killed in a wave of air strikes, the military said on Tuesday, as part of a major operation against Taliban insurgents. Pakistani fighters jets have been bombing Taliban positions in North Waziristan since Sunday when the army announced it was sending troops and helicopter gunships to the region to flush out al Qaeda-linked Jihadists.
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06/18/2014
The Defence Department has enough forces in the Persian Gulf to conduct airstrikes that would probably prevent Sunni insurgents from marching into Baghdad, but other missions would be far more complex and risk drawing the United States back into an Iraqi civil war, according to retired military commanders.
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06/18/2014
Top level Taliban commanders recently discussed the possibility of using high powered laser and laser pointers at fighter aircraft and helicopters in Afghanistan”, according to confidential source in Pakistan. They discussed in some detail “how best to deploy and use lasers in the field in planned attacks against commercial and military aircraft/airports.”
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06/18/2014
Saft, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industry, has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract from Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime (DLA). Under the contract, totaling $17.5 million, Saft will provide nickel-based batteries and cells for military aircraft applications to be used by the United States military.
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06/18/2014
India’s $12 billion Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program has run into turbulence due to a disagreement over delivery commitments, according to an Indian Defence Ministry source. The Indian Air Force has told the new government that Dassault Aviation, maker of the Rafale jet, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which will produce the aircraft in India, must put their delivery guarantees in writing before the MoD signs the contract, the MoD source said.
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06/18/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully fired HELLFIRE and DAGR missiles from its Long Range Surveillance and Attack Vehicle (LRSAV) turreted weapon system during recent ground-to-ground tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
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06/17/2014
More than two years after India's ministry of defence (MoD) chose to buy 126 Dassault Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF), the world's biggest fighter contract swings in the wind. With no deal in sight after 28 months of haggling with Dassault, two of the losing vendors -Eurofighter and Saab - believe they could yet come out tops. Eurofighter GmbH, whose Typhoon fighter narrowly lost out to the Rafale, still retains a senior executive in New Delhi.
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06/17/2014
The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) successfully fired four Raytheon Company Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) from a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). All four AMRAAMS intercepted their airborne targets during the annual live fire exercise at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway.
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06/17/2014
The Defense Ministry on Monday decided to postpone the introduction of the Air Self-Defense Force C-2 transport plane for about two years, due to problems in the aircraft’s body structure. The new model of the ASDF’s primary transport plane was set to be introduced in late fiscal 2014. Faulty points were found in C-2 bodies in January, however, and the ministry judged it necessary to improve the aircraft.
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06/17/2014
Through introducing technology from China and Pakistan, Myanmar plans to produce FC-1/JF-17 Xiaolong/Thunder multirole fighters domestically for its air force, reports the Yangon-based Myanmar Times. The Myanmar Air Force has 23,000 pilots and ground personnel. With 10 major air force bases, it currently operates 32 Russian-built MiG-29B and MiG-29SE fighters, 25 Chinese-built J-7M fighters, 21 Chinese built Q-5 attackers and 16 trainers.
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06/17/2014
The U.S. signaled it’s ready to talk with Iran about how to deal with the crisis in Iraq, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s forces battle an offensive by Sunni Muslim militants that threatens to split apart the country. U.S. and Iranian officials spoke briefly on Iraq in an initial conversation on the sidelines of talks in Vienna on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. State Department official who commented on condition of anonymity.
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06/17/2014
Pakistani fighter jets pounded North Waziristan on Monday, a day after the army announced the start of a full-scale drive to flush Islamist insurgents out of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan. In a long-awaited military operation precipitated by a deadly insurgent attack on Pakistan's biggest airport a week ago, Islamabad has deployed troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to fight insurgents in North Waziristan.
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06/17/2014
The Pentagon has deployed about 100 troops — including more than 50 Marines attached to a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, to help protect diplomatic personnel and property. Meanwhile, President Obama is considering miltiary action against the Islamic insurgents, who have seized vast swaths of northern Iraq and are moving south toward the capital.
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06/17/2014
After more than 30 years, the modified CF-18 Hornet is still a frontline fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force. CF-18s support NORAD air sovereignty patrols, based out of Alberta and Quebec. They saw action in the 1991 Gulf War, and more recently were involved in the 2011 Libyan no-fly zone. "Absolutely, still very relevant," said Capt. Adam Runge, pilot for the CF-18 Demonstration Team, at the Jade Engineering office Friday morning in Tillsonburg.
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06/17/2014
With all eyes locked on Iraq and Ukraine, China and Japan keep ratcheting up tensions over islands and waters in the East China Sea. On June 11, two Japanese planes flew dangerously close to a Chinese plane -- with both sides blaming the other for the encounter. This follows an incident in late May, when armed Chinese fighter planes buzzed Japanese maritime patrol aircraft, passing within 100 feet in one case -- a hand's breadth for high-speed aircraft. In mid-June, China Defense Ministry spokes
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06/17/2014
Russia is testing its Pantsir S-1 short-range air defense system in the Arctic to ensure security in the resource-rich region, which is soon expected to become the centre of oil and gas exploration for the country, Alexander Denisov, head of the High-Precision Systems holding told RIA Novosti Monday.
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06/16/2014
Thousands of young Iraqi Shiite Muslims volunteered for military service Saturday and an American aircraft carrier headed toward the Persian Gulf in efforts to counter the blitz attack by Sunni militants sweeping through Iraq's northern provinces. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an Al Qaeda splinter group notorious for its harsh application of Islamic sharia law, continued its advance, seizing the small town of Adeim in Diyala province after Iraqi security forces pulled out.
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06/16/2014
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy report that they have successfully flown the unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout simultaneously with the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter for the first time. More from the Northrop Grumman news release: The capability demonstrates how a mix of aircraft can increase a ship commander’s intelligence-gathering capabilities aboard the Littoral Combat Ship.
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06/16/2014
The US embassy in Baghdad is evacuating personnel and increasing military security after militants captured vast swathes of territory and advanced toward the capital, officials say. It was unclear how many staff members would be evacuated from the mission. Located within the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses much of the international presence in the city, the US embassy is the largest in the world.
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06/16/2014
The Pentagon temporarily grounded the entire F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet at the start of the weekend after one of the advanced jets suffered an engine oil leak and declared an in-flight emergency. While the suspension of flight and ground testing on Friday was described by F-35 program officials as a precautionary move, it is the second time in 16 months that engine problems have grounded the entire fleet.
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06/16/2014
Turkey’s procurement and military officials are hoping to build a new generation, dual fighter jet fleet by their country’s centennial — 2023 — comprising F-35s and indigenous aircraft Ankara has been designing. “Despite ups and downs, we remain fully committed to the [Joint Strike Fighter] program. But independently, we will develop our own fighter. There is an established policy understanding to keep our [fighter] fleet limited to these two only,” said a senior government official for defense
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06/16/2014
When you hear the word "drone," do you picture a small robotic airplane, flying through the sky bearing a stars-and-stripes decal on its chassis? If you do, then chances are you live in America. Because for most of the world, drones more often than not bear the flag of Israel as an insignia.
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06/16/2014
China is close to volume production of aero-engines that will be used in advanced combat aircraft, according to Bradley Perrett, Asia-Pacific bureau chief of the Washington-based Aviation Week & Space Technology. In his newest article published on June 16, Perrett said that China needs large supplies of rhenium — a rare metal that increases the temperature-resistance of turbine blades — to design and produce an engine that can handle higher internal temperatures, increasing performance and durab
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06/16/2014
Australia is now the seventh-largest importer of major arms in the world and the biggest customer of the largest weapons producer, the US. Australia buys 10 per cent of all American weapons exports. Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show Australian imports of major arms – large-scale military materiel such as warships, fighter planes and tanks – jumped by 83 per cent in the five years to 2013.
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06/15/2014
The Su-27 crews of the Russian Baltic Fleet's naval aviation that are taking part in the military exercises in the Kaliningrad region on Saturday will shoot at air targets imitating the air assault weapons of an imaginary enemy, the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry told Itar-Tass.
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06/15/2014
Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract to deliver C-295 military tactical transport aircraft for the Ecuadorian Air Force. The contract, whose value remains undisclosed, covers the supply of a total of three Airbus C295 medium transport aircraft, and provision of a full in service support (FISS) package for the operation and maintenance of the fleet. Expected to be used for military and humanitarian missions, the C295s join the Ecuadorean Army's two Airbus C212s and two Airbus CN23
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06/15/2014
The self-defense forces of Gorlovka, Donetsk region, have reported that the Ukrainian Su-24 plane that bombed the building of a local police station at 4:30 a.m. Kiev time has been shot down. "We have managed to shoot down a Su-24 plane. The pilot ejected. He is now being questioned in the self-defense forces’ headquarters," the Gorlovka self-defense forces' representative told Interfax. He also added that the Ukrainian army had bombed the city of Druzhkovka last night.
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06/15/2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the country's largest warship INS Vikramaditya off Goa coast in Arabian Sea, showcasing India's naval prowess. Arriving on board the warship in a Sea King chopper, the prime minister was given the ceremonial guard of honour by the Navy and was briefed about the warship, which will be dedicated to the nation on Saturday. He also sat in a MIG 29 aircraft and had a feel of the combat fighter on the ship sailing off the Goa coast.
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06/15/2014
Iraq's military claimed Saturday that it had regained key northern territories from extremist Sunni Muslim militants and asserted it remained strong and capable against the radicals who have suddenly destabilized the country, a military spokesman said. Most of Salaheddin province has returned to the control of Iraqi military, and security forces also took back territory on the edges of Nineveh province, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said.
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06/15/2014
Iraq's leader directed his troops to make their stand against advancing Sunni militants in a flashpoint city home to a revered Shiite mosque, an order that highlights the sectarian fighting tearing the country apart. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's order came as he sought to put new fire in the belly of his troops in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - an al Qaeda splinter group known as ISIS - that has seized a large swath of land in the north of the country and threatened t
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06/15/2014
At least 257 people were killed and over 1,300 injured during the punitive operations in Eastern Ukraine, the country’s Health Ministry reported Wednesday in a report based on data from urgent medical aid in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
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06/14/2014
American air power could play an important role in reversing the Sunni insurgent offensive in Iraq, current and former American military officials said on Friday, but it would be most effective with improved intelligence about insurgent targets and if the United States were willing to deploy small teams of advisers to call in airstrikes.
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06/14/2014
Pro-Russian rebels have shot down a military transport plane in eastern Ukraine, killing all 49 Ukrainian service personnel on board. Ukraine's defence ministry said the Il-76 transport plane crashed after coming under anti-aircraft fire over Luhansk. In a statement it said "terrorists" had "cynically and treacherously" fired on the aircraft.
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06/14/2014
The U.S. aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush and her more than 50 attack aircraft were available to conduct airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq if President Obama gives the order, Pentagon officials said Friday. The Bush and her accompanying battle group of ships "were in the region and ready for any tasking," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. Kirby would not confirm several reports that the Bush had already moved into the Persian Gulf.
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06/14/2014
SPAIN will send four military planes to the Ukraine in the autumn to support the NATO mission launched in the region amid the tensions between Russia and its former Soviet State.
Minister of foreign affairs José Manuel García-Margallo has met with the NATO Alliance secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen to offer Spain’s assistance by making four Eurofighters, a Boeing 77 and two additional frigates available to reinforce air policing over the Baltic region and in the Mediterranean area of the
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06/14/2014
Jets in the East China Sea have created even more strain between Japan and China this week. Both nations are blaming the other for a recent too-close-for-comfort military encounter, further heightening tensions between them. News Max reports this Friday, June 13, 2014, that only 100 feet separated a Japanese fighter allegedly trailing a Chinese plane, while video of the precarious incident has been made public online.
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06/14/2014
The Pentagon is increasing the number of missions U.S. drones are flying over Iraq to at least once a day in response to this week’s surge in the nation by al Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists, a senior Defense Department official said Friday.
At the request of the Iraqi government, which is worried about gains made by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon has altered the flying pattern of the American drones, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
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06/14/2014
Stunning pictures of Europe's stealth drone Neuron (or "nEUROn" if you want to emphasise the punnage) have been released by Dassault Aviation. The unmanned combat air vehicle can be seen taking off from an aviation base in Istres, France. The Neuron is ten metres in length and has a 12.5-metre wingspan. It's peered by a Rolls Royce Turbomeca Adour engine and has been in testing over the last couple of years.
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06/14/2014
As Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall works to rein in wasteful military spending, he is promoting what qualifies in the defense sector as a novel concept: contractors should make more profit when they meet deal terms than when they perform poorly. On Friday, the Pentagon published a central part of his efforts, a study that examines 150 defense deals and breaks down for the first time the performance of major contractors in delivering programs on time, and on budget.
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06/14/2014
It's a one-of-its-kind facility in Asia and is being used for training of pilots for landing on India's largest aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. The Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa naval air station here, 30 km from Goa capital Panaji, currently meant for training pilots for the MiG-29K combat jet that is embarked on INS Vikramaditya, is also set to be used for training pilots of the Indian Navy's version of the indegenous light combat aircraft (LCA) .
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06/14/2014
State tests of the new Russian fighter T-50 (the PAK FA project) have kicked off in Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan Region, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev told journalists. According to the plan, the fifth-generation fighter will be used to send serial deliveries to troops beginning in 2016. The Air Force could even possibly receive the T-50 ahead of schedule. So far, only one country in the world is armed with a fifth-generation fighter — the United States.
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06/13/2014
As ISIS militants advance in Iraq and threaten Baghdad itself after taking the country’s second-biggest city Mosul, the Iraqi air force is getting its first American-made F-16 fighters. But it will not be able to use the advanced jets against the militants until later this year: The first of 36 F-16s ordered by Iraq won’t actually arrive there for some months, and even then it will take months to build combat effectiveness.
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06/13/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet is making steady progress but needs further work to accelerate software development, increase reliability and lower the cost of operating and maintaining the new warplanes, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said on Thursday. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters the Pentagon was looking at a series of measures, including incentives tied to future payments and investments in process improvements.
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06/13/2014
The Russian Air Force has taken delivery of the first batch of serial Su-34 front-line bombers from the subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation, Sukhoi, as part of the 2014 State Defense Order. The 4+ generation aircraft powered with a twin Lyulka AL-31FM1 turbofan engine is expected to replace the Russian Air Force and Navy's ageing Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft fleet. The new generation frontline bombers have an increased flight range of up to 4,000km, a maximum speed of up to 1,900km/h.
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06/13/2014
For Air Commodore David Cooper, time is running out. The British Royal Air Force officer has the unenviable task of making the tiny Afghan air force self-sustaining by the end of the year. “Because we’re unsure about what’s going to happen after 2014 and we can make no assumptions, we have to put as much as we can into this year,” said Cooper, director of air operations for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
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06/13/2014
Fighter jets had to be scrambled twice after Russian bombers practised off the coast of Alaska and then came within 50 miles of California, it emerged today. The North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed U.S. air defense systems were triggered twice by nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear H aircraft last week. A spokesman said incursions began on Monday at around 4.30pm Pacific time when radar detected four bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.
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06/13/2014
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) will soon take delivery of the PC-21 expanded envelope trainer aircraft under contract from Pilatus Aircraft. Carrying the registration numbers 905, 906 and 907, the first three aircraft departed the company's facility in Stans, Switzerland, on 02 June, reported Flightglobal.
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06/13/2014
China said on Thursday that Japan's accusations of Chinese fighter jets flying "abnormally close" to Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea were aimed at deceiving the international community. Japan protested after Chinese warplanes flew "abnormally close" to Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea on Wednesday.
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06/13/2014
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to adapt its WindTracer® wind measurement system to help C-130 and C-17 aircrews make safer, faster and more accurate airdrops of essential supplies to U.S. ground forces at remote locations. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will design and build a prototype Precision Air Drop unit for testing. As part of the demonstration, the prototype unit will be airdropped to the test site and used to measure winds.
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06/12/2014
Two U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are being deployed to Europe for the first time, reports the International Business Times (IBT). The advanced aircraft are scheduled for a “short term deployment” at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England — just three hours' flight from Russia. The B-2s are the most sophisticated warplanes ever employed in combat by the U.S. They have been used against targets in Europe – during the Kosovo crisis – but have never been stationed there.
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06/12/2014
With security in Iraq quickly deteriorating, the United States on Wednesday pledged "any appropriate assistance" to help the Iraqi government fend off a rapid military advance by Islamist militants. Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hours earlier overran the city of Tikrit and closed in on Iraq's biggest oil refinery in the town of Beiji, a day after seizing Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul.
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06/12/2014
In a far-reaching decision for Russia, India as well as the broader South Asian strategic landscape, Russia has decided to lift an embargo on supplying weapons and military hardware to Pakistan. Sergey Chemezov, head of Russian state-run technologies corporation Rostec, has suggested that Moscow is negotiating the delivery of several Mi-25 helicopter gunships to Islamabad.
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06/12/2014
The 2014 USAF Test Pilot School selection board will convene here Aug. 5-8 to consider candidates for July 2015 and January 2016 classes, Air Force Personnel Center officials said. Applications must reach Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command Air, Space and Information Operations by June 23, 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
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06/12/2014
The troubled F-35 aircraft has already been questioned for its exorbitant price tag and called a “turkey” by one plane expert. Now it's being criticized for its vulnerability to bird strikes—at least according to one defence professor at the University of British Columbia.
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06/12/2014
Four Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.
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06/12/2014
The system that allows the U.S. Marines to coordinate flying operations for all air assets has been modernized by Lockheed Martin. The Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS) within the U.S. Marine Corps Tactical Air Command Center was upgraded with the Marine Corps Air Mission Planner application to provide the Marines with a modernized mission planning application to better plan and execute aviation operations.
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06/12/2014
Russia deployed a number of troops in the military exercise in Kaliningrad Region comparable to the number of NATO drill participants in the Baltic region, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported Wednesday. “The forces and equipment that Russia’s Ministry of Defense involved in Kaliningrad Region drills is comparable to the number of soldiers, weapons and equipment deployed by NATO member countries in their border exercises,” the ministry’s press release reads.
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06/12/2014
An accident with an advanced Russian T-50 fifth-generation fighter jet, which briefly caught on fire while landing near Moscow, will not affect the schedule of planes’ test runs, Sukhoi company said Tuesday. One of the T-50's engines failed during landing near Moscow on Tuesday, and there was a minor fire on aircraft’s hull. No casualties were reported and the fire was quickly extinguished.
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06/12/2014
Twenty SU-27 fighter jets are to be relocated to Belbek airbase in Crimea by the end of 2014, a source at the Russian Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti Tuesday. “By the end of the year about twenty SU-27 fighter jets will be based at Belbek airbase serving the Russian air defense unit,” said the source.
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06/11/2014
Mariam Al Mansouri was a teenager when she set her sights on becoming a pilot for the Armed Forces. But there was one little hurdle she had to wait several years to overcome – no women were allowed to join up. She bided her time by spending several years working for General Command before becoming the first woman to join the airforce when the academy finally opened its doors to female recruits.
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06/11/2014
A French Mirage 2000D fighter jet used to patrol the skies over Mali crashed in neighboring Niger due to a technical glitch, the army said Tuesday. The two crew members ejected and survived uninjured. The Mirage was flying back on Monday evening from a mission in Mali, where the French army has been fighting jihadist groups, and crashed half-way between Gao in Mali’s restive north and the Niger capital Niamey, where France has a military base.
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06/11/2014
Lockheed Martin has packed the F-22 with sophisticated tactical intelligence systems, but – in a throwback to a pre-networked era – no means of transmitting data to other aircraft. The need to preserve the F-22’s stealth signature has trumped all previous attempts to solve the problem. A decade ago, the US Air Force rejected proposals to integrate the non-stealthy Rockwell Collins tactical targeting network technology (TTNT) on the Raptor.
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06/11/2014
Several Air Force Global Strike Command B-52H Stratofortresses and B-2 Spirits recently participated in an Air Combat Command evaluation involving the use of live cruise missiles and precision guided munitions. "The Air-to-Ground Weapon System Evaluation Program, also known as 'Combat Hammer,' allows ACC to confirm the accuracy and capability of our conventional weapons from end to end while integrating with other assets in a realistic combat environment," said Lt. Col. Richard Armstrong.
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06/11/2014
Former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez believes the completion of a Chinese military installation near Mabini Reef inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) could be a game-changer not just for the Philippines but the whole Asia-Pacific region. Speaking to ANC’s Headstart, Golez said China, as the world’s second largest economy, can afford to construct an artificial island near Fiery Cross Reef complete with a 5-square-kilometer military base.
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06/11/2014
Five U.S. troops were killed in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan, local and American officials said, in one of the deadliest of such episodes for U.S. forces in nearly 13 years of combat here. An aide to the governor of southern Zabul province said Tuesday that five coalition troops, their Afghan interpreter and one Afghan National Army soldier were killed mistakenly by a coalition aircraft in the Gaza area of Arghandab District of Zabul province on Monday.
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06/11/2014
The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it has granted the first permission for commercial drone flights over land, the latest effort by the agency to show it is loosening restrictions on commercial uses of the unmanned aircraft. Drone maker AeroVironment of Monrovia, California, and BP energy corporation have been given permission to use a Puma drone to survey pipelines, roads and equipment at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the agency said. The first flight took place on Sunday.
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06/11/2014
AUSTRALIA has committed its biggest defence outlay ever on an unfinished combat jet critics insist can’t fight, can’t run and can’t hide. Is the F-35 a flop? Angst has been boiling about the F-35 Lightning II (otherwise known as the Joint Strike Fighter) since its inception. Now, five years overdue and six years away from its revised delivery date, that angst has exploded into furore.
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06/11/2014
Airmen are participating in four joint combat training exercises underway in Poland and the Baltic states — one week after President Obama called for Congress to approve a $1 billion plan to boost a U.S. troops’ rotational presence and further reassure Eastern European partners of “America’s unshakeable commitment” to its NATO allies.
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06/11/2014
An advanced prototype of Russia's fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 fighter aircraft caught on fire attempting to land at an airfield outside Moscow on Tuesday, in a blow to one of Russia's prestige defense projects, Sukhoi's parent company, United Aircraft Corporation, said in a press release. No one was injured in the accident, which saw smoke and flame billow out of the front of the engine and caused visible damage to the exterior of the aircraft.
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06/10/2014
The pilot of a Spanish air force Eurofighter was killed when his combat aircraft crashed at Morón air base near Seville on 9 June. Spain’s defence ministry named the deceased pilot as 30 year-old Capt Fernando Lluna Carrascosa, who it said had accumulated more than 600 flight hours’ experience on the Eurofighter. The cause of the accident – which happened as the aircraft was approaching the base to land – has not yet been determined, it says.
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06/10/2014
Since 2001 India has been working on upgrading its Jaguar ground attack aircraft. India originally acquired Jaguars from Britain in the 1980s. The 11 ton Jaguar is a single seat jet armed with two 30mm cannon and up to 4.5 tons of bombs and missiles. While capable of supersonic speed (1,500 kilometers an hour) most of the time it moves at a little over half that speed.
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06/10/2014
The Remotely Piloted Aircraft enterprise reached new heights as the community pulled together to launch the 65th combat air patrol, or CAP, here on May 28. Reaching 65 patrols by fiscal year 2013 was an initiative put in place by then former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Dec. 23, 2009. The constant growth of patrols, from 33 in 2008 to 65 in 2014, is just one example of the untapped capabilities of the RPA platform and provides insight into where the future of the program can go.
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06/10/2014
The free to play market has always been filled with games like Farmville, Candy Crush, and the rest of the annoying games that most people play on Facebook. In the recent years console game makers have realized that some of their titles actually work with this model in mind. That includes the recently released Ace Combat: Infinity for the Playstation 3.
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06/10/2014
A new report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that the controversial F-35 fighter jets, which would replace the air force’s aging CF-18 fleet, are too dangerous to be used by the Canadian military. The report, titled “One Dead Pilot,” was released on Monday. It suggests that the single-engine F-35 poses too many risks, and could fail over the ocean or the remote Arctic.
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06/10/2014
Eurofighter is looking at giving the Typhoon a maritime attack capability and is investigating at least three missiles to meet potential requirements for export, according to the executive leading Airbus Defence and Space combat aircraft sales effort. At least two of Typhoon’s current export targets are requesting a maritime attack capability.
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06/10/2014
A Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) aircraft has successfully flown in formation with two UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons over the ranges at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, US. The flight represents the first time that the two multi-role combat aircraft have flown together, and was carried out as part of the F-35's interoperability testing.
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06/10/2014
The Air Force is correct in trying to kill the A-10 fleet. It is an archaic vestige reflecting a technology, and a style of warfare, that is outdated by a generation. The aircraft fulfilled the purpose for which it was procured: killing the Army’s AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter program. As a secondary purpose, it has served reasonably well as an interdiction, combat-search-and-rescue, escort and close-air support platform.
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06/10/2014
Russia’s MiG Aircraft Corporation, the producer of MiG fighter jets, said on Monday its sales had jumped by 68% in 2013 year on year to 30.3 billion rubles ($880 million). “its sales had jumped by 68% in 2013 year on year to 30.3 billion rubles ($880 million). Earnings per employee grew by 73% from 2012 to 3.1 million rubles ($90,000),” the MiG press office said, adding the corporation had posted record financial results last year.
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06/09/2014
Israel’s Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) announced today that it was selected by the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), as the preferred supplier for the UAS 15 new reconnaissance drone program. In doing so it beat out state-run rival Israel Aerospace Industries for the $276 million contract.
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06/09/2014
Belgium continues to reduce and upgrade its F-16 fighter force. During the Cold War Belgium assembled (under license) 150 F-16s in Belgium with the last one delivered in 1991. The F-16 fleet began shrinking once the Cold War ended in 1991 and the new plan is to keep 60 of the most recently built F-16s. Only 48 will remain in service, the other 12 will be for spare parts.
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06/09/2014
French Air Chief General Denis Mercier with his country's Ambassador Francois Richier and French defence attache Group Captain Benedict Smith along with Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha will arrive here on Monday to participate in the ongoing fifth Indo-French air exercise 'Garuda-5'.
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06/09/2014
Afghanistan's air force is already woefully short of planes and skilled pilots -- and US plans to scale back supportive air strikes will leave it without crucial back-up as it battles a resilient Taliban. For the past 13 years a vast fleet of US fighter jets, attack helicopters, unmanned drones and transport aircraft have supported ground troops in operations against the insurgency.
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06/09/2014
Following my recent experience with the US Air Force I was invited back for the opportunity to fly on the next aircraft that may enter the Israeli Air Force pending Pentagon approval. The aircraft, the venerable KC -135R, is the backbone of the U.S. Air Force’s refueling fleet. The KC-135R is based on the Boeing 707 airliner, the aircraft which was first flown in 1954 and retired from commercial service at least 25 years ago from most respectable airlines.
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06/08/2014
China is improving its military doctrine, training, weapons and surveillance to be able to conduct more sophisticated attacks against the United States and other adversaries, including Japan, according to the Pentagon. After jamming communications and mounting other forms of electronic and cyberwarfare, stealthy Chinese aircraft, drones and missiles could attack U.S. warships, aircraft and supply craft, the Defense Department said last week in its annual report on China.
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06/08/2014
A beautiful, crystal clear photo of an F-15E Strike Eagle piloted by Colonel Jeannie Leavitt-the first US Air Force female combat fighter pilot and the first commander of a combat fighter wing. This was her last refueling and her last flight-on May 29, 2014-after flying about 2,600 flying hours in this jet.
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06/08/2014
France has really done it this time — the country is apparently going ahead with a plan to sell Russia two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, a move which is understandably none too popular with NATO and its member states, who understandably wonder if this is the best time for NATO to be arming Russia.
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06/08/2014
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has inaugurated a factory in western Turkey that will produce engine parts for the F35 fighter jet, a highly sophisticated combat aircraft. The inauguration ceremony in Izmir province on Friday hosted President Gul and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, as well as officials from U.S.-based Pratt & Whitney and Turkey’s Kale Group, cofounders of the factory.
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06/08/2014
After a Soviet surface-to-air missile battery showdown with a USAF U-2 spy plane near the closed city of Sverdlovsk in 1960, the US government realised they needed a reconnaissance plane that could fly even higher – and outrun any missile and fighter launched against it.
The answer was the SR-71 Blackbird. It was closer to a spaceship than an aircraft, made of titanium to withstand the enormous temperatures from flying at 2,200mph (3,540kph).
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06/08/2014
The crisis in Ukraine is continuing to spur increased military efforts by both Russia and NATO’s Eastern European member states, with the former recently adding to its procurement list, and countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Latvia unveiling plans to expand their defense budgets.
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06/08/2014
It was a time to honor the past and look to the future as the 188th Fighter Wing converted to the 188th Wing on Saturday. Regardless of the mission or circumstances, the men and women of the Arkansas Air National Guard unit at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith performed with “unbelievable focus and determination,” 188th Wing Commander Col. Mark Anderson, said in remarks during a conversion ceremony.
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06/08/2014
A plan to replace decades-old J-STARS planes could mean Tech Sgt. Mike Mclee’s job as a jet engine mechanic will no longer be necessary, but he’s willing to take the chance. “I think it’s great,” he said of the prospect of getting new planes, as he worked on an engine Thursday. “It will make life a lot easier.” he Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System flies Boeing E-8Cs that were built in the 1960s.
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06/08/2014
IAF chief Arup Raha on Saturday reviewed the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Su-30MKI combat aircraft manufacturing facilities in Nashik. The IAF chief visited the facility along with Secretary (Defence Production) GS Pati and HAl chief RK Tyagi where he was briefed about new technologies in the Su-30MKI, level of technology absorption, establishment of facilities for Su-30 repair and overhaul and road map for indigenisation.
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06/07/2014
The 42nd annual joint military exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) kicked off in the Baltic Sea on Friday, Latvian Ministry of Defense reports. This year’s BALTOPS will include US sailors, in addition to forces from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Georgia.
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06/07/2014
Self-defence fighters have shot down an Antonov An-30B reconnaissance aircraft over Slavyansk where combat action is going on between the rebels and the Ukrainian army, the protesters’ headquarters.
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06/07/2014
Russia has turned to a familiar source – the Kuznetsov Design Bureau – to develop the engines for a next-generation bomber, according to a report dated 6 June in a state-run newspaper. The Volga Commune, the official newspaper of Russia’s Samara region, quotes Nikolai Jakushin, executive director of Kuznetsov, as confirming that his company will develop the engines for the new bomber called the prospective aviation complex for long-range aviation (PAK-DA).
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06/07/2014
For years, the news about the most expensive conventional weapons system in US history, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has been driven by its soaring costs, technical problems and schedule screw-ups. The government and Congress and the public rarely speak about what the F-35 will do, how effectively it could destroy an enemy’s air defenses, shoot down an enemy plane, or find and strike other high value targets.
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06/07/2014
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley was today briefed by the Air Force on its operational preparedness and its immediate requirements such as 126 Rafale combat aircraft for carrying out its assigned tasks. The presentation was made by the top IAF brass to the Defence Minister at the Air Headquarters and it last for over an hour, IAF officials said. The Defence Minister was also briefed by IAF on the ongoing Indo-French exercise 'Garuda-5' in Jodhpur where France has fielded its frontline Rafale.
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06/06/2014
Allied troops landed on the Normandy coast of France in tremendous strength by cloudy daylight today and stormed several miles inland with tanks and infantry in the grand assault which Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory."
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06/06/2014
Nearly three years after the last US troops left Iraq, F-16s are returning to Balad — this time, they will be the vanguard of the Iraqi air force. Balad was a major US base during the war and one of the busiest airfields in the world at one point. Now the US government is helping the Iraqis make sure the base will be ready for the first batch of F-16s, which are expected to be delivered in September, said Lukman Faily, Iraqi ambassador to the US.
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06/06/2014
RAC MiG is contemplating building a fifth-generation fighter which would use its current MiG-35 platform as a "foundation" for the introduction of new technologies. Sergey Korotkov, general director of the Russian firm, says concepts for a new aircraft have already been worked on by company engineers.
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06/06/2014
Two warplanes with San Diego-area connections have crashed within hours of each other—on land and at sea—prompting investigations Thursday into what caused the non-fatality mishaps. The first crash involved a U.S. Marine Corps. AV-8B Harrier and occurred in the city of Imperial shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday; the second, involving a U.S. Navy FA-18E Hornet, happened around 10 p.m. off the coast of Southern California, according to military officials.
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06/06/2014
The People Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) ongoing modernization is taking place at a rate unprecedented in history, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday. “The PLAAF is pursuing modernization on a scale unprecedented in its history and is rapidly closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities including aircraft, command and control (C2), jammers, electronic warfare (EW), and data links.”
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06/06/2014
In the Point Mugu Sea Test Range airspace off the Central California coast, an F-35B demonstrated the jet's air-to-air combat capability when it sequentially engaged two aerial targets with two AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles during a Weapon Delivery Accuracy mission.
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06/06/2014
A MiG 29K naval combat aircraft has suffered damage while landing on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya during operations in Arabian Sea off the coast of Goa, a Navy official said today.
The Russian-origin aircraft had taken off from the Naval airbase INS Hansa in Goa yesterday and was landing on the aircraft when it carried out a 'hard-landing' causing damage to the nose-wheel undercarriage, the official said.
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06/06/2014
Ukraine has returned 68 military aircraft to frontline service since the beginning of 2014, in response to the ongoing crisis in east Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on 2 June.
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06/06/2014
Lockheed Martin delivered the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force during a ceremony today at its Fort Worth facility. Lockheed Martin is producing the F-16s under a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. The F-16s are being built in a configuration tailored to meet the specific requirements of the Iraqi Air Force, and the contract includes mission equipment and a support package provided by Lockheed Martin and other U.S. and international contractors.
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06/06/2014
The 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, received another Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifter today. A Little Rock AFB crew ferried the aircraft from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., facility here.
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06/05/2014
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Cold War cornerstone of transatlantic security, has significantly recast its role in the past twenty years. Founded in 1949 as a bulwark against Soviet aggression, NATO has evolved to confront global threats ranging from piracy off the Horn of Africa to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
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06/05/2014
Authorities were investigating the crash of a military plane into a neighborhood in Imperial County near the Arizona border on Wednesday afternoon. The crash occurred around 4:20 p.m. at Cross Road and Fonzie Avenue in Imperial (map), California Highway Patrol officials told KSWB. Facebook photos taken by a resident showed at least one home on fire.
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06/05/2014
Dell has supplied its data center solutions to the U.S. Navy’s partner Northrop Grumman to power the X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System. The X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System has recently received the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy for achievement in aeronautics.
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06/05/2014
Bloodstained pavement, a woman's compact, a pair of shattered spectacles, a single shoe covered in dust were among the debris left by a devastating series of explosions that hit the headquarters of the pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk on Monday.
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06/05/2014
Recent incursions of civil and military aircraft into neighboring airspace has highlighted the state of alert maintained by different nations, and raised once again the validity of the huge investments countries are spending in acquiring military capabilities, if they do not provide the means to maintain these capabilities at reasonable state of readiness.
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06/05/2014
Ukrainian security forces have said that none of their aircraft was shot down over the town of Sloviansk of Donetsk region on June 3 morning. "Claims that a helicopter, an airplane or anything else was shot down have not been confirmed," Vladyslav Selezniov, "anti-terrorist operation" spokesman, told Interfax on June morning.
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06/05/2014
The Swedish equivalent of the Royal Air Force has sent a Furness firm soaring with a new lights order for its supersonic fighter jets. Oxley Developments Ltd, with offices in Bard-sea, near Ulverston, and Barrow, will supply its combat aircraft with gunfire-proof landing and taxi lights. The deal also involves partners Saab, the Swedish defence giant which makes the ‘Gripen’ aircraft.
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06/04/2014
India’s ambitious military modernization program to upgrade its Cold War-era vehicles and equipment is viewed as saber rattling by its neighbor and perpetual adversary Pakistan, a scholar of the region said June 3. Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, program coordinator of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said India is modernizing its air force with newer, more-capable jets but not downsizing its ranks, according to its newly purchased capabilities.
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06/04/2014
Slavyansk self-defense activists claim they have shot down a Sukhoi Su-25 combat airplane. “About half an hour ago we managed to bring down the Ukrainian army’s Su-25. One helicopter, several tanks and one armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian army were destroyed as well,” Slavyansk people’s mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, told Interfax.
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06/04/2014
A source of Beta agency, close to the Air Force command confirmed the report of Serbian daily Politika that the Army of Serbia does not have a single fighter in working condition because batteries for MiG-21 and MiG-29 were not purchased from Russia.
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06/04/2014
Narendra Modi’s election as India’s new prime minister has buoyed hopes for a brighter future across the country, including its beleaguered defense sector. The good news is Modi has pledged more money for defense and reforms to improve how that money is spent. The bad news is that the task ahead will be a monumental challenge.
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06/04/2014
A Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet intercepted a U.S. surveillance plane off Russia’s east coast near Japan in April, flying unusually close, as tensions rose over the Ukraine crisis.
The U.S. RC-135U Combat Sent electronic intelligence plane made by Boeing Co. was conducting a routine mission over the Sea of Okhotsk north of Japan on April 23 when the Russian fighter flew within about 100 feet (30 meters) of its nose, Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said today.
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06/04/2014
The last U.S. personnel are expected to leave the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, by the end of the week, a spokesman for Air Forces Central Command said Tuesday. The Air Force held symbolic ceremonies Tuesday transferring back the facilities to the Krygyz government, said Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. The transfer and inactivation become official after the expiration of the current lease next month and departure of military personnel in a few days.
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06/04/2014
After several days of setbacks, Ukrainian security forces sought to take the offensive Tuesday from pro-Russian insurgents in the country’s southeast, launching a major assault on a rebel stronghold. The attack on separatist positions in the city of Slovyansk began at dawn and continued throughout the day, with officials and residents reporting fierce clashes.
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06/04/2014
In late 2001, I lifted off the USS Bataan in a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter toward Afghanistan as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. I was one of the first pilots to push into Afghanistan after 9/11. The trip to the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar meant an arduous flight through the mountains, pushing the 35-year-old “Battlephrog” close to its operating limits and range. We had to make a fuel stop at a remote base in Pakistan followed by a long flight across open desert.
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06/03/2014
Aero Vodochody Aerospace has been through two revolutions of its own since the political changes that swept eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The mid-1990s saw a Boeing strategic investment in the Czech aerospace champion – one of the first by a Western manufacturer in the former Communist bloc. There was also a joint venture with Taiwan’s AIDC to develop a passenger turboprop. They promised a new era for the then state-run company, but both were ill-fated.
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06/03/2014
The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service said earlier that border guards had repelled several attacks on the control post of the Luhansk border squadron in the early hours of Monday morning; some of the border guards were injured. A fighter aircraft was sent to the border guards' rescue, but initially failed to conduct precision firing in the town.
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06/03/2014
Navy’s X-47B autonomous drone will head back to an aircraft carrier in August, this time for testing alongside F/A-18s in a working flight deck environment. The experimental aircraft will perform takeoffs and landings aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to the Navy Times. There are plans to practice nighttime taxiing aboard the carrier, and some night flights may be performed.
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06/03/2014
Commercial aircraft deliveries rose by 6% and orders by 10% in April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to aerospace trade organisation ADS Group. It reported that production rates also grew, with year-to-date deliveries increasing 7%.
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06/03/2014
An international military exercise, code named Adriatic Strike 2014, kicked off in different places in Slovenia, the Slovenian Armed Forces said in a press release on Monday. Around 400 soldiers, with half from Slovenia, and a total of 23 aircraft and 13 unmanned aerial vehicles, are involved in the military drill, which is to train joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC).
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06/03/2014
India is closer to finally sealing the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multirole combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 French Rafale fighters, which IAF has identified as a top-priority for the Narendra Modi government. Defence ministry sources said the final commercial negotiations for the MMRCA project, which IAF considers "critical" to retain its air combat edge against Pakistan and maintain "dissuasive deterrence" against China, can now "be wrapped up in the next three months".
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
The fifth Indo-French air exercise 'Garuda-V', in which frontline fighter aircraft of both the countries are taking part, started at the Jodhpur airbase here on Monday. "Both the Air Forces during the war game will practice aerial warfare, including manoeuvres, to carry out surgical strikes that will enhance operational cooperation," said defence spokesman Col S D Goswami.
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06/03/2014
The United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said. “Increased air, land and sea deployments to eastern Europe are a tangible demonstration of our solid and enduring commitment to collective security and the NATO alliance.
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06/03/2014
"Strike" This word is meant to convey the F-35’s identity as a proper multirole fighter, a machine rigged to conduct both air superiority and strike missions, the latter defined as tactical attacks on a ground or naval target with a particular focus on “initial blow” or “first day of attack” operations. All three variants of the F-35 fighter family hold this capability.
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06/03/2014
Russia’s Air Force is set to receive new aircraft and anti-missile defense systems, as well as to stage large-scale drills by the end of 2014, a Russian Defense Ministry’s Air Force spokesman said. “By the end of the year, the Air Force is to procure planes, helicopters, modern radar stations… It is also being reequipped with high-end S-400 surface-to-air missiles and Pantsir-S short-range air defense systems,” said Colonel Igor Klimov.
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06/02/2014
Turkey scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to intercept an Iranian military plane that briefly crossed into Turkish airspace over the eastern province of Igdir, bordering Iran, the military said on Sunday. The Iranian reconnaissance plane violated Turkey's airspace on Saturday for 20 seconds and left the area after the military dispatched F-16s to intercept it, according to a written statement from the General Staff.
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06/02/2014
The book is not only the story of the Indian Air Force's pivotal role and contribution to Bangladesh's war for independence. It is also a short saga based on actual details of two air forces of the subcontinent, one belonging to India and the other to Pakistan. The 1971 war for the Indians may have ended in about two weeks' time but not without the Indian air force emerging as a formidable fighting force that facilitated the Indian army's rapid progress to Dhaka.
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06/02/2014
Australia’s new defense budget boosts spending by 6 percent over last year and forecasts movement on a number of large acquisition programs, including vehicles and helicopters. The government of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivered its budget on May 13, the first since the Liberal-National Party coalition was elected in September.
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06/02/2014
The words “Nellis Air Force Base” and “Las Vegas” are synonymous in aviation circles. At least that’s been the case since May 1, 1950, when the former Army-airfield-turned-Air Force base in the northern Las Vegas Valley was renamed Nellis Air Force Base in honor of 1st Lt. William Harrell Nellis. He was a young officer from Southern Nevada who was killed Dec. 27, 1944, while fighting in the skies over Europe during World War II.
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06/02/2014
As soon as the euphoria subsides and the new government at the Centre settles down to business, it will have to take some expeditious decisions so far as acquisitions for the defence forces are concerned. One decision that has to be taken immediately is on how to replenish fighter aircraft squadrons. According to highly placed sources in the Indian Air Force (IAF), the country is fast running out of fighter aircraft and this is a matter of great concern.
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06/01/2014
“I believe our capabilities are only second to the United States, from both an offensive and defensive standpoint” General Eshel told the audience at the Israel conference of National Security, in April 2014. IAF commander said, referring to a significant leap in capabilities over the past two years. The commander said he has based his assessment on an evaluation of IDF abilities and conversations with officials from foreign militaries.
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06/01/2014
Ukrainian forces resumed bombings today in the outskirts of the administrative city of Donetsk, in the country´s southeastern region, with heavy artillery and harassment of the National Guard squads. Combats were registered from daybreak today near the locality of Joroshevo and the area of the international airport, Rossia 24 channel reported.
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06/01/2014
There is an effort underway to develop a UAV version of the F-16. This would be based on the QF-16, the remotely controlled target version of the F-16. The air force is already in the process of converting 210 retired F-16s to QF-16s and it was noted that with a little extra work the QF-16 could be turned into a combat UAV for dangerous missions like SEAD (suppression of enemy defenses) or attacking ground targets guarded by heavy air defenses.
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06/01/2014
After years of passing more conventional capabilities by, I think it is time for the Marine Corps, and the "Gator Navy" for that matter, to get serious about getting the very most out of their extremely expensive and controversial F-35B force. At $150 million a pop, they need to be more than nicer Harriers.
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06/01/2014
Four French Rafale fighter aircraft and a contingent of about 70 French airforce personnel on Saturday landed at Jodhpur airbase to participate in the 10-day long joint air exercise "Garuda-5". The air exercise, expected to be attended by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, will kick start at the Jodhpur airbase on June 2.
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06/01/2014
Russian industry officials are denying media reports that Beijing and Moscow are finalizing a deal on the sale of advanced Russian fighters and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to China.
Widely reported by other media outlets, Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV announced that the head of Sukhoi, Mikhail Pogosyan, confirmed that a deal with China to procure Su-35S fighters and S-400 SAMs was close to concluding.
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06/01/2014
Today, Boeing's UAV offerings come primarily from the company's subsidiary Insitu, which it acquired outright in 2008 for about $100 million after partnering with the younger company to develop and market the ScanEagle drone.
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05/31/2014
Paratroopers with 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, participated in a regional training event at the Military Base in Adazi, Latvia, May 27-28, involving forces from across the Baltic nations. The purpose of the event was a NATO fixed-wing, live-fire exercise focusing on close-combat attack and close-air support. The Latvian National Defense Force hosts the military event every year in late spring.
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05/31/2014
Boeing Co., the second-biggest defense contractor in the U.S., and Saab AB expect demand for maritime and aerial surveillance systems to grow in Asia as territorial disputes intensify.
Demand for maritime patrol craft and affiliated equipment in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow steadily for the foreseeable future, Chris Chadwick, head of Boeing’s defense business, said yesterday in Singapore.
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05/31/2014
Rule changes for commercial airlines that supplement military aircraft in the rapid transport of troops and supplies are on the way. The U.S. Air Force said the upcoming changes to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program are the result of a review and industry-military consultations, meant "to ensure the nation's capability to rapidly airlift service members and military supplies around the world at a reasonable cost to taxpayers."
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05/31/2014
President Barack Obama’s emphasis this week on restricting the use of the military abroad risks an unintended consequence: deepening concern about fading U.S. engagement among Asian nations locked in disputes with China. Obama’s defense chief, Chuck Hagel, leads the U.S. delegation to an annual security conference in Singapore that started today, two days after Obama said the armed forces can’t be the “primary component of our leadership.”
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05/31/2014
The South African Air Force held its first Air Capability Demonstration (ACD) of the year at the Roodewal weapons range outside Polokwane in Limpopo this week, and put on an impressive show that included Rooivalk attack helicopters and seven Gripen fighters.
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05/31/2014
The government recently announced it was stumping up more than $12 billion to buy 58 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (in addition to the 14 already approved). Many voices were raised in protest. Some asked how the government could find that much money at a time when it was proclaiming the need for parsimony elsewhere. Others questioned whether the F-35 was the right aircraft to buy.
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05/31/2014
A pair of French nuclear strike jets were involved in a near miss with a third military aircraft over Scotland. The Mirage 2000 jets flew within 200ft of a BN2T Defender flying 30 nautical miles north east of Islay in the Inner Hebrides. The incident was investigated by the UK Airprox Board, which reports on near misses in UK airspace.
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05/31/2014
Two additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) ferried from the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility here today. These C-130Js will join the ROKAF’s other two Super Hercules aircraft, which were delivered in March. ROKAF aircrews also currently operate a fleet of C-130H legacy aircraft.
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05/31/2014
The Russian Airborne Forces have started receiving the newest Verba man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) equipped with an automated fire control system that has no foreign rival, military spokesman Yevgeny Meshkov said Friday. "The surface to air-missile regiment of the Ivankvsky Airborne Forces division is the first to have started receiving and studying the modern system of air defense battle," Meshkov said.
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05/30/2014
Days after the U.S. and China traded new accusations of cyberspying, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday he will press the same issues in a face-to-face meeting with a top military officer from Beijing this weekend. Hagel said he also plans to raise many of the territorial disputes that have raised tempers in the Asia Pacific region and talk about "where we think China is overplaying its hand and presenting new challenges and new tensions to this area."
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05/30/2014
A lack of decision-making on large Indian defense procurement deals in the past two years is expected to end with the swearing-in of the new government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Changes in procurement and offset policies are also expected. Major projects that are in the final stage of processing and require a signature for conclusion include the 126-aircraft medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) won by Dassault Aviation’s Rafale.
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05/30/2014
In anti-budget rallies, protesters have loudly demanded the government spend more money on health, welfare and education and not $12 billion on new jet fighters. So how does RAAF chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown respond to that one? 'Security is one of the fundamental responsibilities of government. The unfortunate thing with defence is that the debt that you actually owe the future needs to be paid today,' he said.
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05/30/2014
China and Pakistan concluded the three-week-long Shaheen-III air exercise on Wednesday. The exercise was the third installment of the Shaheen (Falcon) series of bilateral exercises between the two countries’ air forces, according to Defense News. The exercise is intended to boost cooperation between China and Pakistan and is a source of valuable experience for pilots on both sides. The exercise is “multi-dimensional” and involves operations in “near real [scenarios].”
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05/30/2014
Companies vying to build Canada’s new fighter jets are cranking up their sales pitches, but they’ll be waiting a while longer to learn whether the Harper government intends to hold a full competition – or stick with the troubled F-35 program. A decision is still pending, and no timeline is imminent on when that decision might be forthcoming, Public Works Minister Diane Finley told a gathering of defence contractors Thursday.
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05/30/2014
Push has now come to shove. Emboldened by the lack of military resistance in occupying Philippine islands and with her fishing and navy boats sailing at will in our waters, China’s military leaders have now initiated a bold land reclamation military base project in Mabini Reef (Fiery Cross Reef). Location: about 150 miles from Palawan and within the Philippines 200 miles Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
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05/30/2014
A large-scale military operation involving artillery weapons and combat aircraft has been launched in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, Donetsk's OstroV news website reported on Thursday, citing its sources and eyewitnesses. "A large-scale "anti-terrorist" operation has begun in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
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05/30/2014
A new communications capability enables fifth-generation combat aircraft to share information with fourth-generation aircraft, prime contractor Northrop Grumman announced on 27 May. The Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) programme, known as the Jetpack JCTD, allows the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to communicate directly and securely with fourth-generation combat aircraft such as the F-15, F-16, and F-18.
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05/30/2014
In three separate flight tests on May 27, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II aircraft demonstrated air-to-air combat capability, completed the first flight test with the next level software load and accomplished a landing at the maximum test speed and drop rate.
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05/30/2014
Russia may begin to develop advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UAV) with longer flight endurance in 2014, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters Thursday. "We are ready to consider starting a development work this year with plans to complete it and move on to the official tests or experimental military use of future devices in 2017," Borisov said.
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05/29/2014
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have shot down a military helicopter near the flashpoint city of Sloviansk, reports say. The aircraft was reportedly hit after offloading soldiers at a military base. Sloviansk has seen fierce fighting between separatists and government forces in recent weeks.
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05/29/2014
The House overwhelmingly backed a $601 billion defense bill recently that ignores cuts proposed by the Pentagon and spares the A-10 aircraft fleet, including those stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, from elimination during the 2015 fiscal year. The campaign to save the A-10s benefited from a spending authorization bill that spares a wide array of planes, ships and military bases in an election-year nod to hometown interests.
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05/29/2014
Defense watchers have been surprised by recent suggestions emerging from the Abbott Government that Australia could consider acquiring the Lockheed-Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter to complement the 72 F-35A JSFs already ordered.
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05/29/2014
Norway is set to shoulder the full costs of development and integration activities for the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) programme after failing to secure a partner to share weapon integration on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
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05/29/2014
Qatar could firm up its interest in buying French Rafale fighter planes when its new Emir, Sheikh Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani visits Paris on June 23, the La Tribune financial website reported Wednesday. The contract is of vital importance to the Dassault Aviation group which builds the plane and to the French government.
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05/29/2014
As Russian support for pro-Kremlin forces inside Ukraine persists and China continues to show aggression toward its neighbors in the Pacific, it’s becoming clear that the sun will never entirely set on traditional threats. Even in a post-9/11 world countries will continue to square off against one another militarily.
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05/29/2014
Textron Airland is to offer its Scorpion combat aircraft to Switzerland in the wake of the country's rejection of the Saab Gripen E earlier this month, national media reported on 27 May. The intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)/light strike twin-engined jet is being offered as a low-cost alternative to the Gripen E for the Swiss Air Force's Tiger II fighter replacement requirement, Textron Airland President Bill Anderson reportedly said to the daily newspaper Tages Anzeiger .
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05/29/2014
Not many people know this, but blackjack is not just a casino game; it is also the code name used by NATO for the Tupolev Tu-160, the world’s largest combat aircraft, largest supersonic aircraft and largest variable-sweep aircraft ever built. This strategic bomber was created by the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau. It entered service in 1987 and it was the last strategic bomber designed for the Soviet Union.
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05/29/2014
How big is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter? By one set of measures, it is three times bigger than the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, ten times bigger than either the Apollo Project or the International Space Station or Hurricane Katrina, or one hundred times bigger than the Panama Canal.
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05/29/2014
Naval wings of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have resumed training flights over neutral waters of the sea to monitor the activity of NATO warships, a source in the Russian navy's headquarters said Wednesday. “During the flights, combat training is carried out to provide surface image coverage in the neutral waters of the Black Sea,” the source said. These flights, performed mainly by Su-24 attack aircraft, allow monitoring of NATO warship maneuvers, which have increased in activity in recent months.
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05/28/2014
On May 26, Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a military operation to regain control over the international airport in the eastern city of Donetsk. The operation saw the involvement of Mi-24 gunship helicopters and Mig-29 Fulcrum and Su-25 Frogfoot jets. It all started early on Monday morning, when forces belonging to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (pro-Russia separatists) occupied the airport.
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05/28/2014
The U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded BAE Systems a $28 million (£16.7 million) contract for the third-generation (Gen3) configuration of its Common Missile Warning System (CMWS). This contract, which represents the first direct commercial sale of BAE Systems’ Gen3 CMWS technology, will enable the U.K. military to provide its aircrews with the latest CMWS survivability equipment.
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05/28/2014
China and Pakistan commenced their third installment in the Shaheen (Falcon) series of bilateral exercises here over the weekend, according to a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) spokesman.
Shaheen III is described as a multi-dimensional joint exercise aimed at boosting cooperation and imparting knowledge gained through flying/combat experience conducted in a near real scenario, allowing participants to familiarize themselves with the latest concepts and practices.
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05/28/2014
Here's a question that's been nagging me for a while: Why don’t the Arab states that provide so many weapons, and so much funding, to the Syrian opposition, and that also demand greater U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war, just intervene themselves? The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in particular, both vociferously support opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are very well armed.
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05/28/2014
The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya's coast as a “precautionary” move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US official said. Security concerns also led the US to suggest Americans in Libya "depart immediately." Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya’s new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP.
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05/28/2014
During Chinese-Russian maritime exercises, Japanese aircraft entered the disputed air zone. The Chinese and Japanese aircrafts had a close encounter for as much as dozens of meters. Japan and China blamed each other for the dangerous acts. Foreign media commented that this is a dangerous escalation over the disputed Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan.
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05/28/2014
The role of modern aerial warfare has drastically changed since it was first used on a large scale in World War I. The advent of precision-guided munitions has aided in providing strike capabilities to combatant commanders while helping to reduce or even eliminate unnecessary suffering.
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05/28/2014
A Soviet-era fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashed Tuesday morning, killing its pilot and raising fresh questions about the MiG-21 aircraft that has been involved with many fatal accidents in India. On Tuesday morning one of India’s MiG-21 Bisons took off for a training sortie from an air force base in Srinagar in the state of Jammu and Kashmir then crashed about 10 kilometers short of another air force base in the northern state, an air force official said.
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05/28/2014
A delegation of Russian airborne forces has arrived in Beijing to exchange skills and knowledge with their Chinese colleagues, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. "During the visit, the Russian military delegation will familiarize itself with the training and resources facilities of the school of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)," said Yevgeny Meshkov, a representative of the ministry's press service.
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05/28/2014
A contract for the supply of Russian MiG fighters to Syria serves to strike a balance of arms and maintain peace in the region, a top leader of Syria’s Popular Front for Change and Liberation told RIA Novosti. "The Soviet Union has always supplied weapons to Syria. Thus, some balance in the region was maintained to help us keep the peace, so I think that the contract is part of this historical strategy," one of the Popular Front’s leaders Qadri Jamil explained.
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05/27/2014
A Vietnamese fishing boat has sunk after it collided with a Chinese vessel near a controversial oil rig in the South China Sea, amid tensions between the two nations. Both countries are blaming the other for the incident. Vietnam's coast guard said the boat was encircled by 40 Chinese vessels before it was rammed, reports said. But Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said Vietnam's boat collided with its vessel after "engaging in harassment".
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05/27/2014
At least 30 pro-Russia separatists have been killed so far in fighting at the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, insurgents say. Armed separatists tried to take over the airport on Monday. A BBC team near the airport on Tuesday said sporadic gunfire continued, though one Ukrainian military spokesman said it now controlled the facility.
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05/27/2014
Currently, the beginning of a project of modernisation for 10 fighters MiG-29 has been confirmed. It will affect the systems of control, their aiming and tracking systems and their armaments. The airplanes will improve their ability to hit ground targets. The modernisation of the heavy Su-27 is planned to happen the end of the first stage of the modernisation project. However, no specifics are available yet.
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05/27/2014
Russia’s new fifth-generation Sukhoi PAK FA -50 fighter jet performed its first demonstration flight at MAKS-2011 international air and space show in the town of Zhukovsky, near Moscow. According to all reports the Sukhou PAK preformed admirably. Spectators marveled as two T-50 jets appeared in the sky above Zhukovsky at 16:00 o’clock yesterday.
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05/27/2014
When I asked Yossi Druker, EVP and Head of the Air Superiority Systems Division at Rafael, if the age of air-to-air missiles has ended, he provided me with a direct answer of the type that leaves no room for doubts: “No one has launched an ICBM in decades. Does that mean that they are no longer necessary?” Well, it appears that despite the fact that air-to-air combat encounters are a rare occurrence in the world’s skies, military organizations still acquire advanced air-to-air missiles.
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05/27/2014
The federal government must spend less money. The federal budget needs to be trimmed. That’s what Republicans, and even some Democrats, have demanded year after year, insisting it is time to spend fewer tax dollars. So what happens when the Department of Defense—which has been raking in half of trillion dollars a year—offers up multiple ways to cut its budget? Congress votes to put the money back.
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05/27/2014
There are big air shows in the UK this summer. The British public may be a little disappointed, however. The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter—the stealth jet that’s supposed to be able to take off and land vertically, like a helicopter—will be on display for the first time outside the U.S. But it won’t emulate the vertical landings that the Harrier family has made routine since the Beatles were playing dodgy nightclubs in Hamburg.
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05/27/2014
Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), are pilotless and non-crewed aircraft that are capable of flight either by remote control or through the use of on-board computers. Other names for these types of aircraft are remotely piloted vehicle (RPV), remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), and remotely operated aircraft (ROA).
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05/27/2014
Intense fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine on Monday when government air and ground forces attacked pro-Russian separatist gunmen who had seized an airport terminal. The clashes between Ukraine's Army and separatists in Donetsk have caused some casualties, according to a statement posted on the official website of the city's mayor, which also advised residents to stay in their homes.
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05/26/2014
Military aircraft successfully took-off and landed on a highway strip in central China on the morning of May 25, 2014, according to a post from the official Weibo account of Jiefangjun Bao (People's Liberation Army Daily). Fighter planes, helicopters and transport aircraft participated in the military drill.
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05/26/2014
Japan and China have traded accusations after China scrambled fighter jets when Japanese military aircraft entered an air defence zone declared by Beijing over the East China Sea. China's defence ministry said on Sunday that two Japanese planes entered the defence zone the previous day during a joint military drill with the Chinese and Russian navies.
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05/26/2014
The Ground Self-Defense Force is hurrying to reorganize its deployment of personnel, to enhance its defense of remote islands against China’s increasing military strength. Though the GSDF is conducting its first large-scale landing drill in the Amami islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, there are many problems facing the reorganization plan that has just begun.
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05/26/2014
The heir apparent to the throne, Prince William is set to become an air ambulance pilot rather than take on full-time royal commitments. After stepping down as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot over a year ago, the prince is said to have a "day job" with the East Anglian air ambulance service near his country home at Anmer Hall in Sandringham.
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05/25/2014
Chinese fighter jets flew within a few dozen meters of Japanese military planes over the East China Sea, Japanese officials said on Sunday, prompting the defense minister to accuse Beijing of going "over the top" in its approach to disputed territory. Chinese SU-27 fighters came as close as 50 meters (170 feet) to a Japanese OP-3C surveillance plane near disputed islets on Saturday and within 30 meters of YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft, the ministry said.
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05/25/2014
Futuristic Advanced Drones Continue to Change the Face of War Drones have been around since the early 1980’s . They proved a useful tool in the Israeli-Lebanon war of 1982. Since that time the development of new drones coupled with the advancement of technology has led militaries such as the United States and Israel to construct both surveillance and surgical strike strategies using only drone aircraft.
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05/25/2014
Sen. Joe Manchin is celebrating the signing of a bill to honor the nation's elite fighter pilots. Manchin was in attendance this week as President Barack Obama signed the American Fighter Aces Congressional Gold Medal Act. Manchin and Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe were the lead sponsors of the bill.
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05/25/2014
The defence ministry has sought an almost 25% hike in its budget, pointing to "operational gaps" in manpower, machines and infrastructure, in the action plan prepared for the Narendra Modi government. The defence establishment has also urged the new political dispensation to take a call on a wide range of issues, ranging from recommendations of the Naresh Chandra task force on higher defence reforms to the creation of three new tri-Service commands for space, cyber and special forces.
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05/25/2014
“A contingent of People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), comprises combat pilots, air defence controllers and technical ground crew besides a Pakistan Air force (PAF) contingent are participating in the exercises,” said Air commodore Tariq Mehmood. He said the PLAAF contingent is comprised of J-10 and J-7 combat aircraft where as JF-17 Thunder, Mirage and F7 PG combat aircraft of PAF are participating in the exercise.
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05/25/2014
After years in which aerial gunships were synonymous with the US-built AC-130, not one but two new offerings were on display last week in Jordan, reflecting a growing demand from other nations for aerial strikes by slow moving aircraft. Visitors to the Special Operations Forces Exhibition & Conference (SOFEX) in Jordan got a first look at a pair of CASA C-235 aircraft purchased secondhand from Spain and converted to gunship configuration for the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
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05/24/2014
Boeing has delivered the fourth P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India on schedule, fulfilling the first half of a contract for eight aircraft. The aircraft departed from Boeing Field in Seattle and arrived May 21 at Naval Air Station Rajali, where it joined three P-8Is currently undergoing operational evaluation.
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05/24/2014
Swiss citizens have rejected their government’s plan to buy 22 Saab Gripen E combat aircraft in a referendum. The verdict was not unexpected, since recent opinion polls had shown a majority against the plan, despite its previous approval by the Swiss parliament. However, the “no” vote majority was only 53.4 percent. Under Switzerland’s unique version of democracy, many significant or controversial matters of public policy are decided in this way.
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05/24/2014
The U.S. House and Senate are both headed toward protecting the A-10 aircraft of the Cold War era, radar-jamming jets made by Boeing Co. and the Navy’s carrier fleet, spurning the Pentagon’s cost-cutting strategies. The Republican-led House passed yesterday a $601 billion defense authorization measure for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, and the Democratic-led Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version hours later.
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05/24/2014
Within days of taking over, India’s new defence minister will get a first hand opportunity to see live action from French fighter jets Rafale, selected by the UPA-II government as the preferred platform for Indian Air Force’s 126 fighter jet deal. More than two years ago, the government selected Rafale and started the price negotiation process. Initially valued at $10.4 billion (Rs 42,000 crore), the fighter deal may rise to as high as $20 billion at the time of the commercial contract.
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05/24/2014
More than 175 reservists from four Air Force Reserve C-130 and ALCE units will soon join coalition forces for Maple Flag Exercise at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. Due to real world commitments, the normal NATO fighter aircraft will not participate this year reducing the total number of aircraft. However, the exercise continues for transport aircraft training in real world scenarios.
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05/24/2014
Russia is strengthening its military bases abroad as well as helping to boost the armed forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday.
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05/23/2014
wo B-1B Lancer aircrews flew a 30-hour, non-stop, long-range precision strike training mission from Ellsworth to strike targets on a range near Guam before landing back on base as part of a Global Power training mission, May 13 and 14. Working in concert with U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Pacific Command and Air Combat Command, the sortie tested the capabilities of Ellsworth's Airmen to successfully load munitions, launch aircraft, effectively employ training munitions and return home.
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05/23/2014
Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH has announced a capability enhancement package for its Typhoon combat plane, flown or ordered by seven countries. The package was announced Wednesday at the 2014 ILA Berlin Air Show by Paul Smith, a Eurofighter capability manager and former British Royal Air Force pilot.
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05/23/2014
Five new Reaper drones announced by David Cameron in December 2010 to support British troops in Afghanistan are still not yet in operation, the Bureau can reveal. The new drones were bought as an urgent purchase and were part of a £135m package intended to effectively double the size of the UK’s fleet of armed drones in Afghanistan, and its surveillance capacity.
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05/23/2014
The Taliban should take advantage of what may be a shrinking window of opportunity to seek a negotiated end to the conflict in Afghanistan, the top U.S. military official said on Thursday.
"I don't give military advice to the Taliban, but if I were giving them advice, I'd say, 'Your negotiating position is not going to improve; it's going to erode'," said Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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05/23/2014
The fleet of A-10 fighters and hundreds of related jobs at Selfridge Air National Guard Base could be spared once more, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of a 2015 defense bill preserving them from elimination.
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05/23/2014
The U.S. House passed a $601 billion defense authorization bill that rejects Pentagon plans to retire Cold War-era planes and rebuffs efforts to find savings in military benefits and base closings. By a vote of 325-98, lawmakers took the first step toward setting defense policy and spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct.1.
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05/23/2014
The French Rafale fighter aircraft, shortlisted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for its $12 billion Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program, will engage with IAF aircraft in June 3 joint exercises over the Rajasthan desert. The Indo-French air exercise, Garuda-5, will include four Rafale multirole fighter aircraft and one air refueler that will participate with IAF’s multirole Su-30MKI, MiG-27 and MiG-21 aircraft.
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05/23/2014
The Philippines has invited bids in a Ps6 billion ($23 million) programme to acquire two long range patrol aircraft for the country’s air force. The bids are to include the cost of the aircraft, sensors, systems integration, as well as support capabilities, according to a document posted on the Department of National Defense’s website.
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05/23/2014
Talks with foreign partners to purchase Russia’s Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters will begin in earnest in 2016 or 2017, a representative of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Thursday. The Ka-52 was unveiled internationally at the 50th Le Bourget airshow last June.
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05/23/2014
The Russian Air Force will start receiving its first PAK DA next generation long-range bomber in 2023, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Thursday. Earlier reports said PAK DA bombers could be supplied to the Russian Air Force approximately by 2020.
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05/22/2014
One of the most controversial proposals by the Air Force this year is its plan to divest the A-10 jet aircraft. The “warthog,” as it is known, is a slow moving, low-flying, ear-piercingly loud jet airplane built around a giant “Avenger” Gatling gun, which has provided intimidating fire power for troops in contact on the ground for nearly 40 years.
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05/22/2014
The Indian Air Force's Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme earned its sobriquet of being the 'mother of all procurements' due its cost, pegged at around US $10 billion in 2007. But seven years down the line, and after the selection of the French Rafale post rigorous evaluation trials, the acquisition still remains some distance away.
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05/22/2014
NewsChannel 3 got a first-hand look at a F-22 Raptor as it did every maneuver in the book, preparing for this year’s Virginia Beach Patriotic Oceanfront Air Show next weekend. “It’s always a ton of fun for me. I get out there. I’ve got a good airplane. The weather was great today. A little bit of wind but nothing we couldn’t handle,” said Capt. John Cummings, pilot of the F-22.
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05/22/2014
Seoul formally protested joint naval drills by China and Russia in the East China Sea that intruded into Korea’s air defense identification zone (Kadiz). According to the Korean Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday, the training area for the military exercises conducted by Beijing and Moscow partly overlapped with the Korean and Japanese ADIZs. Seoul was barely given any prior notice.
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05/22/2014
ntegration of the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, Storm Shadow / Taurus cruise missile, and Brimstone air-to-surface missile onto the Eurofighter Typhoon will represent "a paradigm shift" in the combat aircraft's capabilities, company officials announced on 21 May. Speaking at the ILA Airshow in Berlin, officials from both Eurofighter and MBDA noted how the integration of these new weapon systems onto the Typhoon will keep the fighter at the forefront.
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05/22/2014
If you think that the military routinely hides problems from the public, then you must never have read the reports that congressional committees produce as part of their annual review of Pentagon budget requests. Those reports describe hundreds of problems that need to be addressed each year, and often result in legislative language directing remedies.
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05/22/2014
The United States has sent 80 troops to Chad in Central Africa to support a growing international effort in neighboring Nigeria to help find and rescue the schoolgirls who were abducted by an Islamist extremist group last month, the White House said on Wednesday. The American military personnel are not ground troops. They are mostly Air Force flight crew members, maintenance specialists and security officers for unarmed Predator surveillance drones.
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05/22/2014
The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) subsystem has received full certification for operation by the United States Department of Defense International AIMS (Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System, Identification Friend or Foe, Mark XII/Mark XIIA, Systems) Program Office. The system is designed to ensure the safety of allied aircrews engaged in combat operations.
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05/22/2014
Ukraine is meddling in Russia’s affairs by asking Moscow to stop the Aviadarts 2014 international competition, calling it a military exercise, the commander of the Russian air force said Wednesday. Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged Russia to cancel the event, scheduled for May 21-27 in the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, saying it would escalate tensions.
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05/21/2014
The Brazilian air force plans to acquire 28 military cargo jets from aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA worth 7.2 billion Brazilian reais ($3.27 billion), the company said Tuesday. The KC-390 planes will be delivered over a period of 10 years, with the first delivery scheduled for the end of 2016.
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05/21/2014
China has used military aircraft to support over 130 ships it deployed to guard oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 that has been planted illegally in Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea since May 1, the Vietnam Coast Guard reported Monday.
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05/21/2014
A spokesman says the body of a U.S. Marine who fell from an aircraft during a training flight has been found. Spokesman Mike Barton said the body was found Tuesday. Barton said the Marine was a member of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and a crewmember of an Osprey that was conducting a training flight Monday evening.
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05/21/2014
Are American political leaders and national security experts underestimating the military capabilities of China? That question is posed by Asian-Pacific security analyst Timothy Walton in the current issue of the National Interest. Despite the dramas playing out on the Russian and Middle Eastern fronts, Walton's question may well be the most important strategic concern facing America in the 21st century. To grasp just how important, consider the consequences if the answer is yes.
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05/21/2014
Slovakia is looking to lease Saab Gripen fighter aircraft to replace its MiG-29 fighter fleet, according to Slovak National Armament Office Director Róbert Tibenský. Tibenský was speaking at the annual GLOBSEC security forum held in Bratislava from 14-16 May, and confirmed that by 2020 Slovakia will have replaced most of its Soviet-era legacy equipment with modern platforms.
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05/21/2014
Three lists of aircraft have recently been added to the 127th Wing's website. The lists feature the 94 different military aircraft that have been assigned to Selfridge Air National Guard Base since it opened in 1917 as Selfridge Field; the 54 different aircraft that have been assigned to the Michigan Air National Guard since its forerunner organizations were created in 1926; and the 33 aircraft and one 3/4 scale replica aircraft on permanent display at the Selfridge Military Air Museum's.
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05/21/2014
With the security situation in Libya deteriorating daily, the Pentagon has placed 250 Marines and aircraft in Sicily as a precautionary move should the State Department request the evacuation of American staff from the embassy in Tripoli, Libya, military officials said today.
But if the Marines are called in, what would an evacuation look like?
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05/21/2014
Russian defense experts will train the country’s soldiers to operate the latest unmanned aerial vehicles, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. "The main objective of military exercises is to clarify the basic requirements and methods of providing training for UAV units and to reinforce skills ... in flight operations," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
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05/21/2014
A new Russian high-speed helicopter currently under development may be adapted for military use, a manager at an avionics systems manufacturer involved in the project told RIA Novosti Tuesday. "We’ve had talks about the military version," said Givi Janjgava, Deputy Director General of Radio-Electronic Technologies KRET.
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05/20/2014
Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology Corp (002190.SZ), a Chinese state-owned maker of auto parts and batteries, said it plans a $3.4 billion private share placement to raise funds to buy three companies that make military aircraft. Sichuan Chengfei's offer follows a push by the Beijing government to use capital markets to fund military expansion and float state-owned assets.
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05/20/2014
Iberia has received a new contract from Airbus Defence & Space for the conversion of three A330s to the multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) configuration. Announced on the eve of the ILA Berlin show, the award extends a previous deal between the two organisations for a further three years, as each aircraft will require one year to convert to the air-to-air refuelling role.
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05/20/2014
The U.S. Justice Department has brought first-of-its kind charges against Chinese military personnel in connection to cyber espionage cases at six U.S. companies, including U.S. Steel.
A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania indicted five Chinese military hackers on charges related to computer intrusions, economic espionage and other offenses against U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar power industries.
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05/20/2014
It is precision flying at low speed and a high angle of attack. It is the definitive skill that sets Navy carrier pilots (and Air Force exchange pilots who have flown with a Navy carrier squadron) apart from all others. It's interesting to note that military uniforms have all sorts of badges and doodads to show that the wearer has qualified in this or that, but there is no doodad for carrier landings. They are included in the gold wings a naval aviator wears.
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05/20/2014
In what could be a move to ease tensions with the West and avoid another round of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered troops deployed near Ukraine to return to their home bases. Putin also praised the launch of a dialogue between the Ukrainian government and its opponents even as fighting continued in the eastern parts of the country.
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05/20/2014
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is to provide a star turn at this year's ILA Berlin Airshow with a pair of the service's Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft on the static display line-up. No further details have been released by the show organisers, and the Israel Defence Force (IDF) did not respond to a request for clarification on the variant of F-16 these might be.
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05/20/2014
Who needs Switzerland when you have Brazil and Russia? That view of the forces helping spur demand for new combat aircraft should ease the disappointment at Saab AB after Swiss voters rejected a $3.5-billion plan to buy the Swedish company’s newest jet fighter.
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05/20/2014
The U.S. Air Force has introduced into its B-52 fleet the first aircraft upgraded with an advanced communications system, developed by Boeing, that keeps the bomber ahead of emergent threats while improving aircrew safety and situational awareness.
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05/20/2014
Boeing's Reconfigurable Airborne Multi-Intelligence System (RAMIS) aircraft has flown for more than 1,000 hours, demonstrating the reliability of the platform and systems that can be adapted for many missions. Boeing has also demonstrated the system's intelligence-collection during several U.S. government exercises.
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05/20/2014
Russia and China will conduct large-scale joint naval drills to demonstrate the strengthening of military cooperation between the two powers as Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in China on Tuesday amid worsening relations between Moscow and the West over Ukraine.
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05/19/2014
Virtually every commercial airliner and military aircraft worldwide has a warning system in place. But despite near misses occurring at the rate of one every two weeks, the devices have not been fitted to either the £60million Typhoon, or to Tornado GR4s – the RAF’s two combat jets. RAF sources claimed the equipment had been left out for financial reasons – leaving pilots to rely on eyesight and ground radar to avoid crashes.
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05/19/2014
The introduction of the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 "Lavi" advanced jet trainer aircraft into the Israeli air force's inventory will enable the service to reduce the time of its pilot training course by six months. Speaking to the Israeli air force magazine, the commander of the fighting training department at the service's flight academy – identified only as Lt Col Gal – said the M-346 will enable the unit to certify a fighter pilot in 18 months.
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05/19/2014
From a worsening civil-military divide to a moribund defence production sector, from the lack of strategic decision-making or higher defence reforms to huge operational gaps in military capabilities, India's new defence minister will have to fix them all. After eight years of a "holding operation" by the risk-averse A K Antony, the country's longest-serving defence minister ever, the Indian defence establishment needs to be seriously jolted out of its status-quoist stupor.
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05/19/2014
Britain's long-delayed £70 million stealth fighter may need to be cancelled because of its poor performance, according to an analysis by a senior American air force officer. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being built for British and US forces is based on outdated ideas of air warfare, it is claimed. The aircraft could be unable to evade enemy radar and be too expensive for long campaigns.
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05/19/2014
A Sentinel reconnaissance aircraft left RAF Waddington on Sunday morning bound for the Ghanian capital of Accra, west of Nigeria and close to where Islamist terror group Boko Haram are believed to be holding the girls. The high-tech surveillance jet will assist US aircraft in attempting to find the schoolgirls, who were abducted in northeastern Nigeria on April 15.
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05/18/2014
A Laos plane crashed Saturday in the northern part of the country, killing the defense minister and the mayor of the capital city of Vientiane, according to Thailand’s foreign ministry officials Officials have not been able to confirm the cause of the accident but did clarifiy that three people survived the crash of AN74-300, which carried at least 14 people including Douangchai Phichit, the defense minister of Laos and his wife.
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05/18/2014
The fourth consideration (one argued by the pro F-35 lobby) is the value placed on continued R&D and active production of the fighter aircraft. Aircraft need to be upgraded and replacements will need to be acquired with such a small quantity by of 65. Only Saab and Lockheed have production lines scheduled beyond 2019. The Super Hornet production line is scheduled to be shut down in 24 months with no R&D funding offered in the most recent US Federal Budget.
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05/18/2014
Fighter jets serving in the NATO air-policing mission had to take off from its home base in Šiauliai, northern Lithuania, twice this week in response to unidentified airplanes approaching the air-space of the Baltic states. On Wednesday, UK fighter jets Eurofighter Typhoon took off from Šiauliai to identify an object flying close to the Latvian international waters without a flight plan. After identifying it as a Russian military helicopter, the NATO jets returned to their base in Šiauliai.
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05/18/2014
A Marine Osprey unit here has taken on an exclusive new mission that could have far-reaching implications for the future of the military’s prized tiltrotor aircraft. With combat operations in Afghanistan set to end this year, the Marines had planned to conclude V-22 deployments last fall.
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05/18/2014
Nigeria and its neighbours have vowed to join forces against Boko Haram under an accord described as a declaration of war on the Islamic militants holding more than 200 schoolgirls.
Meeting in Paris, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger approved an action plan to counter an organisation that has been blamed for 2000 deaths this year as well as last month's abduction of the schoolgirls from northeastern Nigeria.
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05/17/2014
South Korea is spending several hundred million dollars to upgrade most (96 percent of) their 140 KF-16 fighters. These were assembled in South Korea from 1994 to 2004 under license and are going through a mid-life upgrade in the United States. This will involves installing a more powerful AESA radar, new electronics (displays, sensors and computers) as well as new cabling and other related components f0r 134 KF-16s.
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05/17/2014
Six months from now, the German air force should receive its first new tactical airlifter in more than 40 years, with the expected delivery of its lead A400M. Scheduled for acceptance during November, aircraft MSN18 is the twelfth production example of the A400M from a combined order for 170 from European partners Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus four for first export buyer Malaysia.
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05/17/2014
A ceremony May 15 marked the end of the eighth annual Exercise Eager Tiger, a multinational event during which fighter pilots and crews from around the world gather to practice techniques and enhance interoperability. Throughout the week, the U.S. and Jordan put their best pilots and maintainers forward to compete in a loading competition, an aircraft scramble and a first-run attack scenario, all aimed at building tactical proficiency while also allowing joint training.
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05/17/2014
The Czech Republic is to continue leasing Saab Gripen fighter aircraft for a dozen years under a government-to-government agreement signed Friday, Saab said. The air force of the Czech Republic flies 14 Gripen C/D jets under a 2006 lease from Sweden, which expires next year.
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05/17/2014
The V-22 Osprey's deadliest accident stemmed partly from "undeniably intense" pressure to show progress for the new tilt-rotor aircraft, according to the U.S. Marine Corps commandant. "As I reflect on the mishap I cannot ignore the charged atmosphere into which the pilots flew that night, carrying on their shoulders a critically important program," Gen. James Amos wrote two lawmakers in a look back at the crash in 2000 that killed 19 Marines.
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05/17/2014
A breaking news item reported by Al-Jazeera Channel earlier today, 16 May, confirmed that aircrafts were bombing locations belonging to Ansar Al-Shar'ah (Supporters of Shari'ah) and the 17 February Battalions in Benghazi. Previously, the Algerian Al-Khabar newspaper reported on 12 May that an Israeli website close to the security circles in Tel Aviv said that an American report had warned that Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi might use the pretext of terrorism along the Egyptian - Libyan borders.
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05/17/2014
More than 300 marines of the Russian Baltic Fleet conducted a training assault Friday on the coastline of a hypothetical aggressor in the Kaliningrad region, the fleet's press service said.
"We are practicing suppression missions on fortified coastal settlements of a hypothetical aggressor using naval firepower, landing operations on an unimproved shore, as well as warfare tactics with amphibious assault forces," the statement said.
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05/16/2014
The chief of China’s military warned Thursday that the United States should stay “objective” concerning China’s territorial disputes with its neighbors or risk damaging ties between the two countries. Speaking at the Pentagon alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, Gen. Fang Fenghui said China isn’t to blame for rising tensions in the region.
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05/16/2014
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is presenting its advanced unmanned systems this week at the 2014 Unmanned Systems exhibition taking place in Orlando, Florida. IAI will feature unique unmanned systems which allow area dominance over thousands of square miles, as well as innovative electro-optical capabilities for every mission – from air to sea.
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05/16/2014
Even against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, there is no doubting the sheer size of the Russian-built Mi-26 helicopter. But it’s only when the aircraft lands that observers are truly able to appreciate the magnitude of the helicopter, the world’s largest. Designed and built by Moscow-based Mil Helicopters, the Mi-26 stands roughly the same height as a three-story building and its rotors have the same span as the wings of an Airbus A320.
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05/16/2014
As part of an upgrade from the CH47-D, and the completion of unit training and activation of all 12 aircrafts, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, unveiled its newest Chinook, the CH-47F at an activation ceremony at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, May 13.
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05/16/2014
Enemies, innocent victims, and soldiers have always made up the three faces of war. With war growing more distant, with drones capable of performing on the battlefield while their “pilots” remain thousands of miles away, two of those faces have, however, faded into the background in recent years. Today, we are left with just the reassuring “face” of the terrorist enemy, killed clinically by remote control while we go about our lives.
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05/16/2014
Russell Carpenter owes his life to the ugliest warplane in the Pentagon fleet. When about 3,000 U.S. troops traveling on a dirt road in Iraq came under fire soon after the 2003 invasion, Carpenter, then an Air Force chief master sergeant, called for air support from the only fighter jet that could fly low and slow enough to tell friend from foe: the A-10.
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05/16/2014
The United States is to sell $800 million worth of combat aircraft, armoured vehicles and surveillance equipment to Iraq to enhance security in the country amid an al-Qaida insurgency and rising sectarian tensions.
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05/16/2014
In his letter "Can we afford not to buy Joint Strike Fighters", Andrew Nikolic continues to support acquisition of an additional 58 F-35s as a matter of priority. But is it absolutely necessary to commit to this expenditure straight away? Indeed the US and NATO allies are delaying or even reducing F-35 buys and are 72 aircrafts absolutely necessary?
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05/16/2014
Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament ratified Thursday an agreement with Russia on establishing a joint regional air defense shield, a Novosti-Kazakhstan correspondent has reported. The shield will become part of the unified air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose alliance of former Soviet states, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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05/15/2014
A LifeNews TV video of a white-painted Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter with UN logo has emerged. When inquired about the United Nations’ stance on the use of peacekeeper-marked military hardware in non-peacekeeper operations, the office for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said such use would violate UN rules.
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05/15/2014
Iran has been providing Syria’s regime with drones—some of them inspired by American technology—and they’re already playing a significant role in keeping Bashar Assad in power. On Sunday, Tehran announced it had replicated a top-of-the-line U.S. drone it claimed it captured in 2011, raising the possibility it will send still more sophisticated aerial robots into the skies over Damascus.
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05/15/2014
WASHINGTON — The United States has approved nearly $1 billion in military equipment to Iraq. The administration of President Barack Obama has notified Congress of a military aid package meant to enhance Iraqi security amid the Sunni revolt.
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05/15/2014
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reassured Persian Gulf allies Wednesday of U.S. commitments to defend them amid tensions in the U.S.-Saudi relationship, including differences over how to help moderate rebel forces remove President Bashar Assad from power in Syria.
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05/15/2014
Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Brandenburg says he probably never would have returned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan if not for the A-10 Warthog. The Silver Star recipient and former joint terminal attack controller stood beside powerful Senate lawmakers Wednesday and urged the Air Force to back off a proposed retirement of the aircraft, saying it is uniquely capable of providing close air support, saving the lives of American troops on the battlefield.
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05/15/2014
Last week, I discussed on these pages the five Chinese weapons Washington fears most. Some of the weapons, such as the Type 071 amphibious ship and Chinese cyber weapons were unfamiliar to many readers. This week we’re turning the list around and discussing the five American weapons that China likely fears most.
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05/15/2014
Ahmed al-Jarba, the president of the Syrian National Coalition, and Brig. Gen. Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, the top man of the opposition Supreme Military Council, are currently engaged in the most important foreign delegation of their lives.
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05/15/2014
Belgium's request pertaining to the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of its Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM Fighting Falcon combat aircraft has been approved by the US government, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) disclosed on 12 May. The MLU, which is valued at USD113 million, will see the Belgian Air Force's 44 single-seat F-16AM and 10 twin-seat F-16BM aircraft equipped with upgraded navigation and communication systems.
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05/14/2014
The United Nations peace envoy for Syria threw in the towel on Tuesday after failing to start a meaningful dialogue, as France accused Damascus of continuing to use chemical weapons. In a double blow to the already frozen peace process, Lakhdar Brahimi announced his resignation at UN headquarters as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius spoke in Washington.
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05/14/2014
Sikorsky Aircraft announced today from the AUVSI Unmanned Systems conference that it will develop its first product to feature Matrix™ Technology, by converting a retired UH-60A BLACK HAWK helicopter into an optionally piloted variant capable of a wide spectrum of missions. Sikorsky Aircraft is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.
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05/14/2014
On May 7th the Indian Navy declared its new aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, operational and deployed with the fleet. This was four months after Vikramaditya arrived from Russia, where it was built and refurbished to Indian specifications. That 39 day journey was the first long range (15,000 kilometers) cruise for the Vikramaditya and was not without incident.
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05/14/2014
The U.S. Air Force wants to retire all of its A-10 ground support aircraft (to deal with a shrinking budget). The politicians don’t agree and it appears the air force will be forced to keep at least some of the A-10s. Some in Congress also want the air force to put those A-10s that are retired in storage, in the event of an emergency. That’s called Type 1000 storage and would cost over $50,000 a year per A-10 for the first five years and about $12,000 a year after that.
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05/14/2014
On a mile-long assembly line in Ft. Worth, Texas, Lockheed Martin is putting together a jet fighter that no one can match. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be stealthier, smarter, more capable, and more flexible than any aircraft ever built. It better be. It's costing American taxpayers close to $1 billion. A month.
(Read More...)
05/14/2014
Romania was officially welcomed into the Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] F-16 family at a reception preceding the Black Sea Defense Aerospace tradeshow here today. The Romanian Air Force is the 28th customer of the most widely used 4th generation multi-role fighter in the world.
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05/14/2014
Designed for versatility and affordability, the new Lockheed Martin [NYSE:LMT] Vector Hawk addresses a broad set of unique missions and operating needs within a single system. With a gross takeoff weight of only four pounds and a vertical profile of only four inches, Vector Hawk boasts best-in-class payload capacity, speed and endurance.
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05/14/2014
To increase expeditionary capabilities in its long endurance Group 3 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), Lockheed Martin recently fielded its newest Expeditionary Ground Control Station, or “xGCS” ®, for use with the Fury UAS. Following its development and manufacturing in Huntsville, Ala., xGCS shipped and was integrated with Fury in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The first xGCS unit was delivered in early 2014 and has completed initial flight testing in preparation for upcoming Fury UAS deployments.
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05/14/2014
The Russian Helicopters company is ready to supply additional helicopters to India, Russia’s largest partner on military and technical cooperation, CEO Alexander Mikheyev told reporters Wednesday. “The Russian Helicopters joint stock company will be ready to continue the program on the supply of Russian helicopters to India under contracts with the state-controlled arms trader Rosoboronexport,” Mikheyev said.
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05/13/2014
Iran said on Sunday it had succeeded in copying a US drone it captured in December 2011. State television broadcast images apparently showing the replicated aircraft. Iran captured the US RQ-170 Sentinel while it was in its airspace, apparently on a mission to spy on the country's nuclear sites, US media reported.
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05/13/2014
China's military chief will tour American warships on Tuesday in a four-day US visit that comes amid heightened tensions between Beijing and its Southeast Asian neighbors over territorial disputes. An escalating maritime feud between China and Vietnam is expected to come up when General Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army general staff, holds talks this week with his counterpart, General Martin Dempsey, US officials said.
(Read More...)
05/13/2014
British liaison staff are embedded with US forces in the Horn of Africa, the Ministry of Defence has revealed, as concern grows about redeployment of the UK squadron of 10 armed Reaper drones. Although three British officers are based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti – the US base from which unmanned strikes are launched against al-Qaida groups in Yemen – the MoD denies they are involved in co-ordinating such attacks.
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05/13/2014
The Mirage is no longer a mirage. Last fortnight, in the famous wine country of Bordeaux in the south of France, the first fully assembled Mirage-2000 built for the Indian Air Force (IAF) glided off the assembly line at Dassault-Bregeut's sprawling plant at Marignac.
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05/13/2014
After more than a decade of war, unmanned aerial systems, or drones, have become the symbols of America’s technological wizardry and the subject of heated debates surrounding privacy and the use of remotely piloted aircraft to kill terrorists. Americans have become accustomed to nightly news reports of unmanned aircraft attacking al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan while being controlled by U.S. pilots from thousands of miles away.
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05/13/2014
For a man who is said to despise the US President, North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un appears to be showing a touch of hypocrisy as he steps onto a red carpet from his own version of 'Air Force One'. A photo, published in the official North Korean daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun, shows for the first time the luxury Russian IL-62 jetliner that carries Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju on official engagements around the secretive country.
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05/13/2014
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said "Turkey is against war, but we have to show that we are ready for it" during the handover of a military transportation aircraft to the Turkish air force. Gul'scomments came on Monday as the Airbus A400M transportation plane "Atlas" was formally handed over in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri.
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05/13/2014
An Israeli man was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport Monday and is expected to be extradited to the US where he has been charged with selling arms — including spare parts for fighter jets — to Iran. Eli Cohen, 64, was arrested by Israeli forces at the request of the US while attempting to flee the country.
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05/13/2014
Boeing and Embraer S.A. today announced that they will open a joint research center to advance a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil. Under a memorandum of understanding, the two companies will perform joint biofuel research, as well as fund and coordinate research with Brazilian universities and other institutions.
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05/12/2014
Vietnam yesterday accused China of despatching fighter jets to protect an oil rig in contested South China Sea waters. Over the weekend, two groups of Chinese military aircraft flew over Vietnamese ships tasked with preventing the rig from drilling, Vice-Commander and Chief of Staff of Vietnam’s Coast Guard Ngo Ngoc Thu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, AFP reported.
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05/12/2014
The Indian Air Force's (IAF) plan to add much-needed new teeth with advanced missiles, engines and avionics to its ageing fleet of Jaguar fighters has failed to take off as the programme has got stuck with certain design and development issues. The IAF initiated the process of upgrading the Jaguars in 2009 to bring a fleet of 61 aircraft to DARIN (Display Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation III) standards.
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05/12/2014
Fairfax defence correspondent David Wroe had what his editors labelled an exclusive in the weekend Sydney Morning Herald: Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown told Wroe the RAAF is interested in buying armed drones. No disrespect to Wroe, whose background piece on drones in the same day's paper was excellent, but the real exclusive would have been if Brown had said the RAAF was not interested in armed drones.
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05/12/2014
As the territorial row between China and Vietnam continues in the Paracels, two Chinese missile-firing frigates shadowed the USS Blue Ridge, the command and control ship of the United States 7th Fleet, near Panatag Shoal in Zambales on Friday. The two Chinese warships – a guided-missile frigate and a guided-missile destroyer with bow numbers 572 and 170 – kept their distance from the Blue Ridge but their presence heightened the maritime tension in the region.
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05/12/2014
Southeast Asian nations called for self-restraint on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as tensions escalate over China’s pursuit of its claims to large swaths of the resource-rich region. Leaders called on all parties to “refrain from taking actions that would further escalate tension,” in a statement issued at the end of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting yesterday in Naypyidaw in Myanmar.
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05/11/2014
According to a Sveriges Television report on Thursday, the incident occurred on March 3rd just 50 kilometres south of the Swedish city of Malmö - home to over 300,000 people. The plane was reportedly a Russian Ilyushin 20m military aircraft used for signals surveillance. The two aircraft are reported to have passed by each other a mere 90 metres apart.
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05/11/2014
Despite problems with recently refurbished MiG-31 fighters Russia is moving forward with yet another round of fixes and improvements. In particular the D30F6 engines will be tweaked and upgraded to make them more powerful, efficient and reliable. This comes in the aftermath of two crashes (in early and late 2013) that involved these engines. In December 2013 Russia grounded all 122 of its MiG-31 fighters after one of them crashed because both of its engines failed.
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05/11/2014
SOUTHEAST Asian foreign ministers on the eve of a regional summit viewed with “serious concern” the rising tensions in the South China Sea as the United States Seventh Fleet reported sighting two Chinese frigates at the Panatag Shoal where Beijing fired water cannons at Filipino fishermen last January.
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05/11/2014
The Air Force’s plan to retire the A-10 and U-2 fleets has hit major congressional opposition that could ripple across the service and put other aircraft fleets at risk of being eliminated or downsized. The House Armed Services Committe on May 7 passed amendments to the fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which, if approved by the full Congress, would leave the service scrambling for other ways to save money, both in fiscal 2015 and in 2016 when sequestration returns.
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05/11/2014
The Kingdom of Jordan will become the first international customer of BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets. Jordan signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the system here at the Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX). In its third year of full-rate production, the APKWS rocket is the only guided 2.75-inch rocket fully qualified by the US Department of Defense that uses semi-active laser guidance technology.
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05/11/2014
The discovery of major deepwater oil finds off of Brazil’s coast changed its military priorities. The military’s mission has always been influenced by the land’s vastness, but until recently, that meant keeping a careful watch over the Amazon basin. The Marinha do Brazil had its own role policing the wide swathes of ocean around its long coast, but the air force’s construction was oriented toward supporting the army.
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05/11/2014
Russell Carpenter owes his life to the ugliest warplane in the Pentagon fleet. When about 3,000 U.S. soldiers traveling on a dirt road in Iraq came under fire from behind a ridge in the opening weeks of the 2003 American invasion, the retired Air Force chief master sergeant says he called for air support from the only plane that could fly low and slow enough to tell friend from foe: the A-10.
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05/10/2014
Authorities say a military jet has crashed on tribal land south of Phoenix, but the pilot was able to eject safely. Television footage shows the charred wreckage of the plane in several pieces in a remote desert area on the Gila River Indian Community.
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05/10/2014
Azerbaijani Air Forces have conducted exercises aimed at evaluating the military personnel's ability to perform combat assignments correctly. Air defense drills were held at an 'S- 300 Favorite' anti-aircraft missile systems military unit of Azerbaijani air forces, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on May 8.
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05/10/2014
There's nothing quite like flying aboard the U.S. Navy's C-130 Hercules. I know because I was lucky enough to have this incredible opportunity when the Blue Angels and the C-130, affectionately dubbed "Fat Albert," took to the skies for the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show on May 3 & 4. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget. Before I even boarded "Fat Albert," I was amazed by the sheer size of the aircraft.
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05/10/2014
Apache helicopters, teamed with Gray Eagle and Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles, are a winning combo, according to Col. Thomas von Eschenbach. Apache AH-64E models, teamed with unmanned aerial vehicles, known as UAVs, are now increasingly performing the armed aerial scout missions, once performed by Kiowa helicopters, and, Eschenbach said, they're doing a fantastic job.
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05/10/2014
About nine o’clock on the morning of November 19, a Hellfire missile shot from a US Predator drone destroyed a Toyota Hilux on a back road of eastern Yemen. The ute was carrying local al-Qaeda leader Abu Habib al-Yemeni. Two Australian men whom security sources say were al-Qaeda foot soldiers happened to be with him.
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05/10/2014
Nigeria's president said Friday that his government was "pleading with everybody on earth"—from regional and global governments to unspecified "civil society" groups—to help find more than 200 abducted girls and hunt down their kidnappers from the Boko Haram extremist group.
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05/10/2014
Presiding over a triumphant spectacle of warships and fighter jets, President Vladimir Putin hailed the return of Crimea to Russia as the restoration of "historic justice" before a jubilant, welcoming crowd Friday on the holiday that Russians hold dearest to their hearts. Yet Putin's first trip to the Black Sea peninsula since its annexation in March was strongly criticized by both NATO and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, which said it trampled on Ukraine's sovereignty and international law.
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05/09/2014
India's largest warship - aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, is "operationally deployed" along with its fleet of MiG 29K combat aircraft, Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan said here today.
"The navy has inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya which is now operationally deployed with MiG 29K aircraft embarked and being flown by Indian naval pilots," he told reporters here.
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05/09/2014
Boeing is working to convert F-16 fighter aircraft into fully-fledged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for potential use by US armed forces, IHS Jane's was told on 7 May. The company has already converted the first six of 126 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons into optionally piloted QF-16 target drones for the US Air Force (USAF), but is looking to add improved datalinks to enable the QF-16 to fly as high and as far as conventional UAVs.
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05/09/2014
After a months-long debate over whether to keep or scrap a fleet of aging Air Force jets, the House Armed Forces Committee voted Thursday to continue funding the planes through 2015, thanks in part to a powerful lobbying group that said scrapping the planes would put the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk.
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05/09/2014
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft fleet, which surpassed 16,000 cumulative program flight hours to date in April, flew a monthly record high for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) with 282 flight hours and 153 flights in April.
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05/09/2014
A Russian strategic TU-95 “Bear” bomber launched six cruise missiles against ground targets during military drills Thursday overseen by President Vladimir Putin. The bomber successfully fired six cruise missiles at ground targets simulating key military assets of a hypothetical adversary.
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05/09/2014
A group of warships from Russia’s Northern Fleet led by the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov entered the English Channel Thursday, the head of the Western Military District’s press service for the Northern Fleet told RIA Novosti.
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05/08/2014
The Turkish Army has received the first T-129 attack helicopter co-produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Italian-British AgustaWestland after several months of technical snags, Defense News reported.
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05/08/2014
After being in Odesa when more than 40 people were burned, suffocated, beaten or shot to death in fighting between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian mobs last week, a Canadian-led team of multinational military observers returned Tuesday to southern Ukraine to resume their appraisal of the shaky security situation there.
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05/08/2014
The President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) Ahmad Jarba on Wednesday stressed the need for more sophisticated weaponry to combat the Syrian air force which "burns and bombards civilians on a daily basis." Speaking through a translator at the US Institute for Peace, Jarba said the only way to move forward with a political process and engage the regime of Bashar Al-Assad is by gaining leverage on the battlefield.
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05/08/2014
A small business in Vienna could share a $169 million contract with The Boeing Co. to provide missiles to Brazil. If approved by Congress, Boeing and Delex Systems Inc., the latter of which counts less than 200 employees, would be the primary contractors for a foreign military sale of 20 Harpoon missiles, associated parts and training equipment and engineering and logistics support services.
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05/08/2014
Turkey's ultimate decision-maker on procurement, the Defense Industry Executive Committee, announced late Tuesday that Turkey has committed to buying two F-35A Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets as part of an order expected to be consummated in 2016. The committee chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and with the Chief of General Staff and the Minister of National Defense also announced that the country still planned to buy 100 of the advanced jets.
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05/08/2014
The Air Force has confirmed that a U-2 spy plane did not cause the computers at the Los Angeles International Airport control center to crash last week, causing flights to be delayed, cancelled and diverted. The Blaze first reported on Monday that an Air Force spokeswoman had said the plane did not cause the control center's computers to fail.
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05/08/2014
It hasn’t even flown yet and the U.S. Army program it was intended for was put on hold, possibly indefinitely. But that hasn’t stopped foreign militaries from inquiring about when they might be able to buy the Sikorsky S-97 Raider, the company’s next-generation light-attack helicopter. The coaxial design features counter-rotating rotor blades and a push propeller, among other innovations, that will allow it to fly much faster and farther than today’s choppers.
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05/08/2014
Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first flight of the inaugural F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Iraq Air Force. The jet is the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft on order through the U.S. Department of Defense for Iraq.
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05/08/2014
Selex ES has been highlighting its extensive work with Jordan while also promoting key technologies for surveillance and situational awareness during the SOFEX 2014 show being held in Amman. With ongoing collaboration in a number of areas and a memorandum of understanding signed in 2013the Finmeccanica subsidiary said it anticipates moving toward a more strategic relationship with King Abdullah.
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05/08/2014
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the US Navy have formally signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the first international sale of BAE Systems' Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rocket.
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05/07/2014
U.S.-backed leaders in the Syrian opposition have come to Washington to lobby for better arms, challenging the Obama administration’s position that providing advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles is too risky. Ahmad al-Jarba, president of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, is leading a delegation to meet administration officials and lawmakers and persuade them to provide lethal arms to the Free Syrian Army.
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05/07/2014
With foreign combat troops preparing to leave Afghanistan, India has agreed to supply the country with military equipment. Guest columnist Ahmed Rashid says the move risks raising tensions. India's decision last week to pay for arms and equipment from Russia to boost the strength of the Afghan National Army (ANA) could be a dramatic game-changer in the region - as well as a step fraught with escalation in regional rivalries.
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05/07/2014
Faced with smaller budgets over the next decade, the U.S. Army has halted evaluation of new UAVs and is standardizing on four existing models (Gray Eagle, Shadow 2000, Raven, and Puma). All four of these were developed and purchased in large quantities over the last dozen years and will remain the primary army UAVs for the next 5-10 years.
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05/07/2014
After 23 years of high-tempo operations, the Air Force is in a precarious position, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III told the Senate Armed Services Committee today. The general was joined in his testimony by his fellow members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including the Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, and the vice chairman, Navy Adm. James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr.
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05/07/2014
With the crisis in Ukraine forcing Eastern European governments to refocus on defense, several are expanding their helicopter fleets to replace largely Russian-built aircraft, with an emphasis on transport. Poland is developing the largest helicopter procurement program in the region, with plans to buy 70 new aircraft this year as part of a military modernization program that extends to 2022.
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05/07/2014
Russian military planes and ships have been stepping up patrols in the Pacific in response to tensions in Ukraine, according to the commander of Pacific Air Forces. “[There’s been] a significant... increase in the amount of activity from Russia in the Asia-Pacific,” PACAF commander Gen. Herbert Carlisle said Monday. “And we relate a lot of that to what’s going on in the Ukraine.”
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05/07/2014
The U.S. Air Force projects that its annual spending on long-range bombers will almost double after 2019 as it seeks a new stealth aircraft that may pit Northrop Grumman Corp. against a joint bid from Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. The service’s total budget for bomber production and upgrades will jump to about $9.5 billion in fiscal 2020 from less than $5 billion for the previous year beginning Oct. 1, according to a Pentagon document obtained by Bloomberg News.
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05/07/2014
The Defense Department is working with the State Department and NATO allies to provide reassurance, deterrence and support to Ukraine, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. The U.S. government’s response to Russia’s actions in the region is being done carefully and without taking actions that would escalate the crisis, Evelyn N. Farkas said.
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05/07/2014
Lt. Gen. Michael Bednarek, chief of the US Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, said that the Iraqi government and armed forces are working on countering terrorism in cooperation with the United States. Speaking to Azzaman on May 3, Bednarek said, “The cooperation consists of supplying Iraq with weapons, information, training, development and aerial maps to detect the movement of terrorist forces and armed groups opposing the Iraqi government.”
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05/07/2014
When about 3,000 U.S. soldiers traveling on a dirt road in Iraq came under fire from behind a ridge in the opening weeks of the 2003 American invasion, the retired Air Force chief master sergeant says he called for air support from the only plane that could fly low and slow enough to tell friend from foe: the A-10.
(Read More...)
05/06/2014
A Ukrainian helicopter has been shot down over the pro-Russian stronghold of Slavyansk as the security situation in the country continues to worsen. Ukraine's defence ministry said the pilots survived. Elsewhere in the east of the country four paramilitary policemen were shot dead in fighting. A number of other rebels and civilians are also thought to have been killed or injured, according to Sky's Stuart Ramsay, who is in eastern Ukraine.
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05/06/2014
Paratroopers from the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) planned and executed an aerial resupply mission at Adazi Drop Zone here Friday. Approximately 150 paratroopers from the brigade are currently participating in exercises in Latvia, which are part of a series of expanded American land force training activities with European partners that are scheduled to take place in the next few months and beyond.
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05/06/2014
Eight leading senators appealed to the Senate Appropriations Committee to save the Air Force’s controversial A-10 aircraft fleet from the Pentagon budget’s chopping block as lawmakers inch closer to a final draft of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015. The proposal to retire the fleet of 353 A-10s, Air Force officials have said repeatedly in both interviews and recent testimony on Capitol Hill.
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05/06/2014
Pakistan has made it possible for China to win the third slot among the world's exporters of multi-role jet fighters after the United States and Russia, the Chinese government controlled website, Huanqiu.com said. Islamabad has contacted for approximately 100 FC-1 Xiaolong fighters worth $2.52 billion from China. The Pakistani buying and air displays of the single engine multi-role combat Xiaolong fighters, also known as the JF-17 Thunder.
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05/06/2014
Britain's Royal Navy has quietly recommissioned a fighter squadron to train the next generation of ‘Top Gun’ aviators who will eventually fly from the decks of its giant new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. 736 Naval Air Squadron has been back in business for almost a year. It was formed from a civilian-run operation used to help train navy ships how to defend themselves from air attacks and flies ageing but nimble Hawk T1 aircraft.
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05/06/2014
Several media reports this weekend blamed a ’70s-era Air Force spy plane for causing more than 200 flights at Los Angeles International Airport to be canceled or diverted.
So it is true?
Not according to the Air Force.
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05/06/2014
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $80.6 million production contract for the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) on the AH-64 Apache helicopter. This Lot 9 contract includes production of eight targeting and pilotage systems and spares for the U.S. Army and nine systems for the Indonesian Army. Indonesia is the 13th international customer to purchase the M-TADS/PNVS system.
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05/06/2014
Boeing delivered the 100th EA-18G Growler to the U.S. Navy, marking a major milestone in the program that has transformed airborne electronic warfare capability for the U.S. and its allies. A derivative of the F/A-18F Super Hornet, the Growler is the only aircraft in production that provides tactical jamming and electronic protection for U.S. and allied forces. Growlers provide a unique capability to nearly all U.S. combat missions and are expected to be in service until at least 2040.
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05/06/2014
Russia plans to send the initial batch of the Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers to Syria until the end of 2014, with further plans to fully complete the contract for 36 aircraft in 2016, the Kommersant newspaper wrote Monday, citing a source close to Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport.
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05/06/2014
Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport will display its latest weapons systems and military hardware at the SOFEX-2014 exhibition this week in Jordan, the company has said. The company said it expects potential buyers are likely to pay particular attention to Russian noiseless and flameless weapons, sniper rifles, submachine guns and special melee weapons.
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05/05/2014
A new United States agreement with the Philippines is not likely to result in many immediate operational changes for troops in the Pacific region, but it clears the way for the Pentagon to invest in new construction and infrastructure there, and sets the stage for new U.S.-built facilities along the shores of the contested South China Sea.
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05/05/2014
France scrambled a fighter aircraft Sunday after a jetliner slightly veered from its course and lost radio contact with the ground over western France, military officials said. The Washington-bound United Airlines Boeing had taken off in Rome, the air force information service SIRPA said.
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05/05/2014
Battle-tested and proven defence technologies will soon be manufactured in Jordan for armed forces across the Middle East, including the UAE. Africa’s largest defence and aerospace business, Paramount Group, announced a strategic joint venture with Jordan’s state-owned defence manufacturer, the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) on Sunday.
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05/05/2014
It's been a little over two months since things started getting crazy in Ukraine, and Russia decided to invade Crimea. Though progress has been steady and at times seemingly slow, the situation has continued to escalate and just this week, the "worst case scenario" started to become a reality when we witnessed what appear to be the beginnings of an all-out war.
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05/05/2014
Given the chaotic defense budgetary environment, one could be forgiven for overlooking the fact that some truly strategic issues are at play in the defense authorization bill markup taking place in Congress this week. One key issue involves how Congress deals with the Navy’s poor choices in the development of a future carrier-based drone, or in Pentagon-speak, the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike, or UCLASS, program.
(Read More...)
05/05/2014
A fighter aircraft's lethality in air-to-air combat is governed by the air-to-air missile that it carries. Since the Independence, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has mounted French, Russian and British missiles on its fighters. On Sunday, an IAF Sukhoi-30MKI fighter conducted the first test launch of the indigenous Astra air-to-air missile, which the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) is developing at its missile cluster in Hyderabad.
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05/05/2014
An April-released study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments paints grim pictures for America's combat-aviation forces. Air Force aircraft are the "smallest and oldest the service has ever fielded." Enemy technology risks also apply to Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.
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05/04/2014
Designed based on the Liaoning carrier purchased from Ukraine, China's first domestically built aircraft carrier is likely to enter service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2024, according to Kanwa Defense Weekly operated by Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov, a military analyst from Canada.
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05/04/2014
South Korea recently ordered over 76 AIM-9X Block 2 Sidewinder air-to-air heat seeking missiles and 24 CATM-9X-2 Captive Air Training Missiles and various other accessories all for about $98 million. The CATM look like the actual missile but cannot launch and are carried on aircraft for training purposes and can do everything but launch.
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05/04/2014
The deleted data on the flight simulator of missing MH370 pilot Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah has yet to be fully recovered, said the Inspector-General of Police. Retrieving the data, said Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, was a difficult process even with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
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05/04/2014
An operation to free the town has begun this morning. At 4:00 local time, the troops began to take control over checkpoints around Slovyansk. The terrorists, who seized the town, report that Ukrainian troops have resumed the anti-terrorist operation. Two servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were killed and several others were injured when two Mil Mi-24 helicopters came under fire outside of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said in a press release.
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05/04/2014
Tuesday night, Biloxi City Councilman Kenny Glavan will present a resolution urging lawmakers to keep ten C-130J airplanes at Keesler Air force Base. Saturday, we learned from Rep. Steven Palazzo that the measure to move the planes to Arkansas has been temporarily delayed.
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05/04/2014
A Canadian “six-pack” has landed in the Ukraine crisis. This is the slang used at Ottawa’s defence headquarters for the half-dozen CF-18 combat aircraft sent in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. With the jets’ arrival in nearby Romania, it’s important to understand the direction in which Russian aggression is heading, and a technique Moscow uses in its expansionist strategy: the playing of the Russian ethnic “card.”
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05/04/2014
The so-called stealth jet costing the MoD billions of pounds can, in fact, be seen by the radar of potential enemies, it has been revealed. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been designed at huge expense to fly unnoticed through enemy airspace and attack targets without being detected. Taxpayers have already spent £1.3?billion developing the jet, while the MoD plans to buy 48 of them at a cost of up to £100?million each.
(Read More...)
05/04/2014
China has yet to complete tests on its J-31 stealth fighter but already ranks third in the world for export contracts for multi-role fighters for 2010 to 2017, behind the United States and Russia. This shows the country has become a major exporter of military aircraft without relying on fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
Seven international military observers taken captive in eastern Ukraine a week ago have been released. Five Ukrainian officers captured with the observers, who are linked to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, were also freed.
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05/03/2014
Held at the Gwalior Indian Air Force range from Feb. 15 to 27, 2004, Cope India 04 exercise gained the headlines not only because it marked the beginning of a new chapter in bilateral relations between India and US, but also because Indian pilots were able to win more than 90 percent of the mock air engagements conducted against U.S. Air Force F-15C jets from 3rd Wing based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
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05/03/2014
Just a year after standing up its new Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey, NATO learned last fall that the Turkish government was planning to purchase a new missile defense system — from China. That was problematic, because the Chinese manufacturer was under U.S. sanctions for supplying missiles to Iran and Syria. Even worse from NATO’s perspective were the cyber-security concerns raised by the new system.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
The buildup of F-35 operations at Luke Air Force Base has begun, and the Royal Australian air force will soon be Luke's first international partner to train here on the F-35A Lightning II. The 61st Fighter Squadron and 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit will house the RAAF personnel. The goal is to build a cohesive, working understanding of the F-35A program with Luke's international partners for increased success in joint operations.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
Two pilots were killed, one briefly abducted, and several wounded -- including an emergency responder - during an attack early Friday in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Four men suspected of using MANPADS in the attack have been detained.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has ranged as far abroad as Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years. Now the crisis in Ukraine is pulling it back to the mission that led to its creation 65 years ago: defending Europe’s eastern rim against Kremlin expansionism. The U.S., Britain, and some other NATO members began deploying troops and fighter jets to Poland and the Baltics last month.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
The Royal Air Force’s fighter fleet of Tornado GR4 aircraft will receive support services from BAE Systems until retirement in 2019. Under the Availability Transformation: Tornado Aircraft Contract, or ATTAC, from Britain’s Ministry of Defense BAE Systems will provide on and off maintenance of the fighters and also provide capability enhancements.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B unmanned combat air system is to undergo ramped-up testing in preparation for new sea trials, the U.S. Navy reports. The X-47B is an unmanned aerial vehicle, which will enter service with the Navy in 2020, is the size of a normal combat jet and is designed for launch and recovery from an aircraft carrier.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
Two days after Ukraine’s interim government declared itself all but helpless to control events in the eastern part of the country, Ukrainian military and police forces on Friday resumed their effort to retake this rebel-controlled city, forcing armed separatists from the city’s outskirts with armored vehicles, helicopters and ground troops — and seemingly pushing ever closer to a confrontation with Moscow.
(Read More...)
05/03/2014
Boeing this week delivered, on schedule, the second Peace Eagle Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to the Turkish Armed Forces, further improving the country's self-defense capabilities. The AEW&C aircraft arrived at Konya Air Base, the fleet's main operating base.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Pro-Russian rebels have shot down two of Ukraine's army helicopters during an "anti-terror" operation in the eastern city of Sloviansk, Kiev has said. It said a pilot and serviceman had been killed, four suspected separatists held and nine rebel checkpoints seized.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Three NATO nations assumed control on Thursday of a strengthened Baltic air policing mission from the U.S. Air Force amid the worsening crisis in neighboring Ukraine. Separately, Canada is sending six interceptors to Romania as a sign of allied solidarity with its east European members bordering Ukraine and Russia.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Air operations will increase in Arizona from May 4-17 due to the 7th annual ANGEL THUNDER Personnel Recovery exercise. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base says there will be 23 additional aircraft flying into D-M and aircrews will follow standard D-M flight procedures throughout the exercise.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
The US Army’s decision to purchase 100 additional Airbus UH-72 Lakota helicopters for pilot training increases the potential for international sales of the aircraft, according to company officials.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots from Hill Air Force Base’s 419th and 388th Fighter Wings took to the skies the morning of April 24 for their first training missions alongside the F-35A Lightning II, the Air Force’s newest fighter aircraft. Hill’s F-16s flew air-to-air combat training missions with F-35As assigned to Eglin’s 33rd Fighter Wing.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Harris Corp. received a two-year, $19 million contract from Boeing to provide key avionics components for the U.S. Navy’s Super Hornet fighter aircraft. The combat-proven Super Hornet provides precision strike capability. The EA-18G Growler, derived from the Super Hornet, is the U.S's newest and most advanced airborne electronic attack platform.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
In the Philippines this week, President Obama took a cheap shot at critics of his foreign policy. “Why is it,” the president pondered at a news conference, “that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and to our budget?”
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Sweden is to open up its airspace to Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft operated by NATO as the crisis between Russia and Ukraine continues, national media disclosed on 30 April.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Building on its 30-year legacy as a naval combat systems integrator, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Canada today announced the signing of a contract with the Government of New Zealand for the upgrade of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s two ANZAC Class frigates at a signing ceremony in Wellington on April 29, 2014.
(Read More...)
05/02/2014
Boeing's AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopter has flown for the first time in its production configuration, moving the program another step closer to full-scale production while continuing to prove the helicopter's close air support and attack capabilities.
(Read More...)
05/01/2014
A month after the fiscal year (FY) 2015 defense budget was submitted to Congress, the Department of Defense (DOD) released the report Estimated Impacts of Sequestration-Level Funding. The report highlights areas where additional cuts will be made in order to comply with sequestration-level funding. While it dutifully tabulates the affects on procurement programs, services, and budget accounts, explanations of the implications of these decisions are lacking.
(Read More...)
05/01/2014
European Union countries export a range of technology to China's military, according to public documents, research institutes and military analysts. Below is a selection of the weapons and dual-use goods that have flowed from EU countries to China in the past five years.
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05/01/2014
Although President Barack Obama went to great pains to state that a new defense agreement with the Philippines wasn’t about countering China, it’s unclear if he was able to pull off the balancing act. Obama encouraged China’s “peaceful rise” and emphasized partnership with Beijing while speaking Monday in Manila during the introduction of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
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05/01/2014
The Israel Air Force shed some light on its fighter jet reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, revealing on Tuesday that one of its F-15 squadrons frequently uses advanced, long-range cameras to photograph enemy targets without leaving Israeli air space. The Double Tail Knights Squadron, which flies out of Tel Nof Air Base, south of Rehovot, dedicates a significant amount of its operations to aerial intelligence gathering, senior members of the squadron said.
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05/01/2014
It wasn't looking good for the Growlers. The Boeing-made fighter jets, used to jam enemy radar, were left out of the Pentagon's budget for next year. And with spending strictly limited by a budget cap, the plane seemed headed for extinction. But in reality, the Growlers aren't dead yet. Like dozens of other programs, the EA-18G Airborne Electric Attack Aircraft, as they're officially known, have ended up on something called the "unfunded priorities list."
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05/01/2014
Even as the IAF awaits the induction of new fighters to retain its eroding combat edge, Air Marshal SBP Sinha took over as the new deputy chief of the force on Wednesday. An ace fighter pilot commissioned in June 1980, Air Marshal Sinha will have to steer all IAF modernization projects in his new assignment.
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05/01/2014
Any conversation about Australia's commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter refers to it as a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. But what exactly is a fifth-generation aircraft, and why is it important? Both the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Defence Minister David Johnston spoke of the JSF's "fifth-generation" capability as Australia now plans to buy a further 58 aircraft.
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05/01/2014
A newly formed Russian army helicopter brigade has begun training flights in the northwest of the country near the borders with the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, a spokesman for the Western Military District said Wednesday. “Helicopters of the army aviation brigade of the Western Military District, based in the Pskov region, have begun regular training flights in the skies over northwestern Russia,” Col. Oleg Kochetkov said.
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05/01/2014
The delivery of two French warships to Russia will not be affected by the current EU sanctions imposed in light of the situation in Ukraine, French Permanent Representative to the UN Gerard Araud told RIA Novosti Wednesday. "At the moment they are not affected by the sanctions," he said, adding that the sanctions are only target individuals.
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04/30/2014
The Israel Air Force held a large exercise for fighter jets and combat helicopters in recent days to practice shooting down hostile drones. The drill is part of a series of training exercises designed to prepare pilots for the growing threat of the drones that Hezbollah and Hamas have.
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04/30/2014
Twenty-three nations, about 40 ships, six submarines, hundreds of aircraft and 25,000 people are participating in this year's Rim of the Pacific war games in and around Hawaii June 26 to Aug. 1, the Navy said. Details until now have been few, but Navy officials released some of the specifics of this summer's iteration of the world's largest international maritime exercise.
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04/30/2014
The US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is capable of combating China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, reports Huanqiu, the website of China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid. In a hypothetical aircraft carrier battle between China and the United States, the main fighter jets would include the United States' F-35C fifth-generation multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin and China's J-15 carrier-based jet developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.
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04/30/2014
The fate of the A-10 close-air support platform has been the most contentious issue between the Air Force and Congress over the last six months. If comments made Tuesday are any indication, it’s a fight that isn’t going away. At a hearing called to discuss the future force mixture among active, Guard and Reserve components, Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh ran into an A-10 themed assault in the form of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
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04/30/2014
There are no shortage of GoPro aviation videos online, but very few of them are of active combat squadrons in the US Navy. The VFA-27 Royal Maces, a squad of Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircraft, recently took to the skies with some cameras on-board. The video is of training exercises (not live combat), but it should give you an idea of how fighter pilots view the world strapped into a fourth-generation fighter jet.
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04/30/2014
Under an agreement signed by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the countries’ air forces will launch joint air patrols in January. The initiative has been debated for several years, but was recently accelerated by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and related security concerns of the two governments, reported daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
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04/30/2014
Four French Air Force Rafales have deployed to Poland. The aircraft don’t sport the traditional tail markings and the reason may be their unit fough alongside the Soviets in WWII. At 09.40 GMT, four French Air Force Rafale “omnirole” jets landed at Malbork airbase in Poland, where they have been deployed to reinforce NATO and its allies presence around Ukraine.
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04/30/2014
This summer, two separate British air shows will host the overseas debut of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a next-generation fighter jet that is being billed as the most advanced warplane of its type yet developed. Two or three F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which are capable of taking off on a short runway and landing vertically, will make their first trans-Atlantic flights — from the United States to the United Kingdom — in July, officials from the U.K. Ministry of Defence said.
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04/29/2014
According to information available, in Romania military units are moving towards the eastern borders – a military echelon loaded with anti-aircraft guns, trucks and ground -to- air missile systems has moved via Bucharest towards the Black Sea port of Constanta. The military units are needed for conducting joint military exercises with the participation of the US servicemen and four American F-16 fighter jets, according to the Romanian Defense Ministry officials told newsmen.
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04/29/2014
The United States has a vested interest in maintaining the strategic status quo in the Asia-Pacific given that its position as a power in the region could be undermined should China succeed in changing the regional security landscape. As anxiety has grown about China’s intentions following an increase in tensions over the Senkaku/Dioayu dispute between it and Japan, and a host of territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
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04/29/2014
Moscow is ready to discuss military aspects of the crisis in Ukraine within the framework of the OSCE’s Forum for Security Cooperation, the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control said Monday. However, the discussions should not be linked to chapter three of the Vienna document, which defines mechanisms for consultation and cooperation regarding unusual military activities, the ministry said.
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04/29/2014
The US Air Force (USAF) has received into service the first of 76 B-52H Stratofortress bombers to go through the Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) digital data suite upgrade. The aircraft was accepted during a ceremony at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana, on 25 April after having gone through the nine-month upgrade at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex located at Tinker AFB.
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04/29/2014
On April 2, India’s outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told a conference that: “As a responsible nuclear weapon state that remains committed to non-proliferation, India supports the idea of a nuclear-weapon-free world because we believe that it enhances not just India’s security, but also global security.”
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04/29/2014
Bulgaria's defense minister has announced job cuts in the army to free funds for the modernization of the armed forces. Angel Naydenov said Monday that the army will be downsized by 1,300 servicemen by the end of this year and called the purchase of new combat aircraft "the most urgent task" which should have government approval by mid-year.
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04/29/2014
Built in more than 11,000 examples and acquired by countless countries around the globe, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 was introduced in several Arab arsenals in the early 1960s, becoming the most modern among the Soviet jets flown in the Middle East in that period.
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04/29/2014
Britain is dispatching four Typhoon fighter jets to patrol the airspace of Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, British media said Monday. They will perform their patrolling mission alongside with six fighter jets of the Polish Air Force and will serve as a replacement for six F15 jets of the US Air Force.
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04/29/2014
The Australian Government's mission to upgrade the defence force fleet of ageing aircraft with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been controversial since it began more than a decade ago. Australia formally began looking for options to replace its F/A-18 and F-111 aircraft in May 1999 with the creation of project AIR 6000 – New Air Combat Capability. Phase 2, a Project Definition Study, was to commence in the 2002/03 financial year with a final decision expected around 2005/06.
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04/28/2014
The Malaysian prime minister has finally confirmed reports that the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was tracked by military radar, as he prepared to host US President Barack Obama in Kuala Lumpur seven weeks after the plane disappeared. Najib Razak said a preliminary report into the incident would be made available to the public over the course of the coming week.
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04/28/2014
The U.S. military has prepared options for a muscular response to any future Chinese provocations in the South and East China seas, ranging from displays of B-2 bomber flights near China to aircraft-carrier exercises near its coastal waters, officials said. The menu of options, described by officials briefed on the action plan, reflects concerns that U.S. allies in Asia have questions about the Obama administration's commitments to its security obligations.
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04/28/2014
China has surpassed Japan in the construction and purchasing of new surface combat vessels, according to an Apr. 25 article on the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov.
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04/28/2014
While many stealth proponents point to Red Flag exercises as proof of superiority of stealth aircraft, reality is, as usual, very different from official accounts. It is simple truth that exercises never can replicate reality perfectly; limitations must be placed to ensure safety of pilots and aircraft; other limitations are also in place which would not be in war, such as operational g limit being placed at 9 g for most modern fighter aircraft, despite many of them being able to pull 11-12 g.
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04/28/2014
The US Air Force’s decision to divest itself of the A-10 has created a massive headache to the service, with the Warthog community teaming up with supporters on Capitol Hill to try to block the combat jet’s retirement. But one constituency that has not chimed in? The powerful adjutants general leading the military forces at the state level.
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04/28/2014
The F-35 will go places other jet fighters cannot go safely and it will shoot down the enemy before it knows it is there. That is what a "fifth generation" fighter will deliver, according to US Lt-Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who heads the Pentagon's F-35 program.
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04/28/2014
A perilous face-off intensified Saturday when Russia state news complained that Ukraine had mobilized 15,000 troops in the suburbs of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine "in order to wipe out the city and its residents." Quoting a Russian Defense Ministry source, RIA Novosti said satellite photos showed the force forming around the city that has become a friction point between the Ukraine military and pro-Russian militants.
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04/28/2014
The crew parachutes came out of the U.S. Air Force KC-135 flying members of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's entourage during his 1959 visit to the United States. It would have been awful public relations, after all, if an emergency forced the U.S. crew to bail out while leaving Soviet passengers behind to die in a crash. The crew didn't care, pilot Bill Lusk said, because they knew parachutes are about as useful in a KC-135 as they are on a submarine.
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04/28/2014
The Philippines used to be a central hub for U.S. military operations in the Asia-Pacific, and the Southeast Asian country looks set to fulfill that role once more – albeit on a smaller scale – as the two countries reboot their long-standing alliance. U.S. President Barack Obama and his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino III are expected to sign a new security pact – the Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation – in Manila on Monday.
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04/28/2014
A first batch of five F-16 fighters was added to fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt said that addition of new fighter aircrafts would increase the capacity of air force. The PAF chief was speaking at the PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha where the force received its first batch of five F-16 fighter jets from Jordan.
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04/27/2014
A fatal helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan which killed all five UK personnel on board appears to have been a "tragic accident", the MoD has said. An investigation has begun into how the Lynx helicopter came down in Kandahar province on Saturday morning.
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04/27/2014
As new U.S. sanctions against Russia loom, the Kremlin has shut down—at least for now—intensive high level communications between top U.S. and Russian officials. Since the invasion of Crimea, President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama have had regular phone calls in an often half-hearted attempt to deescalate the ongoing crisis inside Ukraine. But as the U.S. and EU prepare to unveil new sanctions against Russia, Putin has decided the interactions should stop.
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04/27/2014
Five troops have been killed in a British military helicopter crash in Afghanistan, with the cause of the incident under investigation. The identities of those on board are yet to be confirmed, though sources say they are all thought be to British service personnel. The crash in southern Afghanistan is the largest single loss of life for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since a US helicopter crashed in December after being hit in a Taliban insurgent attack.
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04/27/2014
As Western governments vowed to impose more sanctions against Russia and its supporters in eastern Ukraine, a group of foreign military observers remained in captivity Saturday accused of being NATO spies by a pro-Russian insurgency. The German-led, eight-member team was traveling under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe when they were detained Friday.
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04/27/2014
President Benigno Aquino III on Friday unveiled a plan to acquire more air assets, including patrol aircraft, to boost the capability of the Air Force. Presiding over the Philippine Air Force change of command in Lipa City, the President said the Armed Forces would purchase eight combat utility helicopters, six close air support aircraft, two-long range patrol aircraft and radar systems.
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04/27/2014
The G7 group of nations agreed on Saturday to impose sanctions on Russia over its meddling in Ukraine, adding to international pressure on Moscow. The move effectively adds the voices of Canada and Japan to Friday's announcement by America, Germany, France, Italy and the UK that further sanctions were imminent.
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04/27/2014
US President Barack Obama’s visit to Japan this week came at an opportune time, given the growing friction between Asia’s two largest military powers over disputed territories. Just last week, Japan began its first military expansion in more than 40 years by breaking ground on a radar station on Yonaguri, a tropical island off Taiwan.
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04/27/2014
With the arrival of the last four F-22s earlier this month, the Air Force’s newest Raptor squadron is operational, and Tyndall Air Force Base is now home to the largest group of the fifth-generation fighter. Four F-22s touched down April 8 at the Florida base, completing the transfer of 24 Raptors originally scheduled for early 2013. The flight finished the transfer of the 24 F-22s, seven T-38 Talons and most of the planned contingent of 620 active-duty and 230 Air Force Reserve airmen at the ba
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04/26/2014
Five Nato troops have been killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, the Nato-led security mission Isaf has said. Isaf gave no further details, saying in a statement that it was still reviewing the circumstances of the crash. Afghan officials said the helicopter had come down in Kandahar province because of a mechanical failure.
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04/26/2014
Last week, Saudi Arabia bought its first drone fleet, according to a dispatch from Tactical Reports. Saudi Crown Prince Salman met with Chinese General Wang Guanzhong to sign a contract for a shipment of Chinese Wing Loong drones, also known as Pterodactyls.
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04/26/2014
The Ukrainian crisis that has already prompted Sweden to consider raising military spending is boosting interest in military hardware in other European states, Saab AB Chief Executive Hakan Buskhe said. "The number of questions about enhancing defense capabilities from a handful of nations in continental Europe and also in the Nordic area have increased," Mr. Bushke said in an interview. "The discussion about possibilities is more active today than just a couple of months ago."
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04/26/2014
The US says Russian military aircraft have entered Ukrainian airspace several times in the past 24 hours, amid rising tension in the east of the country. A Pentagon spokesman told the BBC late on Friday that the incidents had happened mainly near the border with Russia, but gave no further details.
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04/26/2014
The Russian Defense Ministry is prepared to discuss the crisis in Ukraine with the Pentagon, although it has not received a request for such talks, Gen. Maj. Igor Konashenkov said Friday.
Media reports earlier said that Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel had attempted to contact Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss the situation on Ukraine’s border.
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04/26/2014
The replacement of Russian helicopters with American ones in Afghanistan will be costly and quite troublesome for the Pentagon, Lajos Szaszdi, a defense analyst and expert in international affairs, told RIA Novosti Friday.
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04/26/2014
Alenia Aermacchi, and ATK announced today that the demonstrator of a fully configured MC-27J multi-mission tactical transport aircraft completed its first flight from the company's Turin test flight centre.
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04/25/2014
The U.S. is so far providing more resources to shoring up eastern European allies made nervous by a newly assertive Russia than other NATO members, again testing the alliance that has struggled throughout the war in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, a company from the Vicenza-based 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team arrived at an air base in northwestern Poland, part of a commitment the U.S. announced Tuesday to send about 600 troops to Poland and the Baltics for training exercises.
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04/25/2014
Boeing has been pushing hard to come on strong into the tactical ISR market. Despite the sputtering of the Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System (Emarss) program for the U.S. Army, it seems the company had secretive customer that helped underpin the business a few years ago. But, what was known as the Yellow Jacket demonstrator for that unnamed customer has been morphed for roughly three years into what we now know as Ramis.
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04/25/2014
The Swedish government defended plans Thursday to equip fighter jets with cruise missiles capable of striking targets in Russia, days after announcing a military spending hike linked to the Ukraine conflict. “In the future the ability to combat longer range targets can be important,” Defence Minister Karin Enstroem told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio, adding that the missiles would have “a high precision which acts as a deterrent.”
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04/25/2014
In the last year the U.S. Army has been experimenting with the use of its AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships from navy ships. This is all about being ready to participate more fully in future military operations in the Pacific. For the last few years the United States has been shifting its military forces and war plans to the Pacific.
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04/25/2014
China’s navy commissioned 17 new warships last year, the most of any nation. In a little more than a decade, it’s expected to have three aircraft carriers, giving it more clout than ever in a region of contested seas and festering territorial disputes. Those numbers testify to huge increases in defense spending that have endowed China with the largest military budget behind the United States and fueled an increasingly large and sophisticated defense industry.
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04/25/2014
Technical complexity is rising, as engineers work toward “more electric aircraft,” including commercial airliners and military combat aircraft, points out Dr. Nick Smith, business development director, Integrated Electrical Systems Division at Mentor Graphics. Dr. Smith delivered the keynote presentation opening the Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2014, hosted by Mentor Graphics, at the Future of Flight Museum at Boeing’s Paine Field in Everett, Wa.
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04/25/2014
In the military aircraft market, the sky is not falling; we are just experiencing erosion” and the effects of sequestration, budgets, and politics, says Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group Corp., “Back in Black: Aviation/Defense Industry Overview and Forecast” at the Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) hosted by Mentor Graphics at the Future of Flight Museum at Boeing’s Paine Field in Everett, Wa.
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04/25/2014
he U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $25 million contract to design, build and test a 60-kilowatt electric laser to be integrated and tested in a truck-mounted weapon system demonstrator. The laser weapon is designed to significantly improve the warfighters’ ability to counter rockets, artillery, mortars and unmanned aerial threats.
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04/25/2014
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Thursday that Russia will conduct military drills in response to the developing situation in Ukraine’s southeast, where a special operation has targeted the country’s own citizens. “We are forced to react to such a development in the situation,” Shoigu said.
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04/25/2014
Russian Tu-95MS “Bear” strategic bombers, accompanied by supersonic Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptors, have conducted test flights over neutral waters of the North Sea, a senior Air Force official told reporters Thursday. Russia’s strategic bomber force regularly performs flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
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04/24/2014
Fighter jets were scrambled after two Russian military aircraft were spotted approaching UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets took off from RAF Leuchars in St Andrews, Fife, on Wednesday. The jets were sent to investigate the Russian planes, which are believed to have turned away shortly afterwards.
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04/24/2014
Dutch fighter jets scrambled Wednesday to intercept a pair of Russian military aircraft that entered their airspace, a fairly routine action that comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and NATO, a Dutch official said. Maj. Wilko Ter Horst said that the military learned around 3:50 p.m. (9:50 a.m. ET) that two Russian TU-95 bombers, known as Bears, had come a half-mile inside its airspace.
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04/24/2014
The US Navy is close to the next phase of its plan to build squadrons of robotic “top guns,” carrier-based unmanned aircraft capable of collecting intelligence, watching for enemies, and bombing them if necessary. On April 17, the Naval Air Systems Command issued a “restricted” draft request for proposals for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system to the four contenders who have already been involved in the preliminary design review.
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04/24/2014
After a series of battle successes in the Syrian civil war over the last few months, Syrian President Bashar Assad may direct his army to renew efforts in the south of the country, primarily along the border with Jordan. The Arab media have published several reports in recent weeks to the effect that a major military campaign is in the works for the region in which the Syrian uprising erupted a little more than three years ago.
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04/24/2014
The failure of contracted pilots to keep their aircraft over water during an Oct. 5 night flight over Panama led to a crash that killed an Air National Guard member and three other crew members, according to an Air Combat Command-directed Accident Investigation Board report released Wednesday. The two pilots survived.
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04/24/2014
China’s military has used annual budget increases in excess of 10 percent to buy precision-guided weapons, fighter jets and an aircraft carrier. Now it’s seeking to upgrade its recruits to operate them. For Wu, a 20-year-old journalism student at a university in Beijing, that means his college fees are paid and he has an extra 3,500 yuan ($561) a year to live on.
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04/24/2014
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced in Canberra his government has approved the acquisition of a multi-billion jet fighters to boost Australia’s air defence capability. Australia will spend $12. 4 billion for 58 Texan-built F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter jets. Boasting the fighter planes’ capability, the prime minister gave some specs: a top speed of 1960km/h, fire air-to-air missiles, guided bombs and a cannon using the most sophisticated avionics and sensors.
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04/24/2014
Canada is about to station combat-ready fighter aircraft in Eastern Europe. The six CF-18s we are sending abroad will apparently be based in Poland. The only reason for their presence is a perceived threat from one country only – Russia. While this gesture may be tokenism, be assured it will nonethless be expensive (our contribution to the “liberation” of Libya came in at around $100-million).
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04/24/2014
Flying military combat aircraft requires an exceptional amount of decision making in a very short window with lots of distractions. Now, the Defense Department wants the defense industry to build them much better autopilot. The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, or DARPA, announced a new program to build an automatic pilot kit to install into military planes.
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04/24/2014
Lockheed Martin’s Group 1 family of unmanned aircraft systems is migrating to enhanced automation capabilities using its Kestrel™ “Fly Light” flight control systems and industry-leading mobile Ground Control Station (mGCS) software. The increased automation allows operators to focus on executing the mission, rather than flying various aircraft.
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04/23/2014
The U.S. Air Force on Tuesday issued what is called the Final Record of Decision on McConnell Air Force Base and the new KC-46A tankers, a move that officially makes McConnell the main operating base for the new aircraft. "It's literally the last shoe to drop," Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo told me Tuesday. Of near-term importance, he said, it means the USAF can start spending money to get the base ready for the new tankers.
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04/23/2014
The U.S. military in Europe is sending four company-sized infantry units, a total of about 600 soldiers, to Eastern Europe, the latest effort to reassure NATO allies in light of Russian aggression in Ukraine, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. Four countries — Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — each will receive a company of paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based in Vicenza, Italy, said Pentagon spokesman Rear. Adm. John Kirby.
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04/23/2014
Syrian rebels have been sighted wielding anti-aircraft weapons in various combat sectors including the Damascus region in the last few days. Just as on April 6, DEBKAfile was the first publication to disclose the arming of Syrian opposition forces with their first US weapons, BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, our military sources now reveal that they have also acquired - and are using - Russian-made 9K310 Igla-1 aka SA-16 anti-tank rockets, which have an operational range of 5.2 km.
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04/23/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun to react to subtle U.S. military deployments in the periphery of Russia. The U.S. has sailed an Aegis anti-ballistic warship into the Black Sea, and the Pentagon announced Tuesday that U.S. troops would be sent for exercises in Eastern Europe to reassure allies on Russia’s border.
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04/23/2014
China plans to fold developers of military hardware into listed state-owned companies, people familiar with the matter said, giving them access to capital markets as the country prioritizes high-technology defense capability.The plan would allow military research institutes to be incorporated into state-owned enterprises, said the two people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to discuss the plans publicly.
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04/23/2014
The United States and her Western allies are facing some of the most difficult challenges to national security in modern history. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and rising Chinese tensions in Asia painfully expose how airpower is critical to holding freedom’s line around the world, yet deteriorating fiscal stability means every tax dollar spent must be prioritized on platforms that work and win on the battlefield.
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04/23/2014
Ukraine's president orders anti-terrorist operation in the east to restart after politician "tortured to death" as defence ministry says Ukrainian military aircraft hit by gunfire while on reconnaissance flight over Slavyansk
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04/23/2014
Australia will buy 58 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) at a cost of more than $12 billion after the Federal Government gave the go ahead for the purchase yesterday. The extra aircraft will bring Australia's total Joint Strike Fighter force to 72 aircraft, with the first of them to enter service in 2020. The $12.4 billion price tag makes the Joint Strike Fighters Australia's most expensive Defence asset.
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04/23/2014
Dassault Aviation announced that last month it came a step closer to making science fiction reality when it conducted a formation flight of the nEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with a Rafale fighter and a Falcon 7X business jet. The flight off the coast of the south of France took place on March 20, and for almost two hours the nEUROn kept station with the other planes as they flew over the several hundred kilometers out over the Mediterranean.
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04/22/2014
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Sunday there have been an “abnormal” number of flights by Russian military aircraft close to Japanese islands in recent days. The country’s air defense force scrambled fighter jets for seven days in a row through Saturday after spotting Russian military planes flying along the Japanese archipelago, according to the Defense Ministry.
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04/22/2014
National Guard attack helicopter units just can’t be as battle-ready as full-time regular Army ones, Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox has been telling the Hill. That’s why the Guard should give all its AH-64 Apache gunships to the active-duty force to replace older aircraft lost to budget cuts.
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04/22/2014
The Russian Ministry of Defense has placed an order for its first 16 Mikoyan MiG-29 SMT jet fighters in the “new light tactical version,” Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG said in a statement The fighters were modernized and fitted with improved ability to eliminate air, ground and sea targets with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, the statement said.
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04/22/2014
The U.S. approved plans to sell Mexico as many as 18 Black Hawk helicopters in a $680 million deal aimed at bolstering efforts to combat drug trafficking. The State Department approved the potential sale of 18 UH-60M Black Hawks made by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in an announcement that comes ahead of a planned visit to Mexico this week by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
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04/22/2014
The NATO alliance should focus on its historic mission of deterring Russian aggression in Europe as members wrap up their mission in Afghanistan, Poland’s defense minister said.
NATO members need to properly fund their militaries at “the level of defense spending that would guarantee that capabilities would grow and not deteriorate,” Tomasz Siemoniak said during a visit here last week.
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04/22/2014
The German government is taking part in the NATO mobilization in Eastern Europe with at least one warship and six combat planes. According to the Ministry of Defence, the vessel “Elba” will head a flotilla of five mine detectors due to depart soon from the port of Kiel in the Baltic Sea.
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04/22/2014
Those fighting to save the A-10 jet fighter are missing the point. The U.S. Air Force is the best in the world at close air support in a permissive environment like Afghanistan, even without the A-10. In the future, elite U.S. forces can do without it as the military continues to chase terrorists across the Middle East and Africa, and the A-10 has even less purpose in any future high-end combat in more contested areas, like China, with rapidly improving air defenses.
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04/22/2014
More than 150 representatives of the Russian Air Force and their colleagues from Belarus will meet this week to discuss joint exercises and test the integration of the countries’ air forces and air defense systems, a spokesman for the Russian military said Monday. The meeting will take place at the Ashuluk Firing Range in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region from Monday to Friday, with Russian Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev overseeing the operations.
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04/21/2014
Australia will decide in a few days whether to alter or scale back the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but will consult all countries involved on any changes, Australia's ambassador to the United States said on Sunday. Kim Beazley told CNN the search countries would "regroup and reconsider" if nothing is found in a section of the Indian Ocean floor now being scanned by a U.S. Navy underwater drone.
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04/21/2014
Japan's defense minister said Sunday there have been an “abnormal” number of flights by Russian military aircraft close to Japanese islands in recent days. The country's air defense force scrambled fighter jets for seven days in a row through Saturday after spotting Russian military planes flying along the Japanese archipelago, according to the defense ministry.
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04/21/2014
Saudi Arabia will soon sign several contracts to purchase military hardware from Russia. It goes about a major deal to buy various modifications of combat helicopters, T-90C tanks, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft missile systems. The deal approximately totals $2 billion. Saudi Arabia will purchase Mi-171, Mi-35 choppers and T-90C tanks until the end of this year Pravda.Ru reports.
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04/21/2014
The Yankee Air Museum at 47884 D Street in Belleville Mich., intends to honor America’s fallen service members with a tribute and ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the Vietnam War exhibit. This event will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 at 9 a.m.
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04/21/2014
The Air Force met with representatives from 35 companies last week to discuss its plans for replacement of the J-STARS fleet at Robins Air Force Base. According to a release, the meeting was held with about 100 representatives of aircraft and communication companies around the country who were gathered for industry week at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.
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04/21/2014
Scientists from Russia and India have begun to work on a more compact version of the BrahMos supersonic missiles, the BrahMos-M, which will be used by the Indian fifth-generation fighter.
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04/21/2014
China’s recent announcement that it would increase defense spending by 12.2 percent in 2014 is making some American allies nervous in a region where perception matters and the possible flashpoints are numerous.
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04/21/2014
The signature policy of Turkey’s outgoing procurement chief of “aggressively going national as much as possible” may gain pace under his successor, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authority on major decisions likely will also rise, officials, analysts and industry sources agree.
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04/21/2014
Though it feels absurd to say this — like a bad joke at a lame 80's themed party — the Canadian government has announced that this country is sending reinforcements to our NATO allies in Europe. Six CF-18 fighter jets and necessary support personnel will soon deploy to an Eastern European location (expected, but not confirmed, to be Poland), to join other NATO forces in a “patrol” mission.
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04/20/2014
India and France would start a ten-day joint Air exercise 'Garuda-5', aimed at training the pilots and crew of Indian and French fighters in air superiority operations in Rajasthan's Jodhpur airbase from June 3, IAF sources said. Both the Indian Air Force and French Air Force would be engaged in various missions ranging from close combat engagement of large forces, slow mover protection.
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04/20/2014
Japan’s defense ministry’s Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI) is planning to unveil the country’s advanced technology demonstrator-experimental (ATD-X) plane within months; the lightweight stealth aircraft is scheduled to make its maiden flight later this year, Japan’s defense minister Itsunori Onodera has confirmed. ATD-X is positioned to become Japan’s next generation stealth fighter, replacing 94 locally produced F-2 that entered service in the year 2000.
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04/20/2014
U.S. combat air forces are ill equipped to fight a technologically empowered enemy, and it could be years or decades before the Pentagon deploys more advanced weapons. Such is the grim picture painted in a new study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The authors, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula and CSBA analyst Mark Gunzinger, make the case that aviation forces are not up to the challenges of 21st century warfare and the Pentagon has only itself to blame.
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04/19/2014
According to satellite pictures and military intelligence, some 50,000 Russian troops are massed along the border with Ukraine. The forces represent a substantial fraction of Russia’s 270,000-strong army, and they cannot indefinitely maintain the high state of readiness they have been in since early March, not least because it is now the time of year when conscripts at the end of their term have to be sent home, and new ones trained.
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04/19/2014
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military and American intelligence agencies have quietly pushed the White House in recent weeks to deny a new Russian surveillance plane the right to fly over U.S. territory. This week, the White House finally began consideration of the decision whether to certify the new Russian aircraft under the so-called “Open Skies Treaty.” And now the question becomes: Will the spies and generals get their way?
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04/19/2014
Textron AirLand’s new small military jet, the Scorpion, has completed more than 50 hours of flight time since flight testing began in December, the company said. “It’s performing extremely well – up to the design expectations and beyond in some cases,” said Textron spokesman David Sylvestre. “It’s right on schedule.”
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04/19/2014
The leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today called for the Obama administration to provide lethal weapons to the Ukrainian military and stop "holding their coat." "It's time for us to consider anti-tank weaponry, anti-aircraft weaponry," Corker said in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."
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04/19/2014
Pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine's east who have been occupying government buildings in more than 10 cities said Friday they will only leave them if the interim government in Kiev resigns. Denis Pushilin, a spokesman of the self-appointed Donetsk People's Republic, told reporters that the insurgents do not recognize the Ukrainian government as legitimate.
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04/18/2014
As the war in Afghanistan begins to wind down, the Air Force foresees its resources shifting to Africa. Col. Kelly Passmore of the 449th Air Expeditionary Group commander at Camp Lemonnier said he believes it’s already happening. “Our presence here in Djibouti is enduring and I think it is growing,” Col. Passmore told Stars and Stripes. “As DOD has capacity that is freed up from our transition out of Afghanistan, it gives us forces that are able to now focus on this region.”
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04/18/2014
An unmanned U.S. Navy helicopter built by Northrop Grumman Corp and a precision ship-landing system built by Raytheon Co face mandatory reviews that could lead to their cancellation after quantity reductions drove unit costs sharply higher in 2013, the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
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04/18/2014
The United States will send helmets, medical supplies and other non-lethal military aid to Ukraine amid fears of another Russian incursion there, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel says.
Hagel said on Thursday he had informed Kiev that President Barack Obama "has approved additional non-lethal military assistance for health and welfare items and other supplies".
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04/18/2014
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), which is looking to replace its fleet of 18 Russian-made Mikoyan-29N Fulcrum jet fighters, will soon be accepting tenders for multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) from defence aviation companies.
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04/18/2014
Six Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft are currently at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to test the aircraft's stealth and sensor technologies against representations of Russian, Iranian and Chinese air-defenses. "The surface threat is a tough problem because it is a system of systems and the emerging threats that we have right now can see you hundreds of miles away.
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04/18/2014
Jordanian military warplanes struck a convoy of vehicles as they were trying to enter Jordan from Syria, the Jordanian army said in a statement Wednesday. A Syrian military official acknowledged the vehicles did not belong to the Syrian army. According to the Associated Press, the statement did not say how many vehicles were in the convoy, nor did it offer casualty figures.
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04/18/2014
The F-35 Lightning II aircraft will make its international debut in July this summer, the British Defence Secretary has announced. The F-35 Lightning II will participate in the flight demonstration at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford (11-13 July, 2014). It will continue to the Farnborough International Air Show (14-20 July) where it will also participate in the aerial flight display.
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04/18/2014
Canada is deploying six CF-18 fighter jets to Eastern Europe as part of NATO’s response to the worsening crisis in Ukraine, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine was on the brink of civil war, stoking fears of outright Russian intervention.
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04/18/2014
Aviation history will be made in the UK this summer when, in a major airshow first, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the Joint Strike Fighter, makes its much-anticipated European debut. This hugely important multi-role combat aircraft, which has never before been seen outside of the US, will display at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford between July 11 and 13.
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04/17/2014
When Russian attack aircraft buzzed the USS Donald Cook in the international waters of the Black Sea, even as tensions in the region ratchet up, Pentagon officials decried the move as “provocative.” How big a deal are these “provocative” actions on the part of the Russian military – or were these just a couple of rogue Russian pilots out for a joy ride?
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04/17/2014
A top Air Force official had one word to describe the proposed cuts threatening to ground the A-10 fleet. "Heinous." Rep. Ron Barber relayed the comments from Gen. Michael Hostage, the commander of the Air Combat Command, shortly after the pair toured Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to discuss the fate of the iconic attack aircraft known as the Warthog.
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04/17/2014
While the armed services are grappling with fewer dollars to spend on personnel, procurement, maintenance and operations accounts, Special Operations Command came out as one of the few winners of the fiscal year 2015 Defense Department budget request.
Renowned for being the military’s most agile and cost-effective force, SOCOM’s overall budget is slated to increase in the upcoming fiscal year, allowing for more procurement and personnel funding.
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04/17/2014
The Obama administration has removed all operational combat tanks from Europe and key strike aircraft, limiting the options for a show of force to bolster eastern NATO allies as Russia contemplates invading Ukraine. Most analysts, and President Obama, say direct military aid to Kiev in the form of weapons, air power or ground troops is off the table.
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04/17/2014
France intends to deploy fighter aircraft and AWAC air surveillance planes to NATO duty in eastern Europe because of the crisis in Ukraine and to reassure Alliance members in the east, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday. "The Ukrainian crisis is the most serious since the end of the Cold War and the responsibility for this escalation is known to all--it belongs to Russia," Le Drian told the French parliament.
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04/17/2014
While the Typhoon is not a “stealth” aircraft like the F-35, it was designed with a focus on reducing its radar cross section (RCS). Constructed of 80% composite material, the Typhoon is stealthier than the current CF-18, and roughly equivalent to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.31
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04/17/2014
The U.S. Defense Department has approved the first trans-Atlantic flight of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet in July to take part in two international air shows near London, U.S. and British officials said Wednesday. The new warplane will make its international debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo, or RIAT, an annual military air show held outside London in July, followed by appearances at the show, held every other year, said the officials.
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04/17/2014
The Defence Minister is entirely justified in refusing to sign a $20 billion contract with Dassault Aviation of France for 126 Rafale fighters while life cycle costs are still disputed; these costs are typically at least three times as much as the initial acquisition price over the three to five decades that combat aircraft often operate for. As we head for a new government in Delhi, it is appropriate to consider alternatives to this hugely expensive acquisition.
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04/17/2014
The Predator drone has become the symbol for America’s unmanned war, zooming over the heads of low-tech foes like the Taliban. But the battles to come are likely to be against more sophisticated, better-equipped foes—especially with a newly-aggressive Russia on the march. And in those conflicts, the Predator would be all-but-useless. The drone is too easy for an advanced military to spot and shoot down.
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04/16/2014
In order to keep the B-1B Lancer's capabilities ready to operate now and well into the fast-paced integrated battlefield of the future, the 419th Flight Test Squadron began testing Sustainment Block 16A (SB 16A) software upgrades here April 1, to work in conjunction with the long-range bomber's recently added glass cockpit configuration.
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04/16/2014
Its original purpose was to serve as Korea's own light combat aircraft, but it's finding a home in the international market. The FA-50 is the light attack variant of the the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic advanced jet trainer operated by the South Korean Air Force. Co-developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin, the FA-50 is capable of combat action, with advanced radar and missile capabilities.
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04/16/2014
krainian armed forces launched a special operation to recapture the airport near the town of Kramatorsk, in the Russian speaking east, taken by pro-Moscow separatists. The operation involved several Ukrainian troops disembarked from helicopters and supported from the air by at least four combat planes: two Su-27 Flanker fighter jets and Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes.
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04/16/2014
Sweden’s Saab Group, which makes the Gripen Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), has proposed to lease its fighter jets to the Malaysian government with full warfare capabilities and no restriction. Saab’s vice-president and head of Saab Malaysia, Thomas Linden, said the leasing solution is the latest development and it has made similar proposals to Brazil and Switzerland.
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04/16/2014
Just days before the second anniversary of its maiden flight the naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft-LCA Navy (NP-1) has successfully completed its first super sonic flight signaling that the aircraft is now able to fly faster than the speed of sound. The Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) the nodal agency for the development of the LCA said that this feat was achieved in the month of March.
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04/16/2014
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fleet recently surpassed 15,000 flight hours, marking a major milestone for the program. “Flying 15,000 hours itself demonstrates that the program is maturing, but what I think is even more impressive is the fact that operational F-35s accounted for more than half of those flight hours,” said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's vice president for F-35 Test & Verification.
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04/16/2014
NATO is not discussing a military response to the situation in Ukraine and is counting on political and diplomatic decisions to resolve the crisis, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday. "We are not discussing military options. We do believe that the right way forward is to find a political diplomatic solution. However, we're focused militarily on strengthening defense of our allies. That's our core task," Rasmussen said before a meeting with EU defense ministers.
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04/16/2014
The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a $470 million contract with the MiG corporation for the delivery of 16 advanced MiG-29 SMT fighters, the ministry said Tuesday. The company had earlier confirmed the deal in an interview with RIA Novosti, but did not specify its value.
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04/15/2014
Australia is likely to commit to buying 58 more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightnings this month, setting aside the alternative of consolidating its combat aircraft squadrons on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The decision will increase the country's total commitment to 72 F-35s and expand the Royal Australian Air Force's fast-jet fleet, counting a separate order for 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft as additional to, not part of, the fighter force renewal.
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04/15/2014
Boeing’s development of a new aerial-refueling tanker for the U.S. Air Force is “generally on track,” according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, as it starts a fast-paced flight testing schedule with little margin for delays or other problems. However, the airplane maker could have to pay for projected cost overruns, which the Air Force estimated to be as much as $787 million, according to the report, which was released last week.
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04/15/2014
Israel has been preparing to produce the first components for the U.S.-origin Joint Strike Fighter. The state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is working on production lines for the wing assembly of the F-35 fighter-jet. The wing assembly was awarded by Lockheed Martin as part of Israel’s order of 19 fifth-generation combat aircraft over the next four years.
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04/15/2014
The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency session to discuss the escalating crisis in Ukraine, just hours before a deadline by Kiev for pro-Russian separatists to disarm by Monday morning or face a "full-scale anti-terrorist operation" by its armed forces.The Council began meeting at 8pm (0000 GMT on Monday) at Russia's request after Moscow called Kiev's plans to mobilise the army to put down a rebellion by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine "criminal."
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04/15/2014
Not surprisingly, 2014 will be another big year for the U.S. Navy’s X-47B UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle). During the last few years this unmanned combat aircraft has successfully carried out numerous tests aboard aircraft carriers. There are two X-47Bs available for this and both are being used. The X-47B made its first catapult launch from an aircraft carrier on May 14th 2013.
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04/15/2014
Pro-Russian protesters cemented their control of administrative buildings in at least nine cities in the east of Ukraine on Monday, refusing to abide by an order from the central government in Kiev to leave or face being forced out by an “anti-terrorist operation”.
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04/15/2014
The troubled F-35 combat aircraft program has turned a corner. At least that’s what program advocates claimed last Tuesday at a hearing before the Airland Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Program head Lt. Col. Christopher Bogdan asserted that “the program is making slow and steady progress on all fronts.”
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04/15/2014
In much of Southeast Asia, budgets are smaller and ambitions more limited compared with neighbors to the north, and many countries are trying to rid themselves of much older equipment. But Singapore and Vietnam are generally better equipped and have more extensive plans.
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04/15/2014
Denmark has fired the starting pistol in its contest for a new fighter aircraft, sending out requests for information to four manufacturers. Officials from the New Combat Aircraft Program have sent what they call Requests for Binding Information (RBI) to Boeing for the F/A-18F Super Hornet, to Eurofighter for the Typhoon, to Lockheed Martin for the F-35A and to Saab for the Gripen E, as the country looks to replace its aging fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons.
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04/15/2014
Malaysia is likely highly interested in acquiring Russia’s latest air defense missile systems, building on existing bilateral military-technical cooperation, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Monday.
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04/14/2014
Turkey has scrambled four F-16 planes to intercept a Russian military plane flying near the Turkish coast over the Black Sea, the military said on Sunday. The Russian IL-20 was flying over international waters on a west-to-east course parallel to the Turkish coast about 15-20 nautical miles off the shores of the Black Sea on Saturday,
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04/14/2014
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has said that the country should synergise the competences available to tide over the oft-repeated time and cost overrun concerns. DRDO Director-General (Aero) Dr K Tamilmani told Express in an interview that any Indian initiative would be supported so as to build a robust eco-system.
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04/14/2014
The Asia-Pacific naval market is heating up, with massive quantities of new ships to boost regional navies in coming years. According to AMI International, a US-based naval analysis firm, Asia-Pacific has already surpassed Europe as the world’s second largest naval market. AMI projects the region will spend $200 billion on new ships and submarines by 2032, making up roughly 25 percent of the global projected new ship market.
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04/14/2014
The Pentagon is looking at new ways to disperse its forces throughout the Asia-Pacific as military planners explore alternatives to the large US super bases in the region vulnerable to cruise missile strikes. Instead, the Defense Department is reviewing a host of options, including ways to operate combat aircraft in austere locations and strengthening overseas bases.
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04/14/2014
China’s military modernization efforts over the past 20 years have been marked by broad efforts, according to an expert, as opposed to focusing on specific services. “So, we see new naval forces, air forces, ground forces and missile forces,” said Dean Cheng, a China military specialist at the Heritage Foundation.
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04/12/2014
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of Poway received a four-year, $141.4 million U.S. Air Force delivery order for work on the Block 50 ground control station for unmanned aircraft. Under the deal, GA-ASI will deliver four ground control stations — two fixed and two mobile — as well as three system integration laboratories. It will also conduct engineering development work on the Block 50 station and provide the Air Force with spares.
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04/12/2014
An advanced British radar system is being deployed by the South Korean military amid fears that North Korea could use unmanned aerial vehicles to launch an attack with biological or chemical weapons. South Korea has purchased 24 long-range radars made by Essex-based Blighter Surveillance Systems and has been testing the equipment for frontline defence and to protect key locations in Seoul.
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04/12/2014
Following on from last year’s popular Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) demonstration, which saw Prince Harry in his first air show appearance, the RAF Chinook and Army Apache will again be at Cosford as part of the planned six-hour flying display. As well as performing their individual displays, they will showcase the combat capabilities of the two helicopters in an exciting joint demonstration with the RAF Regiment.
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04/12/2014
The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower was finally in sight. The pilot of the F/A-18 Super Hornet hurriedly flipped switches and pushed levers. The aviator in the backseat leaned forward, straining to see the flight deck floating in the distance. The jet’s right engine had locked up, its landing gear jammed, the main fuel tank almost empty. At nearly 350 mph, the Super Hornet hurtled over the warm waters of the North Arabian Sea last April.
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04/12/2014
Russia has begun the process of transferring the first Ukrainian naval vessel in Crimea back to Ukraine, a source in the Black Sea Fleet Headquarters told RIA Novosti on Friday. “Two Black Sea tugs have begun taking the missile boat from Karantinnaya Bay in Sevastopol,” the source said, referring to Ukraine’s Priluki missile boat.
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04/12/2014
Cubic Defense Systems has been awarded a contract valued at more than $5 million from the U.S. Air Force to supply its P5 Combat Training System (P5CTS) to the Moroccan Air Force. Morocco will join the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, along with a number of other air forces, in using the P5CTS to support high-fidelity, TOPGUN-style live and post-mission training.
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04/11/2014
Fresh hope fueled the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane Thursday after a plane detected a possible underwater signal. The crew of an Australian P-3 Orion dropped dozens of buoys equipped with underwater sensors into the ocean, and they heard something. The signal - the fifth picked up by search teams so far -- may be from one of the so-called black boxes aboard Flight 370, the Australian agency coordinating the search announced.
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04/11/2014
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's F-22 Division is on-track to complete installation of the Automatic Back-up Oxygen System, or ABOS, in the Air Force's F-22 Raptor combat fleet by December 2014. In January 2012, following a series of incidents in which a number of F-22 pilots experienced physiological symptoms in flight, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board made a list of recommendations to improve the aircrew life support system.
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04/11/2014
The F-35 Lightning II will enhance combat capabilities, project U.S. power and deter potential adversaries, Air Force officials told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on tactical air and land forces in a hearing on tactical aircraft programs there, April 8. “The F-35 will form the backbone of U.S. air combat superiority for generations to come,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office executive officer.
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04/11/2014
The KC-135 Stratotanker is the star of a new video recently released by the 127th Wing Public Affairs office. The 5-minute mini-documentary showcases the refueling capability of the KC-135, which is operated by the 171st Air Refueling Squadron, 127th Air Refueling Group, 127tth Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
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04/11/2014
he commander of the UK Royal Air Force’s operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan has praised the UAE for staging one of the world’s best air-combat exercises. Air Commodore Al Gillespie spoke on Thursday, the final day of the advanced tactical leadership course (ATLC), an international major exercise hosted by the UAE Air Force.
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04/11/2014
NATO’s next move in response to the crisis in Ukraine is likely to be more of the same: more NATO fighters patrolling over the Baltics, more rotations of warships into the Black Sea and more surveillance of Russian movements around Ukraine. Since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula last month, NATO has sought to reassure jittery members concerned about Moscow’s suspected expansionist aims by boosting its presence in those countries that border Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, officials said.
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04/11/2014
Russia's sleek new military machine, currently poised on Ukraine's eastern borders, has a problem: It runs on components produced in Ukraine, which are still being delivered by Ukrainian companies. And now, Ukraine's beleaguered interim government is warning that it might call a halt to all arms supplies to Russia: "Manufacturing products for Russia that will later be aimed against us would be complete insanity," Vitaliy Yarema, Kiev's first deputy prime minister, said.
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04/11/2014
It’s often called the military’s ugliest aircraft, a snub-nosed tank of a plane that’s nicknamed “Warthog” for its appearance and ferocity. The A-10 Thunderbolt II has been the Air Force’s equivalent of an in-the-trenches grunt for almost 40 years: heavily armed and armored, designed to fly low and take out the enemy at close range.
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04/11/2014
An unmanned American navy drone flew into Canadian-controlled airspace on Tuesday morning, which surprised officials who were not expecting to see it. The drone was supposed to land in Maryland but was sent to Maine due to bad weather, Nav Canada director of public affairs Michelle Bishop said.
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04/11/2014
The Nigerian Air Force has revealed that it will be acquiring additional fighter aircraft and combat helicopters, with approval having already been received from the government. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Adesola Amosu made the revelation during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday ahead of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Nigerian Air Force. However, he did not disclose the type of aircraft involved in the new acquisition plans, or numbers.
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04/10/2014
An important milestone was recently reached on a significant upgrade improving capabilities for the Airborne Warning and Control System, better known as AWACS. The 40/45 block upgrade is the largest modification on the U.S. AWACS fleet. It provides a complete replacement of mission computer systems - some of which were originally installed in the 1970s - and a new open, network-based architecture, which enables future net-centric operations.
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04/10/2014
The Navy is integrating a vertically-launched longbow Hellfire missile onto the Littoral Combat Ship as a way to give the platform more fire-power, service officials said Wednesday.
Unlike other missiles that would require laser-designation to pinpoint targets, the longbow Hellfire can use what’s called millimeter wave seeker technology that can autonomously track and destroy multiple targets simultaneously.
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04/10/2014
NATO's top military commander in Europe, drafting countermoves to the Russian military threat against Ukraine, said Wednesday they could include deployment of American troops to alliance member states in Eastern Europe now feeling at risk. U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove told The Associated Press he wouldn't "write off involvement by any nation, to include the United States."
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04/10/2014
If you spin a globe to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you will discover that almost no land is visible in any direction. That’s because the Pacific covers nearly half of the Earth’s surface. The good news is that all that water protects America from potential enemies in Asia. The not-so-good news is that the Western Pacific has become the industrial heartland of the new global economy, so it is also becoming the main focus of U.S. military strategy.
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04/10/2014
The NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission is to be boosted substantially next month with the disclosure on 8 April that the normal complement of four fighters will be increased to 12.
With the Polish Air Force set to take on the mission with four MiG-29 'Fulcrum' fighters from May through to August, the UK will also send four Eurofighter Typhoons and Denmark four Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons, the Reuters news agency quoted an alliance official as saying.
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04/10/2014
Japanese fighter jet scrambles against Chinese planes hit a record high in the year that ended in March, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, as Sino-Japanese ties were strained by disputes over territory and interpretations of history. Japan scrambled combat planes against Chinese aircraft 415 times during the year, up 36 percent from a year earlier. It was the highest number since the ministry started disclosing country-specific figures in 2001.
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04/10/2014
The planned sale of the redundant L-159 combat planes to Iraq may fail for three reasons: the Czechs may not be able to quickly deliver the planes, the Czech military may consider the sale unprofitable, and a new Iraqi government may reject the sale, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday. The aircraft producer, Aero Vodochody, and Iraqi officials agreed on the sale of 12 old L-159s for $200 million on Sunday, the paper writes.
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04/10/2014
Israel’s first Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifter arrived at Nevatim Air Base today. Along with senior Israeli officials, Chairman, President and CEO Marillyn Hewson attended the ceremony and made remarks. Israel ordered its C-130Js through a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) contract with the U.S. Government. This is the first ferry of the C-130Js currently on order for the IAF, which has operated legacy C-130s since 1971.
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04/10/2014
The Turkish Air Force finally formally accepted the aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space at the A400M Final Assembly Line in Seville, Spain, on Monday 7th April. A further ceremony will take place in Turkey at a later date.
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04/09/2014
Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets followed a Russian reconnaissance plane that was flying parallel to the Turkish coast in international airspace. The General Staff said on its website Tuesday that an IL-20 type reconnaissance jet had flown near Turkey's Black Sea coastline and the Turkish Air Force responded by sending two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it.
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04/09/2014
The impact of the speed and range of the Osprey is driving an opportunity to add speed and effectiveness for situational decision makers in the ground combat element flying aboard the Osprey as well.
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04/09/2014
An agreement on U.S.-Philippine defence cooperation, expected to be signed this month during a visit by President Barack Obama, will be a clear sign of a U.S. “rebalance” to Asia despite U.S. preoccupations elsewhere, the Philippines’ top diplomat said. The deal will enable the sharing of Philippine bases, an increase in the rotation through the Philippines of U.S. ships, aircraft and troops, and will reassure U.S. allies of support against a rising China.
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04/09/2014
The A-6 Intruder was developed in the 1950s with the US Navy demanding as capable of an attack machine as possible. That's why it was built to use a rather modern idea: thrust vectoring. It wasn't quite ready for primetime back then, but the idea was there and the need to make the Intruder so advanced and so innovative arguably led to its longevity.
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04/09/2014
This is the low-cost, high performance fighter jet that Australia overlooked when the RAAF spent more than $6 billion to fill a capability gap between its retiring F-111 and Hornet fleets and the controversial stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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04/09/2014
The Defense Department decision to retire an Air Force plane built specifically to support ground forces has ignited a firestorm of criticism from the airmen whose job is to embed with Army ground forces and spot enemy targets. Meanwhile, one top Air Force commander is defending his service’s decision to eliminate the A-10 Warthog, despite acknowledging the aircraft’s value.
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04/09/2014
After a series of successful tests, the U.S. Navy last month certified that the Boeing Phantom Badger combat support vehicle can be transported inside a V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. That is another step toward providing warfighters with more options to deploy the versatile vehicle.
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04/09/2014
Modernized MiG-31BM interceptor aircraft have started combat alert duty at an airbase in Tver Region in western Russia, with the full modernization of the unit to be completed by the end of the year, a military spokesperson said Tuesday.
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04/08/2014
Navy engineers are making final adjustments to a laser weapon prototype that will be the first of its kind to deploy aboard a ship late this summer. The prototype, an improved version of the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), will be installed on USS Ponce for at-sea testing in the Persian Gulf, fulfilling plans announced by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert at the 2013 Sea-Air-Space Expo.
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04/08/2014
You know the old saying “you could knock me over with a feather?” Well, that is the way I felt when I heard Secretary of Defense [Chuck] Hagel state that the Obama administration wants to reduce the U.S. military forces back to pre-WWII size. Huh! Have any of these people read a history book?
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04/08/2014
The Pentagon has a new fight with Congress. This one is over the Pentagon’s plan to cut costs by moving the AH-64 Apache attack helicopters assigned to Army National Guard units to the active Army and replacing them with newer UH-60 Black Hawks, which are used mainly for transportation.
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04/08/2014
Representatives from Iraqi Defense Ministry have signed a purchase contract with Aero Vodochody on buying 12 mothballed L-159 combat planes from the Czech military on Sunday. Penta Investments that owns Aero Vodochody confirmed the news on Monday.
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04/08/2014
The Israeli air force has unveiled a new strategy intended to increase the operational capabilities of its fighting squadrons at a time of war – operating two different types of aircraft very closely.
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04/08/2014
The U.S. is going to station more F-16 fighter jets to Romania, amind rising tensions after Russia’s invasion and subsequent annexiation of Crimea. Even if the aircraft will take part in a pre-planned joint exercise, the deployment of the American warplanes close to Ukraine, is a just the last of a series of actions aimed at reassuring eastern Europe and Baltic allies worried by Russia’s seemingly aggressive posture.
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04/08/2014
The Sultanate of Oman accepted the first of its second order of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons in a ceremony April 3 at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility. The fighter aircraft will ferry to Oman later this year. In 2002, the Sultanate of Oman became the 23rd member of the F-16 family and now joins the 15 other countries which have ordered additional F-16 jets for their air defense.
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04/08/2014
Boeing will broaden its support for the U.S. Navy's fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft through a recent order for maintenance simulators. The Navy plans to begin using six virtual trainers, one ordnance load trainer and 14 hardware-based devices to train P-8A maintenance personnel at Naval Air Station Jacksonville starting in 2016.
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04/08/2014
Boeing today adjusted slightly the timing for ending C-17 Globemaster III production and closing its Long Beach, Calif., C-17 final assembly facility after a successful two-decade production run of the world’s premier airlifter.
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04/07/2014
Britain and its Nato allies must respond to Russia’s “illegal aggression” against Ukraine by spending more on defence, the alliance’s secretary general has said. Writing in The Telegraph, Anders Fogh Rasmussen appeals for Nato members to modernise their armed forces as Russia tries to “carve up” Europe.
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04/07/2014
The third Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) C-130 Hercules aircraft has arrived today at the Royal Australian Air Force Pearce base to assist the search of the missing MAS flight MH370.
The additional third military aircraft is part of the Malaysian programme to intensify the search for the jetliner after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced the plan to send more military assets during his two-day visit to Australia last Thursday.
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04/07/2014
The Turkish army is preparing to launch a naval and land exercise on Monday. The major exercise comes amid tensions with Syria and a changing map in Ukraine, both in close proximity and of geopolitical importance to Turkey. The Turkish Air Force's 11-day military exercise, nicknamed Anadolu Kartali (Anatolian Eagle), will commence on Monday in the central Turkish province of Konya.
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04/07/2014
Turkey recently conducted a successful test of its Hellfire clone, the Mizrak-U. With a range of 8 kilometers the Turkish missile can use either an infrared imaging guidance system or laser homing. Turkey becomes one of a growing list of nations that have produced their own version of the Hellfire. Britain produces a Hellfire variant, called Brimstone which is unique mainly in that it can be fire from jets. This version has become very popular as well.
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04/07/2014
India’s 13.1-lakh strong armed forces may be waiting for the new government in May to sign key defence deals, but the defence ministry under the present UPA regime seems to be working to make that difficult. At least three of the five major deals—cumulatively worth over `1.2 lakh crore—that are almost ready and waiting to be signed have been pushed into controversies.
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04/07/2014
Those are words that describe Lt. Col. Colin “Rage” Donnelly when he talks about his squadron’s A-10 “Warthog” attack jets, the airmen who maintain them, the pilots who fly them, and the troops they train for combat search-and-rescue, close air support and forward-air control.
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04/07/2014
The Italian Air Force will be well represented at this summer’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the Cotswolds. Headlining the Italian involvement in the weekend’s flying display on July 12-13 will be the country’s national aerobatic team, the world-renowned Frecce Tricolori. Flying 10 examples of the Aermacchi MB339 PAN jet trainer, the Frecce are joining celebrations to mark the 50th display season of their British counterparts, the Red Arrows.
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04/06/2014
Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder has positioned himself to become the Jeff Bezos of the Pentagon. Much as the Amazon.com Inc. founder envisions mini-drones that deliver small packages across America, Adm. Klunder, the Navy's research chief, wants to create innovative unmanned helicopters able to perform tasks now carried out by humans: resupplying troops in remote areas and rescuing wounded Marines from the battlefield.
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04/06/2014
North Korea's unmanned attack drones are believed to be capable of striking all targets in South Korea, a government official said Sunday, amid new security concerns over North Korea's spy drones. North Korea has deployed unmanned attack drones it unveiled in March last year during military drills meant to destroy low-flying cruise missiles and test the accuracy of unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
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04/06/2014
In a continued effort to reduce the number of convoys and rapidly resupply front-line troops, the Office of Naval Research recently tested technology that could eventually enable any rotary wing aircraft to take off, complete a mission, and then land with little or no guidance from the ground.
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04/06/2014
Britain plans to send the Watchkeeper to Afghanistan this year, possibly to serve with a French Army unit working with the British Army team flying the tactical UAV, a British officer said on April 3 at a high-level defense conference here by the Franco-British Council.
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04/06/2014
A few weeks ago, at the height of the crisis in Ukraine, representatives of some of the biggest defence contractors in the US were munching canapes on Capitol Hill at a fundraiser for a top Republican congressman and committee chairman. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea may have frightened Russia’s neighbours and generated widespread fears of a new cold war, but the mood at the fundraiser was, according to one attendee, “borderline euphoric”.
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04/06/2014
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is flying into this year’s budget wars on Capitol Hill with renewed lift under its wings from a lower government cost estimate and progress refining technical glitches. Another boost for the long-delayed and over budget program — testimonials by pilots who say its flight control systems could usher in a new era of naval aviation, one in which landing by night on ships is a breeze, freeing training dollars and time.
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04/05/2014
South Korea's defense chief vowed Friday to promptly prepare measures to step up its air defense, in light of recent border incursions by North Korea's spy drones that have emerged as a new security challenge. In an interpellation session, Kim Kwan-jin said Pyongyang could develop more advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for attack, though the two small aircraft, equipped with small cameras, recently found near the inter-Korean border were rudimentary spy drones.
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04/05/2014
Taiwan's Air Force said Friday that it will begin the process of upgrading its fleet of over 100 F-16 A/B fighter jets in the second half of 2016. Before upgrading its entire fleet of the fighters, Taiwan has sent several of the planes to the United States for a trial to see if the upgrade will work. The planes will be brought back to Taiwan once they pass the testing process, the air force said.
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04/05/2014
Ukraine’s belated decision on March 29 to stop supplying weapons and military equipment to Russia, a month after its troops seized the Crimean peninsula, is likely to lead to the cancellation of numerous international contracts signed by Moscow. The decision is likely to impede Russia’s military-defense industry significantly.
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04/05/2014
I made a simple mathematical error a couple of weeks ago. I said we’ll be buying 54 Joint Strike Fighters but we’re actually getting 58 for a total of 72; unless, of course, we add a couple of spares. At less than $100 million each the nice people from Lockheed will tell you these are virtually giveaway prices – even if the jets do (currently) require more than 16 hours of maintenance for every hour they spend in the sky.
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04/05/2014
Eight 412EP aircraft are being supplied to the Philippine military by Bell Helicopters in a deal financed by the Canadian Commercial Corporation. The utility helicopters that will be manufactured in Canada by Bell have a normal cruise speed of 140 miles per hour and a range of 463 miles.
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04/05/2014
In a ratcheting up of tensions between NATO and Russia, both are accusing the other of failing to uphold agreements signed between the two sides since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Following Russia's annexation of Crimea and the buildup of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, NATO announced that it was suspending "all practical civilian and military cooperation" with Moscow.
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04/05/2014
Saab has successfully test flown a key passive detection capability for its in-development Gripen E fighter, using dedicated test aircraft 39-7. Developed by Selex ES’s Airborne & Space Systems division, the Skyward-G infrared search and track (IRST) sensor will give the combat aircraft a long-range means of detecting and identifying potential airborne threats, without the need to first switch on its active electronically scanned array radar.
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04/05/2014
As South America continues increasing its defense expenditures, air fleet modernization is driving numerous requirements and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Brazil, accounting for half of South America’s defense expenditure, is conducting the region’s most ambitious modernization of air military assets, and local industry is involved in both the production of foreign equipment under license as well as indigenous development.
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04/05/2014
Several mothballed Mikoyan Mig-29 Fulcrum fourth-generation fighter jets were returned to combat service in western Ukraine, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Friday. “Specialists of our team have already returned several planes to service,” the ministry quoted an unnamed commander of an Air Force unit near Ivano-Frankivsk as saying. “We are now conducting test flights. Soon, more mothballed fighter jets will take off again.”
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04/03/2014
The first ever European Air-to-Air Refuelling Training (EART14) taking place at the Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands starts today. Between 31 March and 11 April aircraft and crews from Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands will participate in realistic Air-to-Air Refuelling training scenarios within a modern air combat environment.
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04/03/2014
NATO foreign ministers moved yesterday to beef up the defences of frontline alliance members feeling menaced by Russia, with Secretary of State John Kerry proclaiming the US commitment to their security is “unwavering”.
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04/03/2014
An MQ-1B Predator flying a 20-hour mission in Africa crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on Sept. 17, the Air Force announced today. A failed power converter led to the crash, which destroyed the unarmed drone and its communication pod valued at $5.3 million, according to an Air Combat Command abbreviated accident investigation board report released Wednesday.
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04/03/2014
Two U.S. fighter jets under NATO command were scrambled from the Siauliai air base in Lithuania Tuesday (1 April 2014) to exercise with two Swedish Gripen fighter aircraft over the Baltic Sea, in a training event designed to improve coordination and emergency procedures.
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04/03/2014
NATO will suspend cooperation with Russia on the maintenance of Afghan helicopters and a joint anti-drug operation, a source in the alliance told RIA Novosti. Foreign chiefs of NATO's 28 member states earlier froze "practical civilian and military cooperation" with Moscow but vowed to keep intact the NATO-Russia Council and diplomatic contacts at the ambassadorial level and above.
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04/02/2014
The U.S. embassy in Cairo on Tuesday denied that Washington had refused to return to Egypt a number of Apache combat helicopters that had been sent to the U.S. for maintenance, conflicting with earlier claims by a retired Egyptian army general.
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04/02/2014
Last year, North Korean state media reported that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had overseen North Korea's biggest annual military exercise using “super-precision drone planes.” Now, South Korea has recovered what may be part of the vaunted North Korean drone force after it crashed on an island south of the countries' border. And let’s just say that it wasn’t exactly the height of drone technology.
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04/02/2014
Bulgaria has put on high alert or deployed its air force about 30 times in two months in response to a recent spike in Russian military aircraft flying near its aerial borders on the Black Sea, its defense minister said on Tuesday.
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04/02/2014
NATO continued its military build-up on the Russian border even as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Paris Sunday evening to discuss the conflict over Ukraine. The meeting, involving four hours of “frank” talks, ended with no breakthrough and separate news conferences.
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04/02/2014
Nato's foreign ministers have ordered an end to civilian and military co-operation with Russia and told their generals and admirals to quickly devise ways to better protect alliance members that feel threatened by Moscow.
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04/02/2014
Developed as an advanced version of the F-5 fighter, the Northrop F-5E was selected to be the International Fighter Aircraft to follow the F-5A, and over 950 Tiger II were delivered to a wide variety of countries around the world. Moreover the F-5E demonstrated to be the perfect fighter to provide Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT), that’s why U.S. Navy and Marines still use it as adversary in mock air-to-air engagements.
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04/02/2014
These photos show how British pilots are putting a £100million fighter jet through its paces ahead of its first appearance in British skies this summer. The first of the UK's F-35s – dubbed the Lightning II by maker Lockheed Martin – are at a giant military airfield in Florida’s Panhandle region, where pilots are practicing flying them backwards, stopping them in mid-air and reaching top speeds of 1.6 times the speed of sound.
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04/02/2014
Tanks headed north into Ukraine this week from Russian-controlled Crimea. Not at the head of an invading army, but on a trainload of military equipment in such poor shape that Moscow had no use for it. This humiliation illustrates the yawning chasm in the two former Soviet nations' armed forces — one hollowed out by a lack of finances, the other benefiting from booming oil revenues.
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04/02/2014
Two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) ferried from the Lockheed Martin facility here today to South Korea. ROKAF accepted delivery of these two aircraft last week at a ceremony in Marietta, home to the C-130J Super Hercules production line. These Super Hercs will be flown by ROKAF aircrews, which currently operate a fleet of C-130H legacy aircraft.
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04/01/2014
Israel installed a “spying device” near its border with Lebanon, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported on Monday. Residents of Kfar Kila, a village near the border, saw a military unmanned vehicle driving slowly before the device was planted along the border’s barbed wire fence, according to the report. Israeli combat aircraft were also spotted flying over the Kfarshouba and the Shebaa Farms, as well as over other areas in south Lebanon.
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04/01/2014
A ceremony was held today at Australian company, Marand, commemorating the delivery of the first ship of Australian made F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter vertical tails. The Honourable Dr. Denis Napthine, Premier of Victoria, and The Honourable Michael Ronaldson, Senator for Victoria representing the Defence Minister, were among the distinguished guests in attendance.
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04/01/2014
NATO will hold air drills over the ex-Soviet Baltic countries on Tuesday - an annual exercise that has gained added significance this year amid growing concerns over Russia's territorial ambitions. "It is yet further proof of the alliance's solidarity and commitment," Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas told AFP on Monday.
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04/01/2014
Still baffled by the crash of its brand new C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on Friday, the Indian Air Force has sent its voice recorders to the US expecting data to demystify the causes within this week.
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04/01/2014
France and India are fully on track to seal the deal for the around $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project, under which IAF will acquire 126 Rafale fighter jets, French ambassador Francios Richier said.
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03/31/2014
Walking around Silicon Valley with an augmented reality display on your face makes you a glasshole. On the battlefield, though, similar technology will soon turn U.S. soldiers into a lethal cross between the Terminator and Iron Man.
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03/31/2014
The Air Force plans to slash its ranks, retire a big chunk of its aircraft fleet and trim billions of dollars from its budget in coming years. Can there be any good news for MacDill Air Force Base amid such carnage? Maybe.
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03/31/2014
Oleksandr Davydko’s usual instrument of choice is his plumber’s wrench. Now he grips his Kalashnikov automatic rifle as he and his comrades run through a maze of obstacles on a mock battleground.
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03/31/2014
With the UPA-2’s tenure coming to an end, France had wanted India to sign a pact to provide government guarantee for completion of negotiation for 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault but defence minister AK Antony has refused to do so.
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03/31/2014
Canada does not need fighter capability to protect sovereignty, for minor armed conflicts, or for conflicts between major powers. Canada’s greatest threat would be a terrorist copycat 9/11 using either a drone or an aircraft. Fighters, unless in the vicinity of the target, could not protect against this threat.
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03/30/2014
Norway has ordered 36 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles for its F-16 fighters. Norway received 72 F-16AMs in the early 1980s and upgraded them in the late 1990s to the Block 50 standard. The Norwegian F-16AMs were built in the Netherlands under license. Norway recently replaced the wings 57 F-16C fighters it still has in order to keep them in service until 2023.
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03/30/2014
Jeremy Herb of the Hill, a publication in the U.S. that covers federal politics, is reporting this:
House lawmakers say they are not happy with the Air Force’s decision to cut the A-10 fleet in its 2015 budget request. But they don’t know if they can do anything about it.
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03/30/2014
Retiring all of its U-2 spy planes and replacing them with Global Hawk UAVs won’t save as much money as the US Air Force had said it would, since the unmanned systems will need upgrades to handle the mission, according to experts and service data. To upgrade Northrop Grumman’s Block 30 Global Hawk, the Air Force intends to invest “about $1.77 billion” over the next 10 years, said Maj. Gen. James Jones, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements.
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03/30/2014
South Korea will ask Lockheed Martin to invest in the country’s KF-X fighter jet development project as part of offset deals over its selection of the F-35 joint strike fighter. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration made a final decision March 24 to buy 40 F-35As through the US Foreign Military Sales program. A final contract on the deal will be signed by September, according to the arms agency, with the first delivery in 2018. The deal is expected to be worth around $6.8 billion.
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03/30/2014
Approximately seven months after wrapping up a deployment at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, members of Fighter Attack Squadron 122 found themselves back in Japan, the latest sign of the increasingly quick turnarounds being asked of F/A-18 and other aircraft squadrons across the service.
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03/30/2014
The Sukhoi-30MKI fighter swept low and fast over the Punjab landscape, heading for the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Bhatinda. It had completed a simulated combat mission, in which fighter controllers had directed it from an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) - a flying command centre inside a giant IL-78 aircraft that controls air operations from 33,000 feet. Now the Bhatinda air base had been ordered to "recover" the fighter, i.e., guide it back to base and facilitate its landing.
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03/29/2014
As far as I know, this sort of thing has happened only once since 1956. That was when British magazines started getting eyewitness accounts and grainy photos of the Lockheed U-2, then operating out of RAF Lakenheath on its first spy flights over the Soviet Union. Classified programs have been exposed in all sorts of ways since then - for example, the A-12 Blackbird was disclosed under a degree of pressure.
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03/29/2014
The visit to South Africa last week by Brazilian defence minister Celso Amorim has resulted in defence ties between the two countries being strengthened, with cooperation in the fields of training and technology, particularly regarding air-to-air missiles.
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03/29/2014
The naval variant of light combat aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' will soon undergo carrier compatibility tests at the newly commissioned shore-based test facility at the Indian naval base INS Hansa in Goa, the LCA's programme director Kota Harinarayana told TOI on Friday. "Before we go to the ship, we have to do something on the ground that is similar to the ship," Harinarayana said, while pointing out that the shore-based test facility is primarily a ramp - similar to the ones on aircraft carriers.
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03/29/2014
The U.S. Army’s top leaders defended their proposal to strip the Army National Guard of its AH-64 Apaches attack helicopters as part of a cost-saving move. Army Secretary John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said the proposal would help the service avoid some $12 billion in costs — a significant level of savings in an era of automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.
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03/29/2014
China, in the midst of a military build-up that challenges the United States and Japan, is showcasing its expanded capabilities in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 by deploying hardware such as satellites, warships and an icebreaker. With pictures of grey-hulled naval vessels and planes operating in seas thousands of kilometres from Chinese shores, state media has hailed the hunt for the plane as the country’s strongest search and rescue mission.
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03/29/2014
The quest for what early aviators called “command of the air” is a defining feature of the military enterprise. Major military powers spend much more on combat aircraft than they do on warships or armored vehicles. And with good reason: if friendly forces can’t utilize the air space above enemy forces and nations for military advantage, then they probably can’t win the war on the ground or at sea.
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03/29/2014
Russia has begun preparations for terminating bilateral agreements with Ukraine related to the status and operation of the Black Sea Fleet, a Kremlin spokesman said Friday. The decision was made at a meeting of the country's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin.
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03/29/2014
Qatar has added to its defence spending with the agreement to buy herlicopters from Boeing and the joint venture NH Industries as well as missiles from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
The total spend by Qatar on defence equipment this week is believed to have topped $23 billion. The announcements were made at the Dimdex conference in Doha.
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03/29/2014
In a major setback to the Indian Air Force, a newly acquired US-made C-130J transport aircraft on Friday crashed near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh after taking off from Agra (in Uttar Pradesh) air base, killing five crew members, including four officers.
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03/28/2014
With an A-10 Thuderbolt II providing combat cover from above, a New York-based HH-60 Black Hawk helicopter appeared just above the tree line in the woods of northern Michigan ready to spirit a downed pilot back to safety. And so ended another day of a week-long combat search and rescue, or CSAR, exercise centered around the Grayling Air Gunnery Range.
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03/28/2014
Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff has approved the donation of three ex-Brazilian Air Force Embraer EMB-312 Tucano trainer aircraft to Mozambique and says her country may finance the acquisition of a three Super Tucanos to boost the operational and combat capabilities of the Mozambican armed forces.
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03/28/2014
US arms supply and fresh military aid to Pakistan has quietly gained momentum in the last one year, Congressional sources have said. The Pentagon, according to publicly available documents, reports total Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreements with Pakistan worth about $5.2 billion for the period between FY2002 and FY2012.
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03/28/2014
The U.S. Navy's plan to cancel an order for 29 MH-60 Sikorsky helicopters under a current five-year agreement would trigger termination fees of at least $250 million and raise the cost of Army helicopters covered by the same contract, a top U.S. senator said Thursday. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, criticized the Navy's plan to "break" the multi-year purchase agreement during a hearing on the Navy and Marine Corps budget requests.
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03/28/2014
A major delay in the shipment of new F-35 fighter jets is expected to diminish U.S. “warfighting capabilities” across the globe and force the Pentagon to significantly boost funding for the plane at a time when military leaders say they cannot afford to, according to a new government report.
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03/28/2014
On Mar. 27, 1999, the fourth night of Operation Allied Force over Serbia, an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter jet was shot down while returning to Aviano airbase, in northern Italy after bombing a target near Belgrade.
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03/28/2014
Slight rain trickled on March 9 as more than 120 airmen from Idaho paced one-by-one onto the Gowen Field flight line to board two eagerly-waiting KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, and a C-17 Globemaster III bound for the Green Flag East combat air exercise. Many of the Idaho Air National Guardsmen have not yet had the opportunity to fly in the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker refueling and transport aircraft.
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03/28/2014
The Republic of Korea ushered in a new era in air mobility today with the delivery of the country’s first two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility here. With today’s delivery, South Korea became the 14th country to fly the proven C-130J.
South Korea’s new Super Hercules will be operated by Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) aircrews, which currently operate a fleet of C-130H legacy aircraft.
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03/28/2014
Qatar´s choice of the A330 MRTT makes it the seventh nation to select the type following Australia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom which have ordered a total of 34 aircraft, and India which is in the final stages of contractual negotiations for six aircraft. A total of 17 aircraft are currently in service.
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03/27/2014
Raytheon has secured its first export customer for the Paveway IV 500lb dual-mode (INS/GPS and laser-guided) precision guided munition (PGM), company officials confirmed on 25 March. While the company was unable to confirm the identity of the customer, it is understood to be the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The Saudi export order is estimated to be worth in the region of GBP150 million (USD248 million) and to be for around 2,400 Paveway IVs.
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03/27/2014
Admirals are notoriously conservative regarding their capital ships. By the early twentieth century, the cost of a battleship and the time required for construction demanded extraordinary care with respect to the survival of the vessels. Capital ships do not simply represent or implement national power; because of their great cost and the long periods of construction, they effectively constitute national power.
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03/27/2014
In 1992, Boeing’s Phantom Works program began development on the Bird of Prey, a project managed by the U.S. Air Force, funded by Boeing, and borrowing the name from the Klingon starship in 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. It pioneered dozens of new technologies that we use in airplanes today, but the Bird of Prey was never meant for production.
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03/27/2014
The software needed for the U.S. Navy's version of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet could be delayed by four to six months, the U.S. general who runs the $392 billion program for the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
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03/27/2014
The Philippines will spend more than $100 million to buy eight Canadian-built helicopters as the country bolsters its military with new equipment, including fighter jets, to counter Chinese interests in the region. The first of the Bell 412 helicopters are to be delivered next year, said Philippines Defence Undersecretary Fernando Manalo.
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03/27/2014
South Korea is considering leasing second-hand F-16 fighter jets from the United States to fill a potential vacuum in its air power from delays in aircraft acquisition and development, a senior Air Force official here said Wednesday. Seoul recently confirmed a plan to buy 40 F-35s by Lockheed Martin from 2018-21, scaling down from the initial program for 60 advanced combat aircraft, while pushing to develop midlevel fighter jets with a goal of deploying them between 2023 and 2025.
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03/27/2014
The Lockheed TriStar, closely linked to the recent history of the Falkland Islands has flown its last operational mission with the Royal Air Force. On 24 March, two TriStars of 216 Squadron based at Royal Air Force Brize Norton flew an air-to-air refueling mission over the North Sea before one of them conducted fly-pasts at airfields associated with its history.
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03/27/2014
Russia plans to offer Brazil joint development of the fifth-generation combat aircraft, the Sukhoi T-50, according to Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. The proposal is reportedly in support of an unsolicited offer by Sukhoi whose Su-35 fighter was taken off Brazil’s shortlist for its F-X2 tender for the purchase of 36 fighter jets worth $4 billion.
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03/27/2014
Russian flags have been raised at all military units in Crimea, less than a week after the Russian leader signed a decree finalizing the reunification of the former Ukrainian region, Russia's military chief said Wednesday. As Crimea's reunification process began last week, all 193 military units in the predominantly Russian-ethnic region have replaced Ukrainian flags with Russian ones and applied to join the Russian armed forces.
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03/26/2014
Lockheed Martin labeled the F-35 a “fifth-generation” fighter in 2005, a term it borrowed from Russia in 2004 to describe the F-22. Some of their rivals tumbled into this rhetorical trap and tried to argue that “fourth-generation” was just as capable. Whether it is true or not, making such a case is an uphill struggle. But if “fifth-generation” means more than “the ultimate driving machine,” a sixth generation will emerge.
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03/26/2014
South Africa's cash-strapped armed forces are in a "critical state of decline" that will take at least a decade to fix even with urgent action, according to a military strategy review seen by Reuters. It said "neglect" of defence capability could impact everything from border security to trade and constrain Pretoria's continental peace-keeping and diplomatic ambitions.
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03/26/2014
While its defense expenditures do not match that of the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, South American military spending has steadily risen since 2005. In fact, defense expenditures there almost doubled between 2006 and 2010, from US $17.6 billion to $33.2 billion, according to reports from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), a regional political association integrated by 12 nations.
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03/26/2014
The United Nations urged Turkey and Syria to avoid taking steps that could increase tensions along the Turkish-Syrian border, saying abrupt acts may aggravate the situation after Turkey downed a Syrian warplane that violated Turkish airspace on Sunday.
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03/26/2014
As South America continues increasing its defense expenditures, air fleet modernization is driving numerous requirements and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Brazil, accounting for half of South America’s defense expenditure, is conducting the region’s most ambitious modernization of air military assets, and local industry is involved in both the production of foreign equipment under license as well as indigenous development.
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03/26/2014
The United States government is looking to provide Yemen with an aerial precision strike capability to combat Islamist militants in the country, a leaked Central Command (CENTCOM) memo reveals. The memo, written on 3 February and published by US publication BuzzFeed on 24 March, sets out the baseline requirements for a manned fixed-wing combat aircraft to be acquired under the Yemen Fiscal Year 2014 Precision Strike Program.
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03/26/2014
Lockheed Martin delivered its 17th C-5M Super Galaxy to the U.S. Air Force from its facilities here today. It is the first C-5M delivery for 2014. U.S. Air Force aircrews will deliver the aircraft tail number 87-0020 to Dover Air Force Base, Del. after a stop at Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., where it will undergo internal paint restoration.
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03/26/2014
Ukraine's military personnel may leave the Crimean Peninsula unhindered, but the Russian military has yet to decide if they will be permitted to take their weapons with them, the Kremlin said Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said over the weekend that less than 15 percent of the 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea decided to leave the peninsula after it rejoined Russia last week.
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03/26/2014
The capabilities of Airbus Helicopters' rotorcraft to meet land- and sea-based mission requirements of Middle East military forces will be underscored in the company's presence at the Doha International Defence Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX) which opens today (25-27 March).
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03/25/2014
Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets are due to retire in 2020. They need to be replaced, but no fully operational F-35s will be available by that date. Stephen Harper has a decision to make: buy another model of fighter jet, or face a dangerous capability gap. He cannot expect our pilots to fly supersonic aircraft beyond their lifespan.
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03/25/2014
NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drawn a red line, but it is one that leaves Ukraine militarily isolated, fending for itself. If the West’s economic and diplomatic sanctions are to deter Moscow from further military aggression, they must be complemented by a robust defensive strategy to reinforce Ukraine’s armed forces.
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03/25/2014
he Republic of Korea has formally announced its decision to procure the Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) F-35 Lightning II aircraft for its F-X fighter acquisition program. “We are honored by and appreciate the trust and confidence the Republic of Korea has placed in the 5th Generation F-35 to meet its demanding security requirements.
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03/25/2014
Turkey told Syria that it was ready to act again in defense of its borders and warplanes after the shooting down of a warplane said to have flown into its territory. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that the incursion should not be repeated, as the military justified yesterday’s action by Turkish combat aircraft against a Syrian MiG-23 that had ignored four warnings and briefly penetrated 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) into Turkish airspace, according to a statement.
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03/25/2014
France and the Czech Republic have become the latest NATO countries to offer fighter aircraft protection to those alliance members concerned over the situation in Crimea and the continuing Russian build-up on Ukraine's eastern border.
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03/25/2014
In 2005, Lockheed Martin labeled the F-35, the stealthy new jet they were building for the Pentagon, as a “fifth-generation” fighter. Ironically, it was a term that they had borrowed from Russia to describe a different stealthy fighter, the F-22. But the term caught on. Some of Lockheed’s rivals tumbled into this rhetorical trap and tried to argue that “fourth-generation” was just as capable—whether it is true or not, making such a case is an uphill struggle.
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03/25/2014
The U.S. government's decision to deploy military aircraft and additional troops could be "the decisive game changer" in the hunt for fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony, whose notorious group, the Lord's Resistance Army, appears weaker than ever before amid growing defections and the loss of senior commanders, an expert said Monday.
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03/25/2014
All military units stationed in Crimea are now under the control of the Russian military, and remaining Ukrainian servicemen are departing the peninsula, the region’s first deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Monday. As Crimea’s reunification process began last week, a total of 147 military units in the predominantly Russian-ethnic region have replaced Ukrainian flags with Russian ones and applied to join the Russian armed forces.
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03/25/2014
The volume of Russia’s arms exports this year has topped the $2 billion mark, with outstanding weapons orders standing at $47 billion, a senior government official said Monday. “As of today, Russia has supplied military products worth $2 billion to its foreign customers,” said Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
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03/24/2014
A high-level Argentine military delegation visited Israel recently to finalize a purchase of Israeli fighter-jets. The Kfir has not been in operational use by the Israel Air Force for nearly 20 years and will be upgraded by Israel Aircraft Industries if the contract is signed. The deal is going ahead at a low point in Israeli-Argentine relations.
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03/24/2014
Even as Russia's annexation of Crimea is answered with an economic, rather than a military, response from the West, the crisis is provoking some uncomfortable reckoning on the part of NATO. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called it a “wake-up call” that should prompt both the U.S. and Europe to ratchet up their commitment to the transatlantic alliance.
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03/24/2014
The plane crash occurred during a routine flight on Friday, March 21. The pilot and navigator ejected safely. The accident will be investigated by a special commission. The 7th Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force of Ukraine is based near Starokonstantinov, it contains Su-24 and L-39 training aircraft of Czech production. No civilian casualties and destruction reported.
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03/24/2014
The same week that the US Air Force said it had figured out a way to get its counterparts in Taiwan new radars for its 146 F-16 fighter jets, sources at Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) are accusing US officials of lying to them and avoiding questions on the impact that the cancellation of the upgrades on the US side will have on Taiwan.
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03/24/2014
One in three of the RAF’s £60million Typhoon fighters are also grounded, according to the latest government figures. RAF sources claim that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the crisis in Libya have all taken their toll on frontline aircraft, some of which have been on operations for almost 12 years.
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03/24/2014
A deepening crisis in Ukraine has sharpened the defense policy of NATO member states in Eastern Europe, with the Estonia prime minister calling for higher military spending and Poland seeking early orders for missile defense and drones. Warsaw and the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have been among the most vocal following Russia’s military intervention in Crimea, while a European Union summit pledged on March 21 to sign political cooperation pacts with Georgia and Moldova.
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03/24/2014
The Russian military force on Ukraine's eastern border is 'very, very sizeable and very, very ready', according to Nato's top military commander. General Philip Breedlove said he was worried they could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region. 'There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome,' said Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
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03/24/2014
Electronic warfare (EW) experts at the Exelis Electronic Systems segment in Clifton, N.J., will provide the U.S. Navy with 42 sophisticated EW systems designed to protect Navy combat aircraft from incoming radar-guided missiles.
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03/24/2014
Australia is likely to push ahead with the acquisition of its first operational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, according to a report by an independent defence think tank. In a report released on Monday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it makes most sense for the federal government to commit to spending between $8 billion and $10 billion on 58 of the fighters, which are expected to enter service in 2020.
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03/24/2014
Turkey, which backs the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, warned Damascus against testing its determination and pledged a tough response if Syrian warplanes violate its airspace again. It was the most serious incident since Turkish warplanes last September downed a Syrian helicopter that Ankara said was 2km inside its airspace.
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03/23/2014
As the world remains riveted on Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shifting gears to Latin America. As first outlined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last February, Putin now plans to keep the United States off-balance as Moscow sets up actual military bases and massive arms sales in the Latin American region.
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03/23/2014
The modern world that emerged from the end of the Cold War and the disastrous terrorist attacks of 9/11 has deceived the United States and her traditional allies into assuming that war between states was a thing of the past. As the world sees Russian advances in Eastern Europe and Chinese power plays in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. partners such as the Philippines should use these watershed events as case studies for developing stronger defense policies.
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03/23/2014
Ukraine’s government has decided to set aside an additional 6.8 billion hryvnia (US $697 million) for defense spending to mobilize troops, modernize weapons and improve the operational capacities of the country’s armed forces, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
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03/23/2014
Bangor-based Denroy Plastics has secured a £1 million contract to supply more parts for the world's most advanced military combat aircraft. And to celebrate the deal the Eurofighter plane performed a fly-over at the Balloo road site yesterday before landing at RAF aldergrove.
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03/23/2014
Less than 2,000 of Ukrainian troops serving in Crimea decided to leave the peninsula for Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday. "As of March 21, less than 2,000 out of 18,000 Ukrainian servicemen staying on the territory of the Republic of Crimea decided to go to Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.
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03/22/2014
France will offer to send four fighter jets to the Baltic states and Poland to boost NATO air patrols over the region, a source close to the French defence minister said Friday. Besides the Rafale and Mirage 2000 aircraft, Paris will also offer to ensure "AWACS patrols from France around twice a week" if asked by NATO, the source said during the minister's visit to the Estonian capital Tallinn amid the Ukraine turmoil.
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03/22/2014
MacDill Air Force Base is hosting its annual AirFest show this Saturday and Sunday. As a preview for the event, members of the media were invited to a ride-along flight on a KC-135 Stratotanker as it completed a training refueling mission. I boarded the massive plane as both a reporter and Air Force wife whose husband is training to become an aviator. I hoped the Airfest "preview flight" would give me a hint as to what my husband will be doing one day.
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03/22/2014
Delays in testing critical software for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet are threatening to delay the Pentagon’s most expensive weapon program and boost development costs, according to congressional investigators. “Persistent software problems” have slowed testing to demonstrate the aircraft’s war-fighting, navigation, targeting and reconnaissance systems, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.
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03/22/2014
The United States is puzzling over how to block cruise missiles that theoretically could be launched from the Gulf of Mexico, even after throwing some of its most advanced technologies at the problem. Russia and Iran have been cited as possible threats that might, at some point, lurk in the waters just off U.S. shores.
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03/22/2014
Western weapons manufacturers waging an uphill battle to drive up revenues are finding their market share eroded by a potent new competitor – Russia. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its latest report “Trends in International Arms Transfers – 2013” says Russia’s exports of major weapons increased by 28 per cent between 2004-2008 and 2009-13.
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03/22/2014
Back in the late 1960s the aircraft chosen as the nation’s key strike weapon into the new millennium — the F-111 swing-wing fighter/bomber — was derided as the “flying Opera House’’ or the “widow maker” due to cost blowouts, delivery delays and serious technical problems that caused several fatal crashes.
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03/22/2014
Iraq is negotiating about the purchase of redundant Czech L-159 combat planes with their maker, Aero Vodochody, the website of weekly Hospodárské noviny writes today. Iraq showed interest in new Czech combat aircraft in 2012, but it eventually bought planes from South Korea.
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03/22/2014
The Philippines said on Friday it will buy $524.7-million worth of aircraft from South Korea and Canada as part of a military upgrade amid territorial disputes with superpower neighbour China. The contracts to be signed on March 28 will include the purchase of 12 FA-50 fighter jets from state-run Korea Aerospace Industries for 18.9 billion pesos (US$417.95 million), Defence Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told reporters.
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03/22/2014
A total of 72 military units in Crimea have hoisted Russian flags instead of Ukrainian and applied to join the Russian armed forces, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. "Yesterday, 72 military units almost in full strength decided to join the Russian armed forces. We are now dealing with service and citizenship issues of officers and soldiers from these units,” he said.
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03/21/2014
There’s an old saying in the military that we’re always training for the last war, so fixated on the lessons of our most recent conflict that we’re blind to the emerging threat. For years, that last war was the Cold War, and the emerging threat was the insurgents of Iraq and Afghanistan. Slowly, painfully, eventually, the military reoriented itself. The result?
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03/21/2014
Boeing has announced it will be displaying its powerful Super Hornet at the Royal International Air Tattoo this year. The multi-role fighter, originally developed by the United States Navy and now in service with the Royal Australian Air Force at Fairford on July 12 and 13.
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03/21/2014
Ukraine will play host, but the US military will call the shots, in an upcoming military exercise called Rapid Trident that will bring together some 1,300 international forces in Ukraine for a long-planned exercise. Although the United States canceled Atlas Vision 2014, which was scheduled to take place in July in the northeastern Russian city of Chelyabinsk, the Pentagon says it will go ahead with plans for a multinational military exercise this summer in Ukraine.
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03/21/2014
If your windows rattled Thursday, no need to worry. That was just the Air Force, not an earthquake. The Air Force's aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, arrived Thursday afternoon at MacDill Air Force Base as its F-16 pilots prepared for this weekend's Tampa Bay AirFest 2014.
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03/21/2014
The Air Force is surging ahead with work to extend the service life of its fleet of F-16 fighter jets despite recent budget cuts to programs aimed at upgrading the planes, service officials said. The service is in the early phases of a Service Life Extension Program, or SLEP, for about 300 of its fleet of 976 F-16s designed to add eight to ten years of additional combat life to the aircraft, said Maj. Sean Tucker, F-16 program element monitor.
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03/21/2014
The US Air Force (USAF) is defending plans to retire entire fleets of aircraft over the next five years, citing budget pressure and the need for better technology. The USAF favoured procurement of new platforms in its fiscal year 2015 (FY 2015) budget proposal in order to keep pace with adversaries' increasing technological sophistication, officials said on 18 March. However, doing so forced service planners to make difficult cutbacks in its legacy fleets.
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03/21/2014
The Israel Air Force showed off its new cutting-edge training aircraft, the M-346, on Thursday. The plane underwent a successful test flight, and was presented at a ceremony in Italy by provider Alenia Aermacchi. Officials from the Defense Ministry brokered theUSD $1 billion dollar deal to purchase 30 jets from the Italian manufacturer in July 2012, and on Thursday representatives from the ministry and the IAF attended the event.
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03/21/2014
Large air forces are rare. As a result ten nations (U.S., China, Russia, India, North Korea, Egypt, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, and Taiwan) have about 60 percent of the combat aircraft in service. But while the U.S. has only 19 percent of the 15,000 combat aircraft in service, they have a far higher percentage of the air combat capability. This becomes clear when you take into account the quality of the aircraft, pilots and support services.
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03/21/2014
Ukraine would be inflicting unnecessary damage upon itself if it breaks off ongoing cooperation with Russia’s defense industry, a senior Russian official said Thursday. “If the Ukrainian leaders who recently came to power choose the path of destructive engagement with Russia, I think they will be punishing themselves, punishing the Ukrainian people, who are happy to work with our businesses,” Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said.
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03/20/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Western warnings and signed a treaty to annex Ukraine's Crimean peninsula Tuesday, while accusing the United States and its allies of going too far in luring post-Soviet nations away from Moscow.
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03/20/2014
After many so-called "phantom attacks" conducted inside Syria in recent months were attributed to Israel, the nation's air force performed widespread attacks on Syrian targets over the night of 18 March.
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03/20/2014
U.S. lawmakers who oppose the Pentagon's dealings with Russia's state-owned arms exporting firm are using Moscow's intervention in Ukraine to press the argument that contracts with Rosoboronexport should end.
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03/20/2014
The worst-case scenario in the Russia-Ukraine crisis would be a war between the two states. How do their respective forces compare? Russia has about four times as many soldiers as Ukraine does, twice as many tanks, and more than six times as many combat aircraft. The huge imbalance in forces reflects the defense budgets of the two countries. Russia spends about $78 billion on its armed forces annually, Ukraine $1.6 billion.
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03/20/2014
The volume of Indian imports of major weapons rose by 111% between 2004/08 and 2009/13 and its share of the volume of international arms imports increased from seven to 14 % the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports. At the same time Pakistan’s imports of major arms increased by 119%.
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03/20/2014
Citing growing budget shortages (and the enormous costs of developing and building the new F-35) the air force plans to retire 410 combat aircraft (and about a hundred support planes) in the next five years. These include 340 A-10s and 70 F-15Cs. In that same time period over a hundred new F-35s would enter service leaving the air force with about 300 fewer combat aircraft.
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03/20/2014
Phantom Swift, a prototype Boeing initially built in less than a month, has been accepted to be part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) X-plane program. DARPA is trying to mature a new aircraft configuration capable of both efficient hover and high-speed cruise.
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03/20/2014
France should either fulfill its contract obligations under a June 2011 contract to deliver two Mistral-class warships to the Russian navy or return the money, a Russian deputy premier said on Wednesday. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Monday that Paris will consider canceling the 1.2-billion-euro deal if Moscow provokes further escalation in Ukraine.
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03/19/2014
Although India has temporarily suspended its part in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines jet, it has turned out to be a costly affair, experts say. In the hunt for MH370–which India dubbed Operation Search Light—the country deployed six ships – three each from the navy and the coast guard. It also lent Dornier aircraft belonging to the navy and the coast guard and even its P-8I, a long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, to the effort.
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03/19/2014
The Air Force would be forced to make heavy cuts to its fighters and bombers if Congress rejects plans to retire the A-10 without providing additional funding, a top budget official said today. The administration’s plan to cut the entire A-10 fleet, including infrastructure and depots, would save the Air Force $3.7 billion, plus another $500 million in cost avoidance, said Maj. Gen. James Jones, the deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements.
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03/19/2014
The U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon has been making headlines for its role in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The long-range aircraft's main mission is hunting and killing submarines, but it's not just a tool for dropping torpedoes and killing enemy ships. The sensors and hardware on board can make this 130-foot airplane an essential part for the MH370 search.
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03/19/2014
A Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet is due to fly for the first time with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar later this year, marking a crucial milestone in the drawn-out development of the fighter’s new sensor. Managers at Selex, a partner in the Euroradar consortium planning the Typhoon’s leap to AESA, are confident the demonstration will persuade all four partner countries to sign a development contract this summer, possibly at the Farnborough International Airshow.
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03/19/2014
In Crimea today, soldiers wearing Russian uniforms stormed a Ukrainian army base and took its commander captive, killing one Ukrainian officer, according to the Ukrainian government, while a Crimean news agency reported that a pro-Russian defense force member had been shot and killed. These events came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty making Crimea a part of Russia.
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03/19/2014
The UK has offered to deploy a number of Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to Lithuania to bolster the NATO-led Baltic Air Policing Mission, a senior government minister announced on 17 March.
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03/19/2014
Dassault Aviation of France is making an aggressive bid to sideline the F-35 and to sell its own jet fighter to Canada, offering to transfer technology, create jobs and share billions of dollars in business if Canada buys its Rafale fighter to replace its outdated fleet of CF-18s.
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03/19/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the country was open to further cooperation with NATO, but remained opposed to the organization’s presence in historic Russian territories. “We are not opposed to cooperation with NATO, not at all, but we are opposed to a military alliance … hosted outside our fences next to our home or on our historic territories,” Putin said.
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03/18/2014
The Russian Army’s recent tactical exercises in the Rostov, Belgorod and Kursk regions have attracted heightened attention from her neighbours, with Kiev being particularly alarmed. The acting defence Minister in Ukraine Admiral Igor Tenyukh even suspected Moscow of preparing for an offensive. According to Admiral Tenyukh, Russia had amassed an alignment of forces consisting of 220,000 troops, 1,800 tanks and more than 400 helicopters allegedly for these exercises.
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03/18/2014
This is the fifth installment in a series on the worsening relations between Japan and China. In October last year, about one month before China established an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army Navy carried out a large-scale military drill called Maneuver-5 on the high seas about 700 kilometers south of Okinawa Island.
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03/18/2014
Selfridge Military Air Museum officials recently announced their 2014 general public hours of operation for their Museum and Air Park as noon to 4:30 pm on Saturdays, Sundays, Independence Day and Memorial Day, from April 5 through October 26. The Air Museum and Air Park will be closed during the 2014 Selfridge Air Show on September 6 and 7 due to traffic flow considerations.
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03/18/2014
Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A/B Hornet and Hawk 127 Lead-In Fighter aircraft from RAAF Base Williamtown will conduct intensive air support training in the Great Lakes Area near Bulahdelah on Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19. Commander of Air Combat Group, Air Commodore Tony Grady said the two types of jet aircraft would carry out training activities that involved the provision of medium level and close air support for ground-based personnel.
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03/18/2014
The missing Malaysian Airlines plane reportedly flew as low as 5,000ft and used “terrain masking” to avoid radar detection for almost eight hours after it was apparently hijacked. As dozens of nations continued to search for the plane, Malaysia’s New Straits Times newspaper reported that the Boeing 777 dropped to low altitude to avoid commercial radars.
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03/18/2014
The first KC-130J Super Hercules tanker assigned to a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve squadron was ferried today from the Lockheed Martin facility located here. This KC-130J is assigned to the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234 (VMGR-234) stationed at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas.
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03/18/2014
The U.S. Air Force declared initial operational capability (IOC) for Lockheed Martin’s Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod - Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) and has now deployed the system to support combat operations in theater.
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03/18/2014
The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center awarded Lockheed Martin a foreign military sales contract to support the Republic of Korea’s Peace Krypton reconnaissance aircraft system. This contract is valued at approximately $9 million. Lockheed Martin has been providing sustainment engineering and logistics support to the Republic of Korea since 1996, the year that the corporation was awarded the prime contract to develop the Peace Krypton system.
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03/18/2014
Ukraine’s Parliament voted Monday to partially mobilize the country’s military reserves amid a tense standoff with Russia following a popular vote in Crimea to secede and join Russia on Sunday, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported. A decree by acting president Oleksandr Turchynov to mobilize tens of thousands of reservists was approved of by 275 of 308 sitting deputies in a session of Ukraine’s parliament, according to the agency.
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03/18/2014
The United States and Russia combined supplied over half of all arms exports worldwide in the past five years, according to new data on the industry compiled by a European think tank. The US topped the list of arms exporting countries, accounting for 29 percent of shipments worldwide in the five year period through 2013, with Russia taking second place with 27 percent, according to the report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
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03/17/2014
More than 95 percent of Crimean voters backed joining Russia and seceding from Ukraine during Sunday's referendum, the head of the Crimean commission for holding the referendum said after more than a half ballots were counted. According to Mikhail Malyshev, only 3 percent chose to restore the 1992 Crimean Constitution and remain an autonomous republic within Ukraine, while 1 percent of ballot papers were declared void.
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03/17/2014
It has also revived questions about why the Malaysian military did not immediately notice what was happening, and what gaps there might be more generally in military air defences in a region where the defence and security temperature is high at the moment. It has now emerged that Malaysian primary military radar tracked an unidentified contact that flew right across the country's air space, now confirmed to be MH370. But no action, it seems, was taken.
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03/17/2014
U.S. military leaders plan to spend $2.45 billion next year on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) procurement and research, with the RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-9 Reaper, and the experimental U.S. Navy Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance And Strike (UCLASS) system expected to be the biggest winners.
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03/17/2014
Lt. Cmdr. Mark DeBuse, a flight surgeon for the Blue Angels, said it best when he said his job is like caring for the health and well being of top-notch professional athletes. While these athletes are not competing in high-profile football games or boxing matches, they are maneuvering 24,500 pound jets capable of traveling at almost twice the speed of sound, or 1,400 miles per hour. More impressively, Blue Angels pilots do this without the aid of a G-suit.
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03/17/2014
China is about to undergo a comprehensive reform of its military and national defense. This measure is to be steered by none other than Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi in his capacity shall oversee a group responsible for planning and executing such reform measures. In addition, the president is also the chairman of the national Central Military Commission. This is a powerful body and as chairman, Xi effectively has entire control of the chinese military.
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03/17/2014
On February 11th the U.S. Navy had its first flight test of a new IRST (Infa-Red Search & Track) pod. IRST uses a high resolution infrared (heat sensing) radar to positively spot and identify a potential aerial target This is done by comparing what IRST sees to 3-D models of known aircraft stored in the pod computer. This is similar to the ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) pods used to spot surface targets.
(Read More...)
03/17/2014
Phasing out the A-10 attack aircraft could cost Tucson 2,000 jobs — and that’s just one of many changes in store for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the proposed 2015 Air Force budget shows. If Congress approves the cuts, D-M would see ongoing — though, in some cases, diminished — missions including electronic warfare and unmanned aircraft operations.
(Read More...)
03/17/2014
Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Sunday said the Philippines has inked a deal to buy 12 fighter-trainer planes to beef up its territorial defense operation. Speaking at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, Aquino also said that bidding for the procurement of two twin-engine naval antisubmarine helicopters "is also set to begin."
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03/16/2014
Ukraine really needs an answer to the Russian military amassing just over its border. So it’s government is scrambling to pull together an instant army, drawing on whoever is available — students, computer geeks, restaurateurs, aging veterans. “This is our land and our spirit is stronger. We’re prepared to die for our country, we’ve already proved that. The Russians have nothing to die for here,” says Viktor Pandzhakidze, who said he wishes he could volunteer.
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03/16/2014
The Indian Air Force's (IAF) quest for its first fifth generation fighter has been running into the usual back and forth with the Russians as well as domestic discord with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It seems on top of the reported delays, the Russians are also hiking the costs associated with the Fifth generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project.
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03/16/2014
I’d been planning to prompt some discussion on The DEW Line earlier in the week about the Eurofighter programme, to coincide with a feature article of mine which appeared as the cover story for the latest issue of Flight International, but a four-day trip to Sweden means it’s now a Friday Fighter topic instead.
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03/16/2014
The radar blip that was Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did a wide U-turn over the Gulf of Thailand and then began moving inexorably past at least three military radar arrays as it traversed northern Malaysia, even flying high over one of the country’s biggest cities before heading out over the Strait of Malacca.
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03/16/2014
Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., March 14, 2014 - The first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing was officially delivered during a ceremony attended by dignitaries and hundreds of local civic leaders, wing military and civilian members here today. The F-35A Conventional Takeoff and Landing variant, known as LF 5030, is the first of 144 F-35As scheduled for delivery to the base.
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03/16/2014
Russia has dispatched four Tu-95MS strategic bombers on a 24-hour patrol over the Arctic Ocean, Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Friday. Bondarev said the four aircraft left their home base at the Ukrainka airbase in Russia’s Far East late on Thursday to carry out a 12-hour non-stop combat patrol mission over the Arctic.
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03/16/2014
The LynxOS-178 real-time operating system (RTOS) will be used in the Rockwell Collins Flight2 avionics management system, for the Royal Air Force of Oman's C-130 upgrade program. The Rockwell Collins Flight2 avionics system will provide the Royal Air Force of Oman C-130 aircraft with unrestricted access to global airspace by meeting Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) airspace requirements that are currently identified.
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03/14/2014
Dassault Aviation said on Thursday it is ready to rebid for a multibillion-dollar Canadian combat-aircraft contract if Ottawa backs out of a plan to buy U.S.-made F-35 combat aircraft to replace the country's aging fleet of F-18 fighter jets. The Canadian government needs to start replacing the F-18s by 2017 which would imply an initial order by this year.
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03/14/2014
The U.S. Department of Defense released its annual report on the state of North Korea’s military earlier this month. The short 22-page document paints a picture of a North Korean military that is slowly atrophying under a lack of funding. Nevertheless, the report begins by acknowledging that North Korea “remains one of the United States’ most critical security challenges.”
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03/14/2014
Six Russian Su-27 fighter jets and three military transport planes with ground support personnel arrived Thursday at an airbase in Belarus to boost the airspace defenses of the two countries' Union State, the Russian Defense Ministry said.The ministry said the aircraft from the Western military district have been deployed to the Babruysk airbase in line with a bilateral agreement on the joint protection of the Union State's airspace.
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03/13/2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will provide details on Friday of an expanded military contribution to battle militants in northern Iraq.
A spokesman for Harper says the prime minister will also talk about ongoing humanitarian support
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03/13/2014
Sweden's Defence and Security Export Agency said Wednesday the Czech Republic has approved an agreement to lease 14 Gripen fighter aircraft until at least 2026, opening the way to potential new maintenance contracts for the aircraft's manufacturer, Swedish defense group Saab AB.
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03/13/2014
More than 300 members of Team Holloman from in and around the Tularosa Basin and the Sacramento Mountains gathered to witness the future of the 49th Wing as the 54th Fighter Group was officially welcomed to the base in an activation ceremony here March 11.
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03/13/2014
The Indian Air Force's (IAF) quest for its first fifth generation fighter has been running into the usual back and forth with the Russians as well as domestic discord with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) . It seems on top of the reported delays, the Russians are also hiking the costs associated with the Fifth generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project.
(Read More...)
03/13/2014
NATO deployed two surveillance aircraft Wednesday to monitor Ukraine's air space and Black Sea ship movements as Russia consolidated its military buildup in Crimea. NATO headquarters spokesman Lt. Col. Jay Janzen said one aircraft based in England would observe Russian air and sea movements from Polish air space, while the other based in Germany would fly over Romania.
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03/13/2014
The future of Selfridge Air National Guard Base took a dramatic turn Wednesday as a new Air Force plan called for the elimination of the A-10 aircraft at the Harrison Township facility in exchange for the addition of KC-135 mid-air refueling planes. The proposal would retire the base’s 18 A-10 Thunderbolts in fiscal year 2017 and then mitigate the damage to Selfridge’s viability by doubling the number of KC-135 tankers to 16.
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03/13/2014
Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of conducting a large military buildup near the countries’ border that raises the threat of an invasion, but Moscow denied that. Andriy Parubiy, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told reporters in Kiev that Russia has deployed more than 80,000 troops, up to 270 tanks and 140 combat planes close to the border, creating the “threat of a full-scale invasion from various directions.”
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03/13/2014
LONGBOW International, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, received a $96 million contract in 2013 from AgustaWestland to support LONGBOW Fire Control Radars on U.K. Apache AH Mk.1 aircraft. The five-year contract includes engineering services, integrated logistics support and an in-country repair capability.
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03/13/2014
Belarus will ask Russia to deploy up to 15 additional combat aircraft on its territory in response to increased NATO military activity along the country’s borders, President Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday. NATO has begun military exercises in Poland near the borders with Belarus and Ukraine amid the current political standoff between Russia and the West over the fate of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
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03/13/2014
A US navy destroyer began joint exercises Wednesday with Romanian and Bulgarian warships in the Black Sea, about 130 miles from Crimea, the Reuters news agency reported. The mission was cited by the White House last week as a sign of the United States’ commitment to the region amid ongoing turmoil in Ukraine – which also borders the Black Sea – that threatens to split the country apart.
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03/12/2014
Turkey, a partner in the multinational A400M airlifter consortium, is wrangling with the group over disputed technical snags blocking acceptance of its first aircraft. Turkey received its first A400M late last year. But it has not yet given its official acceptance, citing technical failures, which has deeply annoyed consortium members.
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03/12/2014
Russia, which is at loggerheads with Washington over the spreading political crisis in Ukraine, is threatening to undermine a longstanding military relationship between the United States and one of its traditional allies in the Middle East: Egypt. A photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking hands with Egypt's de facto leader Field Marshal Abdel Fateh Al Sisi was flashed across newspapers and TV screens in the Arab world last month.
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03/12/2014
Ukraine's government appealed for Western help on Tuesday to stop Moscow annexing Crimea but the Black Sea peninsula, overrun by Russian troops, seemed fixed on a course that could formalize rule from Moscow within days. With their own troops in Crimea effectively prisoners in their bases, the new authorities in Kiev painted a sorry picture of the military bequeathed them by the pro-Moscow president overthrown two weeks ago.
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03/12/2014
The Philippines said Friday a deal has been reached to buy 12 fighter jets worth P18.9 billion ($415.7 million) from South Korea as the country struggles to modernize its military.
“We did not only inch closer, we are almost there,” Undersecretary Fernando Manalo, chairman of Bids and Awards Committee, told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo Friday after Manila and Seoul reached a conclusion on the negotiations for the acquisition of 12 FA 50 lead-in fighter jets.
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03/12/2014
The Air Force plans to cut nearly 500 planes from its inventory over the next five years if the Defense Department’s Fiscal 2015 budget request is approved by Congress, the service announced Monday. The reductions — which would affect the active duty, Guard and Reserve — would be implemented in 25 states and the District of Columbia, according to a diagram provided by the Air Force.
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03/12/2014
Women are physically not suited to fly fighter planes, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, the Air Force chief said women are physically not suited for the job and they might face problems while flying fighter planes.
He was responding to questions on why women are not allowed to fly fighter planes of the Indian Air Force when the forces of Pakistan and China had allowed them.
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03/12/2014
Say hello to Top Gun 5.0. Veteran fighter pilots Andrew Jackson and David Bell are the two men at the tip of the spear as the RAAF shifts towards its next-generation combat aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The two Squadron Leaders, based at RAAF base Williamtown near Newcastle, will be the first Australians to fly the multi-billion dollar machine, billed as the most tech-heavy fighter plane on the planet.
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03/12/2014
An airborne division based in central Russia began large-scale exercises Tuesday against the backdrop of an ongoing political and security crisis in Ukraine. The Defense Ministry said units of the 98th Guards Airborne Division, based in Ivanovo, a city east of Moscow, were put on high alert and moved to unspecified locations to “check readiness” in simulated combat conditions.
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03/11/2014
Six US troops in Afghanistan were killed and one wounded in a helicopter crash Tuesday, but it was unclear if Taliban fire caused any of the casualties after the chopper went down. Military officials said insurgents did not shoot down the UH-60 Blackhawk, but they were investigating whether any of the US troops were killed by gunfire from Taliban militants after the crash.
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03/11/2014
Joint Base Charleston could see some job cuts in 2015. According to its public affairs office, the base could lose one of its four flying squadrons. Those cuts would come if Congress approves the Air Force's proposal laid out in President Obama's 2015 budget.
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03/11/2014
The Air Force plans to replace all National Guard A-10 units with new flying missions to make sure their states and bases will not lose positions, according to budget documents obtained by Air Force Times. The Air Force plans to cut the entire A-10 Thunderbolt II fleet, which includes 107 Warthogs assigned to the National Guard at four bases: Gowen Field Air National Guard Base, Idaho; Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich.; Martin State Airport. Md.; and Fort Wayne International Airport, Ind.
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03/11/2014
Your editorial assumes that the A-10 Thunderbolt is headed for retirement — just because that has been proposed. You then take a huge leap, writing: “The proposal to decommission the A-10 could easily lead to a decision to close Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the training site for A-10 pilots.”
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03/11/2014
The 10 C-130J aircraft the Air Force Reserve seems determined to move from Keesler Air Force Base have yet another potential new home. President Barack Obama's 2015 budget request has spurred the Air Force Reserve Command to plan to move the 10 transport planes from Keesler's 815th Tactical Airlift Squadron -- also known as the Flying Jennies - to the newly reactivated 913th Airlift Group at Little Rock Air Force Base.
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03/11/2014
The number of aircraft and personnel at Hurlburt Field should not significantly change because of planned shifts in aircraft inventory, including the elimination of two types of planes based there, according to Air Force Special Operations Command. The U-28 and MC-130P Combat Shadow will be eliminated in the next couple years, but new aircraft will be introduced, according to the Department of Defense’s most recent budget proposal.
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03/11/2014
Decisions made in the next few months on buying additional Joint Strike Fighter aircraft could give the RAAF a huge advantage over any adversary. Air Force chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown says that given the long lead times on complex weapons systems like fighter aircraft, the force Australia will field in 2025 and beyond is "pretty much" decided by decisions to be made in the next few months.
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03/11/2014
Polish government officials said Monday that the U.S. military was sending 12 F-16 fighter jets and about 300 servicemembers to their country in response to the situation in Ukraine. Some U.S. aircraft and servicemembers had already arrived in Poland on Monday, with the remainder expected later in the week, a spokeswoman for Poland’s Defense Ministry said.
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03/11/2014
Lockheed Martin received a $14 million contract in 2013 from the U.S. Army to design, integrate and qualify a High Reliability Turret for the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) on the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.
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03/10/2014
It was the first time the legendary Russian Sukhoi-30 Flankers flew in American airspace, and it kicked up a controversy. In August 2008 India sent its top of the line Su-30MKI fighter to participate in Exercise Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. Known for its complex war gaming, Red Flag involves simulated air combat and coordination between friendly air forces. In 2008 the participants included the French and South Korean air forces.
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03/10/2014
NASCAR is a sport where a few seconds could mean the difference between celebrating a victory or going home disappointed. The crew works as fast as possible to change the tires and refuel the vehicle to keep it out of the pit, and get it back on the track. Much like NASCAR's need for less time, aircraft depend on time to keep watch over forces on the ground and transport wounded warriors who need immediate care. And like the race engines on the vehicles, aircraft need fuel to keep them going. Bu
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03/10/2014
The carrier is out. The carrier is in. The carrier is in, but only if money goes up. More planes are back in — well, sort of, but we’ll have to see. The new buying plan for littoral combat ships is — not yet decided on. The plan for laying up and modernizing half the fleet’s cruisers is almost ready but — not quite yet. New rules for counting the battle force are — not quite there, either.
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03/10/2014
North Korea has the fourth largest military in the world when it comes to manpower, with as many as 1.2 million people serving on active duty. But in terms of modernization there is — thankfully — much room for improvement. Despite the country’s economic limitations, it remains “one of the United States’ most critical security challenges,” according to the Defense Department’s new report to Congress on the military developments in North Korea.
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03/10/2014
The Russian deputy prime minister in charge of defense said “overt threats” by the United States and NATO demonstrate the necessity of equipping the Russian army with modern weapons. “A hope that after the overt threats by the US and NATO nobody will doubt the necessity of rearming our army and fleet and of reviving our defense industry and military science,” Dmitry Rogozin wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday.
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03/09/2014
Six F-15C Eagles and more than 60 U.S. airmen from RAF Lakenheath, England, were en route Thursday to Lithuania to bolster NATO’s air policing mission over the Baltics region amid the crisis in nearby Ukraine. The Associated Press later reported that the fighter jets had arrived at Siauliai air base, Lithuania.
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03/09/2014
India imports most of its warplanes. Efforts to develop an Indian capability to develop and manufacture these aircraft has so far failed. Worse, the most numerous type of combat aircraft, the MiG-21, is being retired because of old age and the fact that even when new the MiG-21 was dangerous to fly. India had planned to buy 126 “light fighters” to replace the MiGs but that effort has come undone by several factors.
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03/09/2014
In what looked for all the world like a game of geopolitical chess, with multimillion-dollar pieces of military hardware serving as the pawns, the United States made several military moves to contain the Russian incursion into Crimea this past week. If not necessarily designed to force a military confrontation, these at least seemed to prepare for such an eventuality.
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03/09/2014
Legendary aircraft such as the Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota will be joined by the RAF’s state of the art multi-role combat aircraft, the Typhoon and the basic trainer aircraft, the Tucano on Saturday July 12 and Sunday July 13. The Typhoon and Tucano will also be flying on Friday, July 11, as part of the special Red Arrows Pit Day.
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03/09/2014
Russia’s Defense Ministry is considering a ban on US inspections of Russian nuclear weapons under the New START deal over the standoff in Ukraine, a ministry source told RIA Novosti on Saturday. The ban would be a reaction to the US decision to suspend military cooperation with Russia over Ukraine, said the source, who requested anonymity.
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03/09/2014
A mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was denied entry to Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea on Saturday. Warning shots were fired after the military assessment team from OSCE states neared the checkpoint in the city of Armyansk, according to OSCE’s official Twitter account.
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03/09/2014
The suitability of the controversial F-35 jet fighter as a replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Force's aging CF-18s is getting even murkier, if that's possible. The fighter-replacement program has been thrown into limbo already over cost issues and development delays, with Ottawa considering whether to abandon the U.S.-sourced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and reboot the search for another candidate.
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03/08/2014
Sikorsky Aircraft will build the next-generation Combat Rescue Helicopter for the U.S. Air Force under a contract that could be worth as much as $15 billion. The Air Force is rearranging its budget to get the program started, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said.
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03/08/2014
Amid a surge of Islamic militancy in North Africa, a team of fewer than 50 U.S. special operations troops with a single helicopter arrived at a remote base in western Tunisia last month. Their mission: train Tunisian troops in counter-terrorism tactics. The operation was one of dozens of U.S. military deployments in Africa over the last year, often to tiny and temporary outposts. The goal is to leverage American military expertise against an arc of growing instability in North Africa and many su
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03/08/2014
Israeli air force fighters have been scrambled four times on 7 March so far, when Syrian combat aircraft approached the border with Israel on the Golan Heights. Syrian opposition sources reported that the Syrian air force bombed the village of Rdir El - Bustan using so-called "bomb barrels", and approached the Israeli border on their way to and from their targets.
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03/08/2014
Royal Air Force pilots are currently undergoing training on the UK's next generation stealth combat aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Squadron Leader Hugh Nichols is the first UK instructor pilot to perform a vertical landing in the F-35B Lightning II - the UK’s next generation stealth combat aircraft.
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03/08/2014
The commander of a US military air transit center in Kyrgyzstan said Thursday that the facility has performed its final mission, well ahead of its scheduled closure later this year. Colonel John Millard said flights from the base for in-flight refueling and cargo and personnel transport in support of operations in Afghanistan had been completed. Remaining work will focus on clean-up and transferring the facility over to the Central Asian nation’s authorities by a July 11 deadline, Millard said.
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03/08/2014
New questions are being raised about whether the F-35 stealth fighter is the right aircraft for Canada after a U.S. general acknowledged the jet is limited in what it can do and needs to be accompanied on its missions by another multi-million-dollar aircraft. The issue for Canada and other potential F-35 buyers is that the other aircraft referred to by the general – the F-22 – isn’t available for foreign sales because of its sophisticated technology.
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03/08/2014
Lawmakers criticized the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 defense budget today, arguing that it will strip the National Guard of two key combat aircraft – the AH-64 Apache helicopter and the venerable A-10 Warthog. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s defense spending plan proposes to retire the entire fleet of A-10 aircraft, a close air support platform designed to kill Soviet tanks during the Cold War. The A-10 is operated by the Air National Guard and has been highly effective against ground targets during
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03/08/2014
Russia’s Western Military District has begun large-scale air defense drills at its southern testing range of Kapustin Yar on the backdrop of further escalation of tensions with the West over Ukraine. Kapustin Yar, located some 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, will host about 3,500 troops and over 1,000 units of military hardware for about a month. The exercise will culminate with live-firing drills, involving S-300, Buk-M1 and other air defense systems.
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03/06/2014
The U.S. military is increasing its presence in Poland and the Baltics in response to the crisis in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. The military will deploy jets now in the Britian — six F-15 fighters and one KC-135 re-fueler — to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania, a U.S. defense official told NBC News.
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03/06/2014
The Obama administration took steps Wednesday to support the defenses of U.S. allies in Europe in response to Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. was stepping up joint aviation training with Polish forces. The Pentagon also is increasing American participation in NATO's air policing mission in its Baltic countries, he said.
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03/06/2014
Underfunded, underequipped and with its senior leadership often seen close to Moscow, Ukraine's military has been something of a no-show in its confrontation with Moscow. But that, experts say, has probably been largely deliberate. Ukrainian forces have been involved in some stand-offs with Russian forces particularly around bases in Crimea, some of which have long been shared between Kiev and Russian forces attached to the Black Sea Fleet.
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03/06/2014
The president's $496 billion budget proposal for the military has nothing but good news for Sikorsky. In it, the Pentagon plans to buy more Black Hawk helicopters than last year and to move forward with a new multibillion-dollar program for a combat rescue helicopter, the competition for which Sikorsky was the sole bidder.
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03/06/2014
The Air Force would cut 20,400 airmen and about 2,700 civilian jobs and retire dozens of planes under a $109.3 billion fiscal year 2015 budget request focused on replacing an aging aircraft fleet and boosting readiness hurt through sequestration, according to federal budget documents released Tuesday.
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03/06/2014
China announced its biggest rise in military spending in three years on Wednesday, a strong signal from President Xi Jinping that Beijing is not about to back away from its growing assertiveness in Asia, especially in disputed waters. The government said it would increase the defence budget by 12.2 percent this year to 808.23 billion yuan ($131.57 billion), as China seeks to develop more high-tech weapons and to beef up coastal and air defences.
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03/06/2014
Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has posted an impressive interactive stop/play website that explains to readers in animated graphic terms the flight patterns of Chinese military aircraft in the East China Sea “China has rapidly intensified its activities surrounding Japan’s airspace, expanded its operational areas, and diversified its flight patterns,” said the website.
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03/06/2014
Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets are due to retire in 2020. They need to be replaced, but no fully operational F-35s will be available by that date. Stephen Harper has a decision to make: buy another model of fighter jet, or face a dangerous capability gap. He cannot expect our pilots to fly supersonic aircraft beyond their lifespan.
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03/06/2014
Russia has strengthened its airbase in Armenia with a batch of overhauled MiG-29 fighter jets, a military official said Tuesday. Russia’s 3624th Air Base at the Erebuni airport in Yerevan previously hosted at least 16 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets operating under the framework of air defense agreements concluded between the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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03/05/2014
Turkey scrambled eight F-16 fighter jets to intercept a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea coast on Monday when the Russian military plane began flying parallel to Turkish airspace, the Turkish military announced on Tuesday.
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03/05/2014
The Swedish Armed Forces sent extra air defence to the island of Gotland on Tuesday in response to a large-scale Russian training exercise being carried out in the Baltic Sea. "Due to the increased air operations in the area, and especially as a result of the Russian training exercise going on, we've decided to base parts of our regular incident response team on Gotland," Göran Mårtensson at the Armed Forces (Försvarsmaktens) said in a statement.
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03/05/2014
After a decade-long delay, Korea’s indigenous fighter program is about to officially hit the road with bidding by partner firms scheduled for next month. However, which design concept to go with — a single- or twin-engine aircraft — is emerging as the biggest sticking point in the program, codenamed KF-X.
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03/05/2014
U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and Hellenic air force F-16s flew a combined 270 missions during two weeks of NATO training at Souda Air Base, Greece. The 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, known as the Mighty Black Panthers, departed Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, Feb. 13, to work alongside the pilots of the HAF's 343rd Squadron at the 115th Combat Wing on the Greek island of Crete.
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03/05/2014
The Air Force on Tuesday released a 2015 budget that translates into fewer airmen and fewer aircraft across its active-duty, reserve and guard components with officials saying the service has chosen to recapitalize the fleet versus upgrading legacy aircraft. Air Force personnel would drop across the force from 503,400 to 483,000 under the 2015 plan.
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03/05/2014
Alenia Aermacchi's first Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon for the Italian Air Force has been rolled out of a company plant, the company reports. Eurofighter is a multi-role combat aircraft and is produced by a European consortium consisting of Alenia Aermacchi/Finmeccanica, BAE Systems and Cassidian in Germany and Spain.
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03/05/2014
The Pentagon unveiled a $496 billion base budget on Tuesday that looks beyond Afghanistan to future U.S. security challenges after a dozen years of war, cutting the military to afford more training and new weapons as it adapts to an era of tighter spending. The budget set the Obama administration on a collision course with Congress by trying to eliminate popular older weapons systems and curb military compensation while seeking $26.4 billion in additional defense spending.
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03/05/2014
Russia announced on Tuesday the deployment of newly modernized warplanes at its military base in Armenia that has already been reinforced with more sophisticated weaponry in recent years. The Russian Armed Forces’ Southern Military District said in a statement that “a batch of fourth-generation multipurpose MiG-29 fighter jets” has arrived at a military airport in Yerevan after undergoing “capital repairs.”
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03/05/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the acting authorities in Ukraine illegitimate, but said a military intervention in Russia’s western neighbor would be a last resort. The remarks were the first public comments from Putin on the crisis in Ukraine since protesters in the capital, Kiev, swept to power last month.
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03/04/2014
Russian troops and military planes were flowing into Crimea on Monday in violation of accords between the two countries, Ukrainian border guards said. Since Sunday, 10 Russian combat helicopters and eight military cargo planes have landed on the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula, the guards said in a statement, while four Russian warships have been in the port of Sevastopol since Saturday.
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03/04/2014
The U.S. Navy is set to order 33 fewer Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets than originally planned over the five years starting in fiscal 2015 due to budgetary pressures, a defense official said Monday. In a move that will sharply slow work on the F-35 model built to land on aircraft carriers, the Navy will ask Congress to fund 36 F-35Cs instead of 69, said the official, who could not speak publicly ahead of Tuesday's release of the 2015 budget request.
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03/04/2014
The U.S. and its NATO allies have trained with the Ukraine military and pumped millions of dollars into that country's defense, but given the size of its armed forces, Ukraine could offer little resistance should its Crimea engagement with Russia escalate into a shooting war. Russia has about 845,000 troops as compared to Ukraine's roughly 130,000, according to the BBC, which cites figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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03/04/2014
India has finally sealed a work share agreement with the French-firm Dassault Aviation for building 70 per cent of the Rafale fighters domestically, according to New Delhi Television. India will acquire 18 of the 126 Rafale fighter jets it is buying from France in "fly away" condition, and the rest will be manufactured by the local firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
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03/04/2014
The Uganda People’s Defence Force Air Wing (UPDF-AW) is moving its combat aircraft from Entebbe to Nakasongola Air Base to alleviate congestion. Entebbe International Airport is the main base for UPDF-AW aircraft but it has becoming increasingly congested, which could pose a problem for future operations and increase the risk of collisions.
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03/04/2014
The European Union accused Russia of “acts of aggression” and a “clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty” in a strongly-worded statement Monday that condemned the movement of troops into Crimea. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels demanded an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops to the areas of their bases in Crimea under international agreements reached with Ukraine.
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03/04/2014
Russian naval warships and coastal troops conducted live fire exercises Monday in the country’s western Kaliningrad and Leningrad Regions, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said. The exercises, part of a combat readiness test ordered by President Vladimir Putin last week, come amid a growing international crisis as evidence mounts that Russian troops have been deployed across Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
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03/03/2014
Pakistani warplanes bombed the hideout of a militant leader, killing five insurgents, the military said on Sunday, only a day after the Pakistani Taliban declared a one-month ceasefire to pursue stalled peace talks with the government. The target of the attack, Mullah Tamanchey, directed a deadly assault against a convoy carrying a polio vaccination team and security forces on Saturday in which 12 people were killed, the military said.
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03/03/2014
The Moscow-based Military Parade has revealed more details on China's mysterious indigenous aircraft carriers currently under construction in Dalian and Shanghai. In an report on Feb. 28, the Russian website said that the first vessel — known as 001A and designed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation — is being built in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province and will be equipped with a steam catapult.
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03/03/2014
A new Chinese fighter jet with stealth capabilities, the Chengdu J-20, was observed conducting a successful test flight Saturday at noon. Photos and video of the flight were leaked on military forums like Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter. But this is not some big secret, NATO and western nations are familiar with the new plane, however they don't necessarily like having their F-22 Raptor, which reportedly costs as much as $361 million per aircraft to build.
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03/03/2014
The search for the pilot of a jet that crashed near a U.S. Navy range in Nevada continued Sunday, the Navy said in a press release. The pilot's name is being withheld until family is notified. The crash of the U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C happened at about noon ET Saturday at Naval Air Station Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. The aircraft appears to be a "total loss," the Navy said.
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03/03/2014
The Pentagon for years has said it would intervene to protect vulnerable areas of the industrial base during a period of declining defense spending. Now it’s acting on that policy.
Senior US defense officials last week said the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal, which is being sent to Congress on March 4, would put money toward preserving at-risk sectors of the industrial base to protect technological know-how.
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03/03/2014
Hill Air Force Base will celebrate a milestone in the coming days when the first F-35 stealth fighter jet rolls out of its maintenance hangars, powers up its engines and flies back into service. How quickly — and at what cost — more F-35s leave Hill and return to home bases around the world will be a key issue for the weapon that is expected to cost more than a trillion dollars over its life span.
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03/03/2014
Boeing Co is considering a slower build rate and other options to keep production of its EA-18G electronic attack planes running into 2017, and give Congress time to add more orders, a top company executive told Reuters in an interview. The St. Louis production line for Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers is slated to shut down after 2016 unless the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier wins additional U.S. or foreign orders for the planes soon.
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03/03/2014
Ukraine has closed its airspace to military aircraft. Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov announced Sunday that Ukraine had closed its airspace to non-civilian aircraft. Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of "declaring war", citing the decision for Russian forces to surround military bases in Crimea.
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03/03/2014
Ukrainian servicemen stationed in Crimea are leaving en masse their military units and handing over weaponry and arsenals to local pro-Russia authorities and militia, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Sunday. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry immediately denied the report, which was also circulated by other Russian media, calling it “a provocation.”
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03/02/2014
A temporary U.S. base in Romania that will serve as the primary hub for American forces leaving Afghanistan officially reached its full operating capacity Friday. Since Feb. 2, some 6,000 American servicemembers have transited through the center at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, located about 25 miles northwest of the Black Sea city of Constanta and about 2,500 miles northwest of Afghanistan.
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03/02/2014
The U.S. Air Force is mothballing its last eight AC-130H gunships. Only 47 AC-130 gunships have been built, the first of them, the AC-130A, entering service in 1968. Some were upgraded to AC-130Es. Eleven were upgraded to AC-130H in 1972 and the eight surviving aircraft of that group are now being retired, not scrapped.
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03/02/2014
Workers at Northrop Grumman's 1-million-square-foot facility in El Segundo have been cranking out fuselage sections for the Navy's F/A-18 fighter jet for decades. But now, the end may be near. Since entering service in 1983, the lithe twin-engine fighter-bomber has been a symbol of U.S. military might, catapulting from aircraft carrier decks and obliterating targets in the sky and on the ground.
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03/02/2014
For years, Singapore’s ST Engineering Marine has been parading a ship model of a landing helicopter dock (LHD) vessel that could handle the jump-jet variant of the F-35 joint strike fighter. The model was most recently on display at last month’s Singapore Airshow. And while Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) won’t confirm that it has plans to build such a vessel, it’s also not denying it.
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03/02/2014
Poland is scrapping previous plans to buy F-16 fighter jets in five years, but what it will buy instead is up in the air. The Defense Ministry wants to wait and buy fifth-generation jets, which experts say could be F-35 joint strike fighters. The deal would enable a technological leap for the Polish military by replacing its Soviet-designed aircraft with high-end fighters.
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03/02/2014
Russian leader Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama in a telephone conversation Sunday that Moscow reserved the right to protect its own interests and those of Russian speakers in the event of violence breaking out in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
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03/02/2014
Ukraine appealed for assistance from NATO on Saturday, asking it to use all possible measures to ensure its territorial integrity and protect its people. The call came hours after Russia’s parliament approved the deployment of military forces in Ukraine, in response to what Moscow claims is the threat being leveled against its servicemen and Russian citizens in the southern Crimea Peninsula.
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03/02/2014
US President Barack Obama signaled his administration’s alarm Friday at indications of military movements by Russian troops inside Ukraine’s region of Crimea and warned Moscow that there would be costs for any armed intervention. International media earlier in the day reported Russian troops entering Crimea, and soldiers identified as being with the Russian armed forces stationed on the peninsula blockaded at least one airport, which nonetheless appeared to still be operating.
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03/01/2014
Turkey continues to be embroiled in a dispute with aircraft manufacturer Airbus over an order of A400M airlifter military transport planes. Turkey's Undersecretary for Defense implied that the conditions of the contract had not been met; the aircraft received for acceptance tests by Turkey's defense did not reportedly meet the agreed criteria.
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03/01/2014
Second Line of Defense is currently visiting the Pacific and soon will visit the Wedgetail squadron, which currently operates from RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales. During the exercise AWACS and Wedgetail played the core command and control role and F-22s in Alaska (which includes one flown by an Aussie exchange pilot) worked effectively with Wedgetail.
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03/01/2014
Could Russia intervene militarily in Crimea to safeguard its strategic interests? Or, to put the question a different way, has Russia already intervened? Nobody yet knows the identities of the armed men who seized control of Simferopol airport. But their equipment, their vehicles and their behaviour all signal that this is a trained military unit, not a rag-tag group of pro-Russian loyalists.
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03/01/2014
Russia is bolstering the ongoing army drill in the Western Military district which began after a surprise order by President Vladimir Putin with 80 more combat helicopters amid rising tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region. Mil Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters are being redeployed from their bases to the emergency airfields, flying up to 500kms.
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03/01/2014
Russia’s military will invest 2 trillion rubles ($55.3 billion) in building up its aerospace defense weapons over the next six years, defense officials said Friday. Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said the goal is to spend the funds on developing the Aerospace Defense Forces, or VKO, by 2020 to make sure they were capable of combating existing and future types of air and space attacks.
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02/28/2014
Felix Seidler of the Center for International Maritime Security says China’s top maritime priorities will remain in the East and South China Seas. Nevertheless, extended expeditionary ambitions are real. However, more assertive Chinese behavior on blue-waters does not mean that great power conflict is inevitable. Coming East Asia Summits may be a forum for finding solutions.
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02/28/2014
U.S. Air Force Secretary Debra James says she’s reviewing whether the service can afford a contract for combat-rescue helicopters that drew only one bid, raising questions about whether a unit of United Technologies Corp. will receive a multibillion-dollar award this year.
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02/28/2014
With the defence ministry all set to blacklist Agusta-Westland-Finmeccanica for the VVIP helicopter bribery scandal, it has asked French aircraft manufacturer Dassault to clarify whether the Anglo-Italian chopper company was supplying parts for its Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) slated to be acquired by India at the cost of $20 billion.
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02/28/2014
Frustrated by long delays in replacing their growing stockpile of obsolescent equipment, India’s three armed service chiefs have been warning the government that procurement delays are compromising the country’s war preparedness, military sources have told The Hindu. The government, the sources said, was told the Air Force’s combat jet fleet would soon begin shrinking dangerously, even as the Army was short of tanks and artillery.
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02/28/2014
Refitting Soviet-era warships, fielding new aircraft and tanks and seeking new overseas bases, the Russian military that now has troops on alert amidst a crisis in Ukraine is more potent than the force which briefly fought Georgia six years ago.
Moscow is seriously investing in building its clout. Since 2008, it has raised military spending by almost a third and drastically reformed both the armed forces and defense industry to tackle post-Cold War decay.
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02/27/2014
The aviation industry of Jiangxi Province developed very swiftly in 2013. AVIC Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry Group is actively boosting its cooperation with Russia in the key technology of bombers and transport trainers, according to information from the website of the Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense.
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02/27/2014
Every week, skilled pilots with the Hawaii Air National Guard suit up for air to air combat drills in the most advanced stealth fighter jet in the world, the F-22. It's all to stay sharp, so that in the event there's a threat in Hawaii's skies, or anywhere in the world, they're able to take-off at a moment's notice.
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02/27/2014
Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said he’s frustrated by Turkey’s failure to accept delivery of the third production A400M airlifter, even though two planes are flying successfully with French forces. Enders said today that his company is “still bargaining” over the delivery process with Turkey, which has 10 A400Ms on order and is one of seven so-called core customers that signed up for the military transport plane almost 11 years ago.
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02/27/2014
Airbus Group, emboldened by strong financial results and an order backlog extending well into the next decade, is turning its back on its longtime European supporters. Driving the shift in attitude toward the governments of France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. is the overhaul of Airbus's governance last year. But a shift in the commercial aircraft market is also at play, said Chief Executive Tom Enders.
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02/27/2014
The Pentagon's plans to do away with 1970s-era A-10 "Warthog" attack planes will have a ripple effect in places like Knob Noster, Missouri - a small town in the shadow of Whiteman Air Force Base. It could mean fewer reservists flocking to places like the Panther Steakhouse and the EconoLodge after a weekend spent working with planes designed to fight wars against Soviet tanks. In Knob Noster, population 2,709, it makes a big difference when those people spend that cash.
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02/27/2014
Russia ordered 150,000 troops to test their combat readiness Wednesday in a show of force that prompted a blunt warning from the United States that any military intervention in Ukraine would be a "grave mistake." Vladimir Putin's announcement of huge new war games came as Ukraine's protest leaders named a millionaire former banker to head a new government after the pro-Russian president went into hiding.
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02/27/2014
The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that Eielson Air Force Base and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson are on the short list of potential hosts for 48 new F-35 fighter jets, according to Alaska’s Congressional delegation. Site survey teams from the Air Force will examine the five sites in the coming weeks before selecting “two or three as preferred and reasonable alternative bases” later this spring, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska.
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02/27/2014
The third and fourth MH-60R “Romeo” helicopters take flight from the Lockheed Martin facility in Owego, N.Y., to join the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) first pair of helicopters training at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.
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02/27/2014
The Russian Air Force will receive nearly 20 new flight simulators later this year for training fighter and ground-attack crews, a military spokesperson said Wednesday. Training simulators allow crews to practice maneuvers in conditions as close as possible to actual flight, including group formations and combat exercises.
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02/26/2014
The following footage was shot on Feb. 18, near BAE Systems facilities at Warton, in Lancashire, England. The aircraft being moved is probably a full size model of the BAE Replica, a British stealth aircraft model developed by BAE in the 1990s and used for radar testing before its associated program, the FOAS (Future Offensive Air System), was cancelled in 2005.
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02/26/2014
Japan will allow the export of arms to countries located along sea lanes to ensure the safe delivery of oil and other natural resources, while bolstering Japan’s defense cooperation with the United States by providing repair work for U.S. military aircraft overseas, according to a draft of new principles on arms exports.
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02/26/2014
Last week Defence Watch ran a three part series on why the F-35 wasn’t the right aircraft for Canada. This week Defence Watch runs a three part series on why the F-35 is essential for Canada. The article is written by Edward Wu, who is based in Vancouver. He answered the Defence Watch request to pen a defence of the F-35. He noted that he is not associated with any defence or aerospace contractors, nor any political parties or government.
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02/26/2014
The 122nd Fighter Wing and local Congressmen are reacting to Monday’s proposed cuts to the U.S. military. One major change is eliminating A-10 combat jets flown by Fort Wayne’s Air National Guard Base. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed eliminating the A-10 aircraft, U-2 spy planes, shrinking the army to its smallest size in 74 years and reducing some military benefits. This would save about $75 billion over the next two years.
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02/26/2014
After protracted negotiations, UK defence giant BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia have agreed on the pricing for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets. The deal highlights the crucial relevance of and challenges to defence-industrial partnerships between Western countries and emerging powers around the world.
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02/26/2014
In early February, analysts from four Washington think tanks held a public event to recommend how the Pentagon could walk the fine line between developing a future military capable of meeting emerging security threats and staying within legislated budget caps. Although the teams differed on many of their recommendations, all chose to shrink the Navy’s fleet by two or more aircraft carriers.
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02/26/2014
Boeing's [NYSE: BA] P-8A Poseidon program will enter full production, following a $2.4 billion contract award from the U.S. Navy for 16 additional aircraft that will bolster maritime patrol capabilities. The order, which will take the total fleet to 53, marks a transition from preliminary low-rate production. Boeing has delivered 13 P-8As to the Navy, which deployed its first patrol squadron to Kadena, Japan in December 2013 and has been conducting operational missions since then.
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02/26/2014
A Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan will be fully manned with personnel serving under contract by the end of 2014, the Central Military District said Tuesday. "There will be no conscripts at the base [in Kant] after 2014," the district said in a statement. According to the military, contract servicemen at the Kant base receive a 30 percent increase in salary, 15 additional vacation days and service housing. Every six months of service under contract at Kant is counted as one year when calculating r
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02/26/2014
The final US tanker aircraft supporting military operations in Afghanistan departed a Kyrgyzstan airbase Monday ahead of the closure of the facility later this year, a US army media agency reported. An agreement with Kyrgyzstan that provides for the United States’ transit center at the Manas airport, the country’s largest, is slated to expire in July.
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02/25/2014
Airbus Group NV is demanding compensation of close to one billion euros from Germany for the cancellation of an order for 37 Eurofighter combat aircraft, a spokesman for the defense ministry said Monday. Handelsblatt reported the plane maker wants 900 million euros ($1.24 billion) in compensation. Germany last week canceled the final tranche of 37 jets that were part of an order for 180 Eurofighters.
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02/25/2014
This year's scramble in Washington over the budget request will start Monday, when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to preview the fiscal 2015 Defense Department budget—a week before the official request goes to Congress. Its first hint at budget priorities will spur the defense industry to start lobbying, lawmakers to stake out their priorities, and the Pentagon to launch a charm offensive on Capitol Hill.
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02/25/2014
In recent years Prowler detachments were regularly operating from Bagram in Afghanistan, tasked primarily in providing electronic support for ground operations, assisting ground forces in Afghanistan and Iraq with counter IED jamming, signals intelligence and selective jamming. Supporting traditional marine corps missions, such as amphibious operations, and other high intensity warfare operations require different techniques.
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02/25/2014
The Pentagon is proposing to eliminate its A10 aircraft fleet — including those at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison — as part of a wide-ranging reorganization that could affect the Harrison Township facility. State officials have said there are about 18 A10s stationed at Selfridge and there are more than 400 people associated with their combat-support maneuvers at the base.
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02/25/2014
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is unveiling the Pentagon’s proposed budget today—a budget that will dramatically scale back the size of the military. But in order to save the most sacred of cows in its ongoing modernization efforts, the Pentagon is proposing the elimination of what has arguably been the most effective combat aircraft in the Air Force’s inventory: the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
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02/25/2014
AN influential air power lobby group wants Australia to acquire long-range unmanned combat aircraft that can fire precision missiles against targets without risk to pilots. According to the Canberra-based think tank, the Sir Richard Williams Foundation, so-called unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) are developing at such a rapid rate that they could replace manned fighters by the late 2020s.
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02/24/2014
Germany is expected to overhaul its defense procurement policy using external reviews to create greater transparency, experts say, after the defense minister sacked two senior ministry officials last week over mismanagement of numerous procurement programs.
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02/24/2014
Russia has high hopes of developing its own home-grown drones, such as this Dozor-600 being developed by St. Petersburg's Tranzas Company. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. This month, for the first time ever, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu revealed how much Russia intends to spend on building a fleet of high-speed, long-endurance, combat "drone" aircraft: $9 billion.
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02/24/2014
Faced with a Mexican standoff over the home built intermediate jet trainer (IJT) the Indian Air Force (IAF) is prepared to shoot its way out of the crisis. Tired of waiting for the IJT – under development since 1999 – the IAF now wants to import Swiss jets as a contingency measure. The IJT is aimed at providing high-speed training for IAF pilots entering the second stage of training.
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02/24/2014
Governments and industry are in discussions over the fate of the final order of Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets for the four partner nations involved in the program amid Germany’s plan to end its purchases early. The British, German, Italian and Spanish governments are in negotiations with industry over whether to go ahead with part or all of what is known as the Typhoon Tranche 3B order, an executive familiar with the talks said.
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02/24/2014
U.S. military researchers will brief industry on 28 Feb. 2014 on a program to develop software decision aids to plan aerial battles involving manned combat aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Officials of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will outline the upcoming Distributed Battle Management (DBM) program on 28 Feb. from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the DARPA conference Center, 675 North Randolf St., in Arlington, Va.
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02/23/2014
Buenos Aires will acquire military hardware including fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft weapons and specialised radar, as well as beefing up its special forces. The news comes months before drilling for oil begins in earnest off the Falkland Islands, provoking Argentina’s struggling President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Last month she created a new cabinet post of Secretary for the Malvinas, her country’s name for the Falklands.
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02/23/2014
The Pentagon is committed to early design work on a new aircraft that will replace thousands of helicopters now used by the U.S. military, its first "clean sheet design" program in years, the Army official heading the effort said on Friday.
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02/23/2014
An outspoken intelligence officer for the U.S. Pacific Fleet has ruffled feathers in Beijing and Washington by warning publicly that the Chinese military is training for a “short, sharp” war with Japan and planning to establish an air defense identification zone over the disputed South China Sea this year or next.
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02/23/2014
Finland is buying American FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS (MAN-Portable Air-Defense Systems) anti-aircraft missiles to replace the Russian SA-18s they have been using. Since the Soviet Union collapsed, Finland had been systematically replacing its Cold War era Russian weapons with Western ones.
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02/23/2014
The government plans to assess the impact of low-frequency noises caused by the U.S. Marine Corps' MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft in response to calls from Okinawa Prefecture, where the aircraft are deployed, government sources said Saturday. A panel will be set up in April to devise new environmental standards, while the Defense Ministry may send officials to the United States, where the aircraft were developed, to look into relevant studies.
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02/23/2014
Shortage of skill-based workforce was posing a challenge to the growth of the Indian aerospace industry in the absence of synergy between policy, industry and academia, HAL chairman R.K. Tyagi said Saturday. "India needs better training and education infrastructure with a pragmatic policy-industry-academia ecosystem to tap the huge employment potential in the aerospace industry," he said at the first aerospace round table conference here.
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02/23/2014
In the early morning along a barren stretch of beach here last week, Japanese soldiers and American Marines practiced how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces.
Memo to Beijing: Be forewarned.
One Marine sergeant yelled for his men, guns drawn, to push into the right building as they climbed through the window of an empty house meant to simulate a seaside dwelling.
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02/23/2014
The Philippines is close to having its first fighter aircraft in nearly four decades after payment terms for the acquisition of twelve F/A 50s from South Korea were approved. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippines government and South Korea had already come to an agreement over the terms of acquisition of the F/A 50s.
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02/23/2014
Building missiles used to be back-breaking, strenuous work, and dangerous too, given the high level of explosives involved. But U.S. weapons maker Raytheon Co has revolutionized that process at a sprawling, classified facility in Huntsville, Alabama, where automated transporters ferry missile parts to gleaming assembly stations, and even tuck themselves away for charging when their batteries run low.
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02/22/2014
A new advanced fighter jet prototype has been delivered to the Russian Air Force for testing, the manufacturer said Friday. The first T-50 “stealth” fighter had been delivered to a military airfield in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region for test flights, the Sukhoi company said in a statement.
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02/22/2014
The Aggressors have always been one of the highlights of the Red Flag exercises. Their presence and their way to play the adversary role to train coalition combat planes to deal with tomorrow’s air threats is one of the factors that make the drills held at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, so realistic and useful. The Aggressors were created to improve the proficiency of the U.S. fighter pilots following the high combat losses recorded during the Vietnam War.
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02/22/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp must redesign bulkheads on its F-35 fighter jet that developed cracks after extended stress testing, but the issue is not expected to delay the U.S. Marine Corps' plans to start using the plane in combat beginning in 2015, Pentagon and Marine Corps officials said on Friday.
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02/22/2014
China is said to be planning the maiden flight soon of the upgraded version of the J-20 stealth fighter. A number of photos recently taken by aviation enthusiasts at an unidentified base, and widely circulated on websites that follow the Chinese military, show a prototype of the twin-engine, fifth-generation aircraft with the serial code "2011" painted on both sides of the cockpit.
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02/22/2014
U.S. forces will be increasingly threatened by reconnaissance and armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the near future, the U.S. Army said in contract documents released Thursday. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) is currently conducting market research for the development of a Counter UAV. The AMRDEC announced the research in a Request For Information (RFI) document released Thursday.
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02/22/2014
BAE, the world's third-largest defense company, has secured an agreement with Saudi Arabia over the pricing of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon strike jets, after two years of fraught negotiations and unsuccessful efforts to export the aircraft elsewhere. The deal is a major boost for BAE at a critical time, even though it's not expected to make significant financial gains from the agreement in Riyadh.
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02/22/2014
Russian airspace is guarded by a unique aircraft, which can intercept any target, from hidden cruise missiles to satellites – day and night, rain or shine, and at any speed. Defence analysts believe that no other aircraft of its kind would be able to compete with the Russian MiG-31 in the next 10 to 15 years.
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02/22/2014
The Israel Air Force has deemed the F-16I the lead aircraft in combat operations. The Air Force said its fleet of 100 F-16I multi-role fighters was bearing the brunt of combat operations. The service cited such missions as air strikes, air defense and reconnaissance. “We have become a leading component in the IAF,” an F-16I squadron commander, identified only as Lt. Col. Amir, said.
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02/22/2014
The Philippines said Friday a deal has been reached to buy 12 fighter jets worth P18.9 billion ($415.7 million) from South Korea as the country struggles to modernize its military. “We did not only inch closer, we are almost there,” Undersecretary Fernando Manalo, chairman of Bids and Awards Committee, told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo Friday after Manila and Seoul reached a conclusion on the negotiations for the acquisition of 12 FA 50 lead-in fighter jets.
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02/21/2014
RAAF 75 Squadron Hornet and 37SQN C-130J aircraft are currently deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam to take part in Cope North 2014, which began on February 14. The exercise involves, according to a US Air Force statement, “a full spectrum of fighters, bombers, transport, refuelling and command and control aircraft from the US, JASDF, and RAAF designed to improve combat readiness, develop a synergistic disaster response, and increase interoperability between partner nations.”
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02/21/2014
Pakistani jets and AH-1 Cobra gunships of Army Aviation bombed militant hideouts in a northwestern tribal district late Wednesday night, killing at least 35 militants. The mastermind behind the 13 February attack on a police bus in Karachi and foreign militant commanders were among those killed.
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02/21/2014
The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will leave lasting changes on the US military, but their biggest legacy on the Air Force has been the impact on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The service’s ISR mission underwent a renaissance during the decade-plus missions in the region, transforming from a support tool to a vital part of every combat operation, with unmanned systems such as the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper seen as defining symbols of the conflicts.
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02/21/2014
The Air Force has officially expressed its support for a twin-engine concept for the country's indigenous fighter jet development program, saying the design would allow for improved combat capabilities and long-term economic feasibility, officials said Friday. The move comes amid disagreement over the engine choice for the long-delayed 20 trillion won (US$18.6 billion) project to develop and build some 120 units of F-16 class aircraft to replace the aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
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02/21/2014
Earlier this month, four of Washington’s most respected public-policy “think tanks” offered their views on how the U.S. military posture should be organized. They differed on many issues, but one place where they all agreed was on the desirability of retiring the venerable U-2 spy plane in favor of an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft called Global Hawk.
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02/21/2014
The recent Singapore Air Show opened a week after the Indian Defence Expo (Defexpo 2014) ended in Delhi. What evoked interest in Singapore was the CN-235 turboprop maritime patrol aircraft that Indonesia displayed there. Considering the Indonesian defence industry was revived only in 1976 with the establishment of Indonesian Aerospace (IA), this is quite an accomplishment.
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02/21/2014
Lockheed Martin received a $92 million Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract in December 2013 from the U.S. Army for sustainment of the AH-64 Apache helicopter Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system.
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02/21/2014
Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) dual-mode guidance section engaging a laser-designated moving target during an internally funded flight test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The rail-mounted JAGM guidance section flew six kilometers, engaged its precision-strike, semi-active laser and hit the moving target.
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02/21/2014
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has now agreed price escalation terms with the UK relating to the Typhoon aircraft under the Salam program me. The Understanding Document signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2005 included provision for the Typhoon aircraft acquisition by the KSA to be at 2005 economic conditions.
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02/20/2014
JHMCS II is the next generation Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System from the joint venture of Elbit Systems of America and Rockwell Collins. Featuring more intelligence and capabilities than its predecessor, the JHMCS II provides pilot intelligent vision, enhanced situational awareness across the entire battle space during day and night operations, and uses high definition, color symbology while keeping the pilot's head up and eyes out.
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02/20/2014
Bangladesh recently ordered 24 Yak-130 jet trainers from Russia. This makes six export customers for Russia’s new jet trainer. One of these customers may not be able to complete the transaction. In late 2011 Syria agreed to pay $550 million for 36 Yak-130s. Russian officials recently (late January) admitted that delivery to Syria had not yet been made and probably won't as long as the Syrian government is dealing with a growing rebellion.
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02/20/2014
The defence system requirements for the country is opening up an opportunity of $150 billion for the industry in the next five years, said A Sivathanu Pillai, chief controller (R&D), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and CEO & managing director of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd. Out of this, over $100 billion opportunity is for the Indian companies.
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02/20/2014
Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is Saudi Arabia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister has just concluded an official visit to Pakistan. Some defense experts say that Saudi Arabia’s close military ties with Pakistan, though not new, now have a new dimension - namely countering the threat of a nuclear-capable Iran.
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02/20/2014
In a few years, Lockheed Martin Corp. might be the sole U.S. manufacturer of military fighter aircraft. Lockheed's current rival, The Boeing Co., would limit its offerings to jetliner derivatives such as refueling tankers and surveillance planes. This is the picture that is emerging from the Pentagon's buying decisions over the past decade, says Richard Aboulafia, aviation analyst at the Teal Group.
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02/20/2014
BAE has finally agreed a deal over price increases for the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia. The FTSE 100 defence company signed a £4.5bn contract to provide the supersonic fighters to the Middle East nation seven years ago but the sale has faced hurdles over cost, forcing BAE to defer earnings from the so-called "Salam" deal.
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02/20/2014
Two F-35B aircraft fly in close formation while in short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) mode for the first time last week. Pilots Peter Wilson and Dan Levin flew the test jets in STOVL mode, also known as Mode 4, with the F-35B LiftFan engaged and engine rotated downward. The mission measured the effects the aircraft had on each other while in Mode 4 to ensure they can operate in formation safely in an operational environment.
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02/20/2014
Team Apache Sensors, including the U.S. Army Apache Attack Helicopter Project Management Office, the U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], conducted a test flight of the Apache AH-64E Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) during an event at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., yesterday.
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02/20/2014
Belarus will bolster its air defense systems during the Ice Hockey World Championships in May, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Air defense divisions will be operating in a “special regime,” including raising the number of staff members on duty, the ministry’s newspaper “For the Glory of the Motherland” reported.
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02/19/2014
An incident with a highjacked Ethiopian passenger jet has exposed the Swiss Air Force’s inability to deal with threats in ‘off-duty’ hours. An emergency escort to the aircraft in distress was carried out by vigilant colleagues from Italy and France.
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02/19/2014
Royal Thai and U.S. Marines conducted a bilateral external lift exercise with an MV-22B Osprey at Utaphao, Kingdom of Thailand Feb. 17 during exercise Cobra Gold 2014. Roaring in with the ferocity of a mini-tornado, the Osprey kicked up enough dust and debris to completely engulf the aircraft and ground crew below. Jointly the propellers are capable of roughly 12,000 horse power, which potentially can produce ground speed winds up to 200 mph.
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02/19/2014
Rebels in southern Syria say they are planning a spring offensive against Damascus, which regime and opposition sources say will include fighters trained by Western forces in neighbouring Jordan. The Syrian army, meanwhile, is redeploying troops in Quneitra province located on the ceasefire line with Israel, and stepping up shelling on rebel positions in Daraa on the Jordan border to stop any advance, opposition fighters say.
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02/19/2014
More than 1,800 service members and approximately 50 aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Royal Australian air force and South Korea air forces came together to kick off the 85th iteration of Pacific Air Forces' Cope North exercise Feb. 14 on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
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02/19/2014
This year will see programs launched for combat vehicles, light tanks and a new infantry rifle for the French Army, an order for 12 transport and tanker jets for the Air Force, and a signing for a fourth nuclear attack submarine for the Navy, France’s procurement chief said Feb. 18.
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02/19/2014
The Red Arrows unveiled a new tailfin design to celebrate their 50th display season at their home at RAF Scampton near Lincoln. The makeover is the most significant change to the look of the team’s aircraft in its history. All of the team’s jets are receiving the fresh look, although their red and white fuselage remains unchanged.
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02/19/2014
Modern flight simulators - not the recreational kind, the actual kind used to train pilots - are enormous, expensive things. They're impressive, sure, but their cost and size mean they can't exactly be used every day. Which is why a company has been given money by the US Air Force to develop something a little more accessible.
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02/19/2014
The Air Force has told a parliamentary committee that it could have bid for F-22 or B-2 aircraft in its quest for Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) but decided against them as both are among the costliest planes which they did not need.
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02/19/2014
The U.S. Navy recently tested, for the first time on a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft, the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensor that will find hard-to-detect targets over long distances. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are developing and integrating IRST, an essential upgrade to the combat capability of the Navy’s Super Hornets.
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02/18/2014
Sharing a common interest in securing offshore mineral exploration areas throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Israel and Cyprus are tightening defense cooperation through a series of air and naval exercises conducted over the Islands’ southern coast. The relations between Israel, Cyprus and Greece are warming since 2008, as Israel’s close relations with Turkey deteriorated since the rise of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power.
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02/18/2014
In what amounts to another tacit admission that Canada's military is somehow structurally unable to swiftly procure the gear it needs, the Conservative government has quietly announced it's restarting a twice-cancelled plan to extend the life of the CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft.
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02/18/2014
To overcome some of the logistic hurdles posed by the slower-moving unmanned aircraft now being deployed from U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the Central Intelligence Agency may start using new jet-powered drones to target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan, Press Trust of India reported.
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02/18/2014
Three Chinese warships have sent dark new clouds scudding over Australia's strategic horizon, adding to growing unease across the region as Beijing flexes its muscles through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. The sudden appearance near Australia of the guided missile destroyers Wuhan and Haikou, in company with the advanced, 20,000-tonne landing ship Changbaishan, led to the RAAF Orion patrol aircraft being scrambled and sent north of the continent.
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02/18/2014
After a rip-roaring Red Flag air combat exercise at Nellis last week, the bomb squad from Whiteman Air Force Base that steers the big, black, bat-shaped B-2 Spirit jets returned to Missouri. With them they took lessons learned from flying mock war sorties with a mix of 100 U.S. and foreign warplanes.
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02/18/2014
Aliaksandr Lukashenka made a good personnel decision by appointing a new Chief of General Staff. Security agencies suffer from underfunding. It forces them to adopt austerity measures and negatively impacts the number of those who want to choose to serve in the military. Unable to procure new combat aircraft, the Belarusian authorities have decided to modernise their existing fleet.
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02/18/2014
Typhoon crews from 1(Fighter) and 6 Squadrons, based at RAF Leuchars near St Andrew's, took part in Exercise Red Flag in Nevada along with around 160 military aircraft from the US, elsewhere in the UK and Australia. The exercise was designed to replicate combat as closely as possible and saw RAF Typhoon's take off from Nellis Air Force Base, close to the famous Las Vegas strip, for training above the vast Nevada ranges.
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02/18/2014
Amid its modernisation drive, the defence ministry was today allocated Rs 2,24,000 crore in the interim General Budget, marking a 10 percent increase over the last Budget. The allocation for the ministry in the last financial year (2013-14) was Rs 2,03,672 crore, of which around Rs 80,000 crore was to be spent on modernisation.
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02/18/2014
Want to invade Switzerland? Here’s a tip: strike outside office hours. After an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise aircraft carrying 202 passengers entered Swiss airspace today after being hijacked by the co-pilot en route to Rome, Switzerland’s Air Force remained on the ground. That’s because the incident occurred outside normal office hours. Instead, French and Italian fighter jets escorted the Boeing 767 to a safe landing in Geneva.
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02/18/2014
Boeing and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) have successfully completed the Mid-Life Upgrade modification on the first of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft for the French Air Force. The upgrade is part of a Foreign Military Sale in 2010 between France’s Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) and the U.S. government.
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02/17/2014
While the supersonic jets, attack helicopters and surface-to-air missiles longer than a stretch limousine wowed an estimated 80,000 people who attended the final days of the Singapore Airshow over the weekend, it was a small, silent and unarmed weapon that took center stage as major players in the Southeast Asia weapons market hawked their wares.
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02/17/2014
More than 6,000 sailors departed Norfolk, Va., Saturday with the USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group heading for the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East. This is only the second deployment for the Navy’s newest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after the 41st U.S. President — the last of the Nimitz series. Four ships and eight aircraft squadrons will accompany the Bush to the U.S. 6th Fleet and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility.
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02/17/2014
A bill to ratify the Arms Trade Treaty, the first international pact to regulating trade in conventional arms, is scheduled to be submitted to the Diet by the end of this month, government sources said. The measure, coming less than a year after Japan signed the treaty adopted at the U.N. General Assembly last April, underscores Tokyo’s eagerness to nudge others to join the framework, the sources said Saturday.
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02/17/2014
Last week the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and BAE Systems confirmed that the Taranis stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator surpassed all expectations during its first flight trials last year. Since the first flight, conducted August 10th, 2013 the UCAV has been expanding the flight envelope in preparation for the follow-on operational demonstration phase.
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02/17/2014
The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is giving the final touches to the preliminary design of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-II, scheduled to be completed by the end of March. An official told Express on Saturday that the detailed design phase of LCA Mk-II would begin in the second quarter of 2014.
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02/17/2014
On February 7th an Indian pilot landed a MiG-29K on the new Indian aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya for the first time. A Russian pilot was in the back seat to advise but the landing went off with no problem. Indian carrier pilots had been practicing on Vikramaditya size land air strips. This was not the first time a MiG-29K landed on the Vikramaditya. That happened in July 2013 while the Vikramaditya was still in Russia undergoing sea trials.
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02/16/2014
Traditionally, performance drives military-aircraft design decisions and the energy implications of those choices are secondary. But as fuel costs eat into reduced budgets, the balance is shifting. Energy is fast becoming a critical constraint on operations, and the results could reshape aircraft design.
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02/16/2014
With an all-seeing eye 36,000km above the equator, the Indian Navy has kicked off its largest exercise with both the western and eastern fleets amassing in the Bay of Bengal for intensive combat manoeuvres. “Tropex” or the theatre-level readiness and operational exercise underway across the eastern seaboard with over 50 warships, including aircraft carrier INS Viraat and nuclear submarine INS Chakra, as well as scores of fighters, helicopters and drones is a yearly feature.
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02/16/2014
Aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and Royal Australian Air Force fly in formation over the Pacific Ocean in support of exercise Cope North 2013, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 5, 2013.
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02/16/2014
BAE Systems is preparing to leapfrog over Lockheed Martin and gobble up international F-16 upgrade contracts should the US Air Force drop funding for its fighter jet radar upgrade program.
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02/16/2014
As things stand, when the new US defense budget is revealed next month a significant line item that has been a staple for more than four decades will be missing. No new versions of the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet strike fighter, or its EA-18G Growler electronic attack cousin, will appear in the US Navy’s budget request, either for domestic or foreign use. The move has been planned for some time, but is likely to surprise many veteran defense observers — and alarm others.
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02/16/2014
Exactly 10 years ago, in the space of just 13 days, the Indian Air Force dealt a massive blow to the myth of invincibility of the US Air Force. At the Cope India exercise held at the Gwalior air force range on February 15-27, 2004, Indian pilots reportedly notched up an astounding 9:1 kill ratio against the all-powerful USAF, sending shock waves through the American defence establishment.
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02/16/2014
Defence industry executives have revealed that Malaysia was looking to lease fighter jets instead of purchasing them as the country faces shortage of funds, according to US-based military journal Defensenews. It said Putrajaya had put off plans to purchase multi-role combat aircraft on ice last year due to fiscal and political reasons.
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02/15/2014
In light of defence minister A K Antony recently expressing concern over delay in development of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Avinash Chander, director general (R&D) in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said government should adopt an organized approach in such projects.
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02/15/2014
A United States Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon completes a triple roll in the sky above the largest aerospace and defense show in Asia. It's followed with an aerial demonstration by the U.S. MV-22B Osprey - the world's first production tilt-rotor aircraft. It can take off and land like a helicopter, but flies with the range, airspeed and payload of a fixed-wing airplane.
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02/14/2014
France recently received its first two American Reaper UAVs and immediately put them to work. These are replacing older Harfang UAVs. France wasted no time in retiring the Harfangs as three of them have been given (or sold very cheaply) to Morocco. France and Morocco have long had good relations, especially in military matters.
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02/14/2014
Gliding through the air like a phantom in the night, the B-2 Spirit evades enemy air defenses, finds its target, then unleashes its firepower only to slip away from the enemy as quietly as it came. During the years, Red Flag exercises have progressed from dog fight air-to-air combat training into complete combat integration involving all aspects of air warfare. Air-to-ground attacks are a vital part of an air campaign, and the 13th Bomb Squadron brings the B-2, a vital asset, to that fight.
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02/14/2014
With a substantial contract under its belt to upgrade South Korea’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s, BAE Systems is now looking to extend its activities in the market for modifying other nations’ aircraft by looking at Boeing’s F-15 and F/A-18 jets, said executives from the US arm of the British-based company.
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02/14/2014
Swedish defense group Saab AB hopes that a recent Brazilian order for its Gripen aircraft will help it win more fighter-jet deals from other countries, even as the company’s fourth-quarter earnings fell amid tough market conditions, its chief executive said Thursday. “Brazil’s choice of Gripen has received attention across the globe,” Hakan Buskhe told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. “This gives an extra boost to a number of other discussions that we are involved in.”
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02/14/2014
A UK trade body has said that it still sees the potential of supplying Eurofighter to India, which has postponed till the next fiscal its plan to buy 126 fighter planes from France's Dassault Aviation. "We are very keen, should the opportunity arise, to offer India a cost effective solution," Adam Thomas, a senior spokesman for the Defence & Security Organization at the UK Trade and Investment, told PTI at the Singapore Airshow here.
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02/14/2014
Boeing Co is mounting a last-ditch campaign to convince U.S. lawmakers to buy more fighter jets and stave off a shutdown of a St. Louis production line after the U.S. Navy failed to fund the jets. The Navy's fiscal 2015 budget plan omits funding for any extra F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or EA-18G Growlers, according to several sources familiar with the issue. The White House is due to submit its 2015 budget request to Congress on March 4.
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02/14/2014
While the Indonesian government is snubbing the Singapore Airshow this week, the country’s main military manufacturer is using it as an opportunity for a coming-out party, with staff members in orange flight suits courting potential buyers. The showing for the state-owned manufacturer, Indonesian Aerospace, which almost collapsed after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, represents a new sense of optimism that has not been seen in the country’s domestic military sector since the 1980s.
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02/14/2014
Russian aircraft makers are expected to manufacture about 150 military and civilian aircraft in 2014, a government official said Thursday. “The plan for 2014 stipulates production of over 100 combat aircraft and 46 civilian planes, including 40 Sukhoi Superjets,” said Andrei Boginsky, who heads the aviation construction department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
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02/14/2014
Pakistan today said it is looking to sell JF-17 Thunder combat jets and trainer aircraft to Saudi Arabia, but rejected reports it was in talks with the oil-rich nation for nuclear cooperation. Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud is scheduled to visit Pakistan during February 15-17. The visit is expected to focus on deeper security and defence cooperation between the two sides.
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02/14/2014
Boeing today delivered Kuwait's first C-17 Globemaster III airlifter, an aircraft that will expand the Kuwait Air Force's capabilities in military and civilian operations, including humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
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02/13/2014
The President of IRKUT, part of the Russian aerospace conglomerate United Aircraft Corporation, Oleg Demichenko, stated today the air force of his country has already received more than 40 combat aircraft Yak-130 with built-in artificial intelligence. Demichenko pointed out that 42 planes of that type were delivered, and a contract establishes the Ministry of Defence shall receive 55.
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02/13/2014
A new video released by aerospace giant BAE shows a bat-shaped drone zipping down a runway, taking off smoothly, and then coasting over an empty expanse of mountains and valleys before landing back at the empty airstrip. The next-generation unmanned aerial vehicle is outfitted with stealth technology and designed to fly - and theoretically fire at targets on the ground - without a human controller.
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02/13/2014
Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the country’s only planemaker, said it will participate in South Korea’s plan to build its own new fighter jet that will replace the older F-4s, F-5s and F-16s. The Asian nation’s air force is expected to order about 100 aircraft, Chief Executive Officer Ha Sung Yong said in an interview in Singapore today. The government is looking for a foreign partner to collaborate on this project to provide some technical assistance, he said.
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02/13/2014
In the aftermath of the Cold War, the region has become a confused place where foes have become friends and supposed friends bicker over minor — and major — territorial differences. The problem is, the scatterings of conflicted islets which were once “no-go” zones, both diplomatically and developmentally, are now being seen as potentially valuable assets.
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02/13/2014
The Tejas light combat aircraft programme will end up costing India well over Rs 55,000 crore at the very least. The overall developmental cost of the home-grown fighter, which remains a critical operational necessity despite still being in the making after 30 years, currently stands at Rs 17,269 crore.
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02/13/2014
Raytheon has warned against overreliance on stealthy platforms alone in future air combat. Despite their low radar cross-sections (RCS), fifth-generation fighters such as the F-35 can be detected by modern air defense systems. To defeat these defenses, air forces should take full advantage of the latest sensors and weapons that can be carried on less stealthy aircraft, the company said.
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02/13/2014
Faced with China’s increasingly assertive military posture, as well as a continuing ballistic missile threat from North Korea, Japan plans to spend more on defense, boosting its air and maritime forces. The plan commits to buying 28 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, 17 Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, and three Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAVs over the next five years. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) will also upgrade existing fleets of F-2 and F-15 fighters.
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02/13/2014
Russia’s air force will receive 21 Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter jets in 2014, the Irkut aircraft maker said Wednesday. “We have delivered 16 Su-30SM planes so far. An additional 21 aircraft will be supplied this year,” Irkut Corporation president Oleg Demchenko said at the Singapore Air Show. Irkut and the Defense Ministry have signed three separate contracts on the delivery of 65 Su-30SM fighters by 2016.
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02/13/2014
The Russian Air Force received 12 advanced Su-35S multirole fighters Wednesday to be deployed with an air regiment based in Russia’s Far East. The Defense Ministry ordered 48 of the aircraft in 2009, of which 34 have been delivered so far. The final deliveries of the remaining 14 are due in 2015.
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02/12/2014
At this year’s Singapore Airshow, Chinese aviation companies AVIC and CATIC are pushing into the export defense market for Southeast Asia. Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) provided brochures and models of their platforms at this year’s airshow.
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02/12/2014
It appears the U.S. Marine Corps has found a partial solution to this problem in the form of quick-reaction units organized around the MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor, the first operational aircraft in history that combines the vertical agility of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turboprop airplane.
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02/12/2014
The red force's simulated enemy plays a critical role as the opposing force during Red Flag 14-1 by providing U.S. and coalition combat forces from around the world challenges for tomorrow's threats. The aggressor program started as a direct result of a high air combat loss rate experience during the Vietnam War. The tactics the 64th Aggressor Squadron use during Red Flag are designed to train pilots for a higher survivability rate within their first 10 sorties in combat situations.
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02/12/2014
The UK is about to commit to the F-35 fighter project, a US-led effort to produce 3,000 aircraft which is set to cost more than £600bn globally. The initial UK order for 14 F-35Bs will, with support costs added, cost about £2.5bn, Newsnight has learned.
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02/12/2014
Algeria’s Ministry of Defense says 77 people were killed and one man survived after a military transport plane crashed into a mountain in eastern Algeria. The statement said Tuesday the C130 Hercules turboprop was carrying 74 passengers and four crew members.
After radio and radar contact with the flight was lost at 11:37 a.m. local time, three helicopters were sent to find the plane.
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02/12/2014
Defence minister A K Antony’s announcement that the IAF’s multi-combat aircraft deal cannot be inked this year because of financial constraints means that the modernisation of the military has once again been put on hold. This does not redound to the credit of the government which has not managed its finances well.
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02/12/2014
Putrajaya’s aim to trim its chronic budget deficit and an increasingly vocal opposition are forcing the country to defer updates to existing military assets that are already behind schedule, according to an international aviation news site. Some programmes such as the Royal Malaysian Airforce’s (RMAF) plan to retire some long-serving combat aircraft have already been put on hold and may not be revived before 2016.
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02/12/2014
Lockheed Martin received a $22 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) Special Repair Activities for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command’s Apache attack helicopters.
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02/12/2014
Russia’s third aerobatics team will comprise 12 Yak-130 combat trainer jets, the Irkut aircraft maker said Tuesday. According to Irkut president Oleg Demchenko, the company in December signed a contract with the Defense Ministry on the delivery of 12 Yak-130 aircraft to form a new aerobatics team.
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02/11/2014
Boeing is ready to throw its hat in the ring and compete for upcoming Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter upgrades, company executives said Feb. 10 ahead of the start of the Singapore Air Show. The US defense giant is eyeing Singapore as a target if the southeast Asian nation decides to compete a possible upgrade of its F-16 fleet, said Chris Raymond, vice president of business development and strategy for Boeing Defense, Space and Security.
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02/11/2014
As the Singapore Airshow approaches, interest in the future global fighter market is growing. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is perhaps the favoured competitor in this market, but it also faces cost-benefit disadvantages that give other fighter jets an opening.
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02/11/2014
A decadelong effort by South Korea to develop its own fighter aircraft has finally received approval, yet the feasibility of the ambitious indigenous project, dubbed KF-X, is still in debate. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced Jan. 5 that it would begin the KF-X development with the allocation of 20 billion won (US $19 million). Seoul aims to produce 120 KF-X jets between 2023 and 2030, the agency said.
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02/11/2014
Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RAC MiG) plans to double aircraft production by 2017, deputy CEO for economics and finance Sergei Mamayev told Interfax. "Today we produce from scratch and sell about 16 planes per year.
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02/11/2014
India’s own fighter, the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), is playing a growing role in protecting Indian airspace. On December 20, when the Tejas was cleared for operational service in the Indian Air Force (IAF), Defence Minister A K Antony declared 200 Tejas fighters would eventually enter combat service. Today, that figure quietly swelled to well above 300, with the government indicating the IAF would have at least 14 Tejas squadrons.
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02/11/2014
The project to co-develop Fifth General Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with Russia and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft and Intermediate Jet Trainer programmes have been delayed, Defence Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha today. Answering another query, he said due to time overruns in the Intermediate Jet Trainer programme of the HAL, the Government has decided to extend the use of the Kiran-MkI trainer aircraft till 2017-18.
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02/11/2014
Boeing is helping Turkey improve its self-defense capabilities with the recent delivery of the first Peace Eagle Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft. The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) now has advanced airborne surveillance and battle management capabilities, and can simultaneously track airborne and maritime targets, with the first of four AEW&C aircraft it has received from Boeing.
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02/11/2014
An Indian company has signed a contract with a Ukraine weapons exporter to buy up to 138 anti-aircraft vehicles, the Ukrainian defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom said on its website Monday. According to the statement, one anti-aircraft gun and one command vehicle will be sent to India’s Larsen & Toubro for evaluation, and the company will then have the right to purchase up to 138 of the systems under the contract.
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02/11/2014
The Russian military has postponed tests of a high-endurance drone until an unspecified future date, a spokesperson for the United Arab Emirates company that makes the vehicle said Monday. “All existing agreements will remain in force, but the Russian side has requested a delay in testing from February until a later date,” Tatyana Kirova of Adcom Systems said.
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02/10/2014
The following video of Finnish Air Force F-18s departing from a public road was filmed during Ex. Warkaus 2011 at on Highway 5 in Joroinen Finland. Such kind of training, has been part of the standard training conducted mainly in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe since the Cold War.
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02/10/2014
Iranian warships in the Atlantic Ocean are to sail close to US maritime borders for the first time, a senior naval commander has said. Iranian media quoted Adm Afshin Rezayee Haddad as saying the deployment was a response to US vessels in the Gulf. The fleet consists of a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship.
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02/10/2014
The British Ministry of Defence reveals for the first time how British crews using unmanned US aircraft launched missiles in conflict zones. According to new figures, British pilots have launched at least 39 missile strikes against suspected Taliban insurgents from US drones based in Afghanistan. The details have emerged from the Ministry of Defence.
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02/10/2014
As British troops strip down equipment and load containers to leave Afghanistan, its military self-confidence has rarely been lower. When Britain ramped up its presence in Helmand Province in 2006, it was a different story. Afghanistan, current and former officers say, was seen as a winnable war that would showcase Britain's military and rebuild its reputation with U.S. officers underwhelmed by its performance in Iraq.
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02/10/2014
We are sending the following post from the media preview held today at the Singapore Airshow, two days before the official opening of the Singapore Airshow, some of the visiting aircraft and most of the Singapore Air Force aircraft are already parked at the static display area.
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02/10/2014
Goodbye, EADS; Hello, Airbus Group (Stand J23/Chalet CD19). Specifically, hello to Airbus Defense & Space, one of the group’s three divisions. Singapore is the first major air show for the new organization that merged Airbus Military, Astrium and Cassidian on January 1.
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02/10/2014
Comments by the leaders of Japan and the Philippines drawing parallels between China’s growing assertiveness in the region and events in pre-war Europe are “not helpful,” said the commander of USAF in the Pacific. “The rise of Germany and what occurred between the U.K. in particular and Germany, and what happened in Europe, I don’t draw that comparison at all to what’s going on today” in the Asia-Pacific, General Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, 58, said in an interview yesterday in Singapore.
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02/09/2014
The U.S. Air Force presence in Kyrgyzstan has ended, and a new hub in Romania is up and running. On Jan. 31, the 376th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron air traffic control airmen at Manas Transit Center deactivated, ending 10 years of controlling aircraft at the base, the major hub for Air Force operations into and out of Afghanistan. The base’s operations are being replaced by the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in eastern Romania.
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02/09/2014
In marked contrast to India’s regrettable declining defence budget expenditures in face of rising threats from China and Pakistan, one is witnessing a surging increase in China’s defence budget notably when China faces no credible military threats from any quarter. China ‘s defence budget is assessed to touch US $ 148 billion in 2014, second only to the United States defence budget and outstripping the combined defence budgets of Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
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02/09/2014
Hindustan Aeronautics will soon roll out India’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, LCA architect and D.S. Kothari Chair at Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore, Kota Harinarayana has said. This year HAL will make two aircraft and will progressively increase the number, he said. Tejas will be used for training and simulation based on the inputs of pilots for further improvements.
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02/09/2014
Renewed fighting broke a cease-fire in the embattled central Syrian city of Homs and halted a plan to evacuate civilians and bring supplies into rebel-held areas under siege, an official and activists said Saturday. The official said the fighting included a mortar that landed near U.N. personnel. An activist said combat began when government forces fired 11 rockets toward the rebel-held Hamidiyeh quarter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
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02/09/2014
The current political climate and government austerity measures in Malaysia mean that a number of programs for the Malaysian armed forces look likely to be postponed until the time frame of the 11th Malaysia Plan, which covers government spending for the period of 2016-2020.
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02/08/2014
The Pentagon has dropped a plan to retire one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers after the White House intervened to head off a brewing political fight. The military had proposed an early retirement of the USS George Washington, reducing the U.S. carrier fleet to 10, as part of plan to deal with cost cuts imposed by Congress.
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02/08/2014
After more than a year of modification maintenance, the newly created AC-130J Ghostrider took to the skies for the first time as a gunship here Jan. 31. In early Jan 2013, the Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J arrived here to begin the modification process with the goal of creating a "best of both worlds" aircraft. The end result became a 'hybrid' C-130 model with the flying proficiencies of the MC-130J and the combat capabilities of an AC-130.
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02/08/2014
The US Air Force has contracted Cubic Defense Applications to supply the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) with the P5 Combat Training System (P5 CTS) to provide Moroccan pilots with realistic air combat simulation training in line with the country's force modernisation requirements.
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02/08/2014
Defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. signed an agreement with Monrovia drone maker AeroVironment Inc. to pursue opportunities together in unmanned aircraft development. The deal was announced late Thursday at the Defense Expo in India and centered on jointly working on AeroVironment’s massive robotic Global Observer aircraft. The companies are looking to sell the high-flying drone overseas.
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02/08/2014
Financial approval for the UK's main procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)/Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) is expected in the next three years, a government minister disclosed on 5 February. Answering questions in the House of Commons, Philip Dunne, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support, and Technology, said that the financial approval for this main buy, known as Main Gate 5, should be granted in 2017.
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02/08/2014
Russia fulfils all of its obligations under the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) programme with India, Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin said at the Defexpo-2014 security systems exhibition in New Delhi. “We pay no attention to negative publications that appear from time to time and claim that Russia does not fulfil its obligations under the fifth generation fighter aircraft programme.
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02/08/2014
New Mexico’s most popular National Park Service attraction for tourists, White Sands National Monument, remains closed after a large military drone crashed Friday morning on monument property. Holloman AFB officials say a supersonic QF-4 drone, similar to the one in the photo, crashed during a training mission at 9:08 a.m.
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02/08/2014
An Indian MiG-29 naval jet landed on a refitted former Soviet aircraft carrier Friday, marking the first such operation since the ship was delivered by Russia to the south Asian nation earlier this year. “An exciting event took place today – the first landing of an [Indian] MiG-29 piloted by an Indian pilot on the Vikramaditya,” Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation vice president Igor Ponomarev told reporters at the ongoing DEFEXPO-2014 exhibition in New Delhi.
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02/08/2014
The first ever test launch of an advanced Russian-Indian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from a warship in salvo mode took place earlier this year and was successful, a Brahmos Aerospace spokesman said Thursday. Two missiles were launched within an interval of several seconds, the spokesman told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the DefExpo-2014 exhibition in New Delhi.
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02/07/2014
Taranis, a top secret unmanned British aircraft, has successfully made its maiden flight at an undisclosed test range believed to be in Australia. The flight was in August last year but the Ministry of Defence has only just made the fact public. The video released of the flight suggests it took place over Australia’s red centre.
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02/07/2014
he Air Force will replace thousands of unreliable aircraft personnel locator beacons across the fleet, a service official said Jan. 16, here. Locator beacons are an automated method used to locate an aviator should he or she eject or egress in peacetime flights, said Col. Aaron Clark, the Global Power Programs Directorate deputy director for Air Force acquisitions.
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02/07/2014
In what will equip India with missile power comparable to only a few in the world, Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is finalising plans to launch Astra, the Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, in March or at the most April this year. If Astra is successfully fired from a Su-30 aircraft, India would join the elite group of nations including USA, France, Russia and Israel possessing such missiles.
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02/07/2014
Already denied F-16C/D combat aircraft it has sought to acquire for years, Taiwan could now be the unintended victim of “very tough” budgetary decisions by the U.S. Air Force that run the risk of derailing a $5.3 billion retrofit program for the island’s 146 F-16A/B aircraft, according to recent reports that are now being disputed.
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02/07/2014
Targeting pods are now almost a baseline system on combat aircraft. Air forces have realised that such a system is a key tool to accomplish missions as planned – and with the twist of real-time changing operational requirements. When Rafael in Israel first came out with its Litening targeting pod, customers were slow to react. Now, after selling 1,400 Litening pods to 27 customers around the world, the company’s forecast is for demand for another 500 Litening targeting pod in the next 5-7 years.
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02/07/2014
Government is looking into the complaints against the procedure to determine the winner of multi-billion dollar combat aircraft deal, Defence Minister AK Antony on Thursday said while admitting that there was no money to sign such a big deal in this fiscal. "There are complaints about the procedure of calculating the Life Cycle Cost and that issue is not yet settled.
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02/07/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] received a $60 million sustainment and support contract from AgustaWestland for the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system on the U.K.’s Apache AH Mk-1 aircraft.
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02/07/2014
Russia exported $4.78 billion worth of arms and military equipment to India last year, a senior Russian arms industry official said Thursday. “It’s a very good result,” Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said at the DefExpo-2014 arms fair in New Delhi.
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02/07/2014
Saudi Arabian Airlines(Saudia) has signed a collaboration agreement with American manufacturer Boeing that could see it developing partnership activities in the field of defence as well as in its commercial operations.
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02/06/2014
Two Israeli combat pilots were jailed for five days and 12 others were disciplined for storing operational maps on their smartphones, Israeli Army Radio reported today. Israeli military authorities discovered the security breach after one of the pilots reported he had lost his cellphone and that it contained sensitive data. It was recovered, the report said, and investigators found he had loaded maps, waypoints and other classified documents.
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02/06/2014
To be clear, none of the four teams in a recent “budget wargame” simulating the next 10 years chose to scrap all the flattops or even most of them. None of them even stopped building the new Ford-class carriers. Instead they opted to keep the industrial base alive with new production while retiring two, three, or even four of the existing carriers, which would avoid expensive mid-life overhauls like the one the USS George Washington is due to start this year.
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02/06/2014
For three days, the family of Capt. Lucas Gruenther waited while rescuers searched for the F-16 pilot in the Adriatic Sea. Gruenther, the chief of flight safety for the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, had ejected from his F-16 in poor weather off the Italian coast. And while an Italian and American fleet combed the Adriatic, Gruenther’s family gathered together and hoped for good news.
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02/06/2014
The Conservative government is reducing the Department of National Defence’s influence in steering big-ticket military purchases after a string of delays and cost overruns in acquiring hardware for the Canadian Armed Forces.
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02/06/2014
Royal Air Force Tornado fighter jets joined the chorus of man-made thunder Tuesday as military aircraft from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom stormed off into a wintry sky toward the Nevada Test and Training Range to kick off another day of Red Flag exercises.
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02/06/2014
The most advanced aircraft ever built by British engineers has successfully completed its first flights. Taranis, an unmanned aerial combat vehicle designed and built by a team comprising BAE Systems, Qinetiq, GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, and DE&S, was flown for the first time at an undisclosed test range on Saturday 10th August 2013.
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02/06/2014
Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) stands ready to support customers with a variety of regional security and commercial services solutions as the aerospace world shifts its focus this week to Asia Pacific. During the Singapore Airshow, the Corporation will highlight its 50-year history in the region and discuss new areas for partnership and collaboration with its valued customers.
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02/06/2014
The Russia-Belarus Union State will allocate 3.2 billion rubles ($91.5 million) in 2014 for joint military, defense industry and security projects, the body’s top official said Wednesday.
The supranational entity spent only 1.3 billion rubles on defense and security from a 2.5bln-ruble budget assigned for this purpose last year, State Secretary of the Russia-Belarus Union State Grigory Rapota said.
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02/06/2014
Russia’s new Yak-130 combat trainer will take part in demonstration flights at the Singapore Air Show next month, a government agency said Wednesday. According to the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation will also showcase models of Su-35 and T-50 fighter jets as well as several civilian aircraft: the Sukhoi Superjet 100, MS-21 and Be-200.
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02/05/2014
In late December 2013, Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship that can function as an aircraft carrier, potentially providing Turkey an unprecedented measure of sea control in the region.
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02/05/2014
They will be teaming up with the french after a £120m deal was signed by Prime Minister David Cameron and French President, Francois Hollande for a two year unmanned systems feasibility study. France has been researching its own drone-style aircraft and BAE has already produced its Taranis unmanned air vehicle at Warton. It has also been conducting test flights of a Jetstream aircraftwhich can operate without a pilot. Warton is expected to be the centre of the new collaboration.
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02/05/2014
Since the Pentagon chose the F-35, the program has run into delays, huge extra costs, and lots of concerns about the jets themselves. In 2020, 18 of these new fighter jets will land at the Vermont Air National Guard. Hard to believe but the Pentagon started working on a new fighter jet 17-years ago.
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02/05/2014
The Final Operational Clearance (FOC) campaign of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is set to gain momentum with the high altitude trials scheduled this week in Leh. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) Director P S Subramanyam told Express on Tuesday that during the Leh trials, the aircraft engine would be started at lower than -10 degree Celsius.
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02/05/2014
Turkey has continued to intercept Syrian warplanes. Officials said Syria and Turkey have engaged in dogfights over their mutual border. They said the confrontations have focused on control of the air space over northern Syria, which contains Al Qaida militias. “The Syrians are increasingly using their air defense systems to threaten Turkish fighter-jets,” an official said.
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02/05/2014
Negotiations over the multibillion dollar deal to sell 126 Dassault Rafale jets to India have stalled, according to Indian Defence Ministry sources, who say the sticking point involves issues governing license-production of the jets at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
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02/05/2014
The development and construction of a new aircraft carrier for the Russian navy could take about 10 years, a St. Petersburg-based ship design bureau said Monday. Sergei Vlasov, general director of the Nevskoye design bureau, said the overall cost of the ship could range between 100 and 250 billion rubles ($2.8-7.1 billion).
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02/05/2014
A Communist Party magazine has revealed concerns expressed by President Xi Jinping during his inspection of China's first aircraft carrier in August. Xi's visit to the ship was widely covered by mainland media, but until yesterday what he discussed with the Liaoning's commander had not been reported.
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02/05/2014
Airbus Group NV (AIR), aiming to pitch its C295 plane to the Indian Air Force, said it may set up a local assembly line for the military transport aircraft as it seeks to boost business outside the U.S. and Europe. The planemaker will bid for the Indian contract next month, Christian Scherer, head of marketing and sales at Airbus Defense & Space, said by e-mail. India, the world’s largest arms importer, invited bids last year for 56 transport planes to replace its aging fleet of Avro aircraft.
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02/05/2014
Lockheed Martin is developing a software planner that integrates air operations and missile defense systems, giving the Air Force the ability to “see” and better understand dynamic global situations. The U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth approximately $8 million to provide an air and missile defense planner that will be integrated into the U.S. Air Force Air Operations Center.
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02/04/2014
Fighter jets from NATO and partner countries began to conduct a wide range of air defence-related flying activities over Iceland on Monday (3 February 2014), in the first event of its kind to be held on the island. The Iceland Air Meet 2014 (IAM2014) brings together participants from NATO members Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States, and from partner countries Finland and Sweden, supported by NATO AWACS.
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02/04/2014
It is a weapon that could mean the end of traditional missiles. Lockheed Martin revealed is has tested the a 30-kilowatt electric fiber laser, the highest power ever fired. The firm says the weapon could eventually be mounted on jets, tanks and fighter planes - and will more than triple in strength before being used in combat.
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02/04/2014
China already spends more on its military than any country in the world except the United States. Now, as defense budgets at the Pentagon and in many NATO countries shrink, China’s People’s Liberation Army is gearing up for a surge in new funding, according to a new report.
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02/04/2014
Two weeks ago the annual report of the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation was leaked to the Reuters news agency in advance of its public release. The subsequent dissemination of its contents has afforded critics of the tri-service F-35 fighter program the opportunity for a new round of complaints about the supposed mis-steps of those engaged in developing the plane.
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02/04/2014
The U.S. Navy plans to take the Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft out to sea onboard an aircraft carrier this summer to test how well it operates together with manned aircraft around the ship and on the flight deck.
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02/04/2014
Lockheed Martin officials submitted a Program Notification Letter to the Federal Aviation Administration on Jan. 21, 2014, for a type design update for the Lockheed Martin Model L-382J airplane, a civil-certified variant of the proven C-130J Super Hercules to be marketed as the LM-100J.
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02/04/2014
Boeing will deliver an additional 2,550 Combat Survivor Evader Locator radios – which are vital to the rescue of downed pilots and other warfighters in dangerous situations – under a new $24 million contract with the U.S. Air Force. A global emergency call system that enables the safe, fast and efficient recovery of warfighters in harm's way, CSEL is used by the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy for search and rescue operations.
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02/04/2014
A training facility for naval pilots to practice aircraft carrier operations is set to open in India’s coastal Goa region later this month, the head of the Russian company overseeing the project said Monday. The site is based on a Russian facility under construction near the Black Sea town of Yeysk that was planned to open last year but has suffered undisclosed delays.
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02/04/2014
The development and construction of a new aircraft carrier for the Russian navy could take about 10 years, a St. Petersburg-based ship design bureau said Monday. Sergei Vlasov, general director of the Nevskoye design bureau, said the overall cost of the ship could range between 100 and 250 billion rubles ($2.8-7.1 billion).
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02/04/2014
Russia will deploy four additional Su-25 ground attack aircraft at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, Russia’s Central Military District said Monday. “A unit of modernized Su-25SM Frogfoot fighter-bombers will be deployed this year at the Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan,” the district said in a statement.
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02/03/2014
Syrian government aircraft unleashed a wave of airstrikes on more than a dozen rebel-held neighborhoods in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, as President Bashar Assad's forces inched into areas controlled by opposition fighters for more than a year, activists said.
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02/03/2014
The U.S. and French navies completed five weeks of rare combined carrier strike group operations in the Middle East Sunday. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and French Navy Task Force 473 — which includes the French carrier FS Charles de Gaulle — began operating together in late December.
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02/03/2014
As officials in Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) were busying themselves for Chinese New Year celebrations last week, they received potentially devastating news for the Pacific nation’s air defense plans. The US Air Force plans to defund the combat avionics programmed extension suite (CAPES) program, as budget constraints could force the service to move remaining money from CAPES to the F-16 service-life extension program (SLEP), according to sources.
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02/03/2014
The U.S. Department of Defenseis being accused of deception for refusing to admit the true cost of the new F-35 in the face of growing cuts in the military budget. Despite these cuts the Department of Defense will not change the number of F-35s ordered nor the unit cost that should be increased becasue of these cuts. Something has to give. The U.S. Air Force still expects to get production models of its 31 ton F-35A in late 2016.
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02/03/2014
After a tense budget battle last year, the Air Force is gearing up to defend what service officials have called a series of hard choices about what to keep and what to dump. With finances tight, the biggest fight is over whether to modernize older platforms or risk a capabilities gap while pushing that funding toward recapitalization programs.
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02/02/2014
anuary Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetzov passed through the English Channel on its way to the Mediterranean. The carrier had five escort vessels and military pilots flying close by could not help but notice that there was a lot of rust on the deck of the carrier. This was not a good sign.
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02/02/2014
In early January, nearly 300 airmen and 12 F-16s from Hill Air Force Base left the friendly confines of Utah for one of the most unstable regions in the world - and after a month in Korea, the group has already become a stabilizing force. Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing and the Air Force Reserve 419th Fighter Wing are at Osan Air Base in South Korea, providing what Air Force officials call a "theater security package."
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02/02/2014
The US military believes that China is developing “growing confidence” that it can deal with or deter US intervention if Beijing attacks Taiwan. It was also revealed in testimony before a congressional commission that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) appears to have a “more mature viewpoint” on military operations against the US.
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02/02/2014
Since the establishment of the East China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) has constantly been a subject of public discussion. A recent report about the first PLA AEW&C aircraft fleet captured immediate attention from both at home and abroad after being published.
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02/02/2014
Russia is set to supply fellow former Soviet nation Kazakhstan with S-300 air defense systems free-of-charge, a top Russian military official said Friday. Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, who was part of a military delegation traveling to the Central Asian state, said five battalions of S-300PS systems would be supplied from the arsenals of the Russian army.
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02/01/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and BAE Systems Plc remained the top three global armsmakers even as suppliers from South Korea, Brazil and Russia made inroads in a market that contracted for a second year. Sales of weapons and services by the 100 largest suppliers fell 4.2 percent in real terms to $395 billion in 2012 after a 6.6 percent retreat in the previous year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a review that excludes Chinese manufacturers.
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02/01/2014
The UK and France have agreed to strengthen defence cooperation following a Summit at RAF Brize Norton today. A communiqué signed by the Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande sets out plans for closer ties between the two countries. ”Britain and France are natural partners for Defence cooperation. We have made substantial progress since the Lancaster House Treaty was signed in 2010 and today we have committed ourselves to go further still.”
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02/01/2014
With U.S. forces pivoting to the Pacific, Air Combat Command's detachment on Barksdale, the 548th Combat Training Squadron, has for the first time, incorporated maritime training into a Green Flag exercise involving the F-16C Fighting Falcons of the 187th Fighter Wing from Montgomery, Ala. from Jan. 9 through 28.
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02/01/2014
Dassault Aviation is delighted by the decision announced today by the President of the French Republic, Francois Hollande, and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, concerning the future combat air system. This decision led to the signing by the French Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and his counterpart, of a letter of intent which formalizes the launch of joint feasibility studies in the field of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS).
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02/01/2014
As the Indian Navy gears up for the exciting prospect of operating two aircraft carriers simultaneously-the ageing INS Viraat and the newer INS Vikramaditya that entered into service in 2013, the defence wing has commissioned Asia's first 'Shore Based Test Facility' (SBTF) at INS Hansa, the Naval aviation station near Dabolim, in South Goa. The SBTF is chiefly used for flight testing of Naval aircraft that operate from aircraft carriers.
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02/01/2014
Team Fairchild joined 65 other units and U.S. allies to participate in Red Flag 14-1 here Jan. 27, 2014. The three-week long exercise is a realistic combat training exercise conducted by the 414th Combat Training Squadron three times a year over the Nevada Test and Training Range.
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02/01/2014
With general elections expected before May, corruption scandals over high-profile defense deals, and a deflated rupee, Defense Minister A.K. Antony, who has cultivated an image of integrity, has taken a go-slow approach on vitally needed equipment projects.
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01/31/2014
It is either comfortably on track to forming the cornerstone of the western world’s militaries or a flop so unairworthy that lightning could down it. The US public has this week been presented with sharply contrasting takes on the world’s biggest-ever military procurement project.
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01/31/2014
India is close to buying Japanese-made military aircraft in a $1.65-billion deal, becoming the first country since World War II to buy a military aircraft from Japan, helping the country wriggle out of a self-imposed ban of the sale of weapons.
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01/31/2014
The Boeing Co. and the U.S. Air Force say development and delivery of a new aerial-refueling tanker is still on track, despite a Pentagon report released this week warning that the $52 billion program could be delayed six to 12 months during testing. However, the analysis in the U.S. Defense Department report was based on historical data from military development programs, whereas the KC-46A program schedule is based on Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ more aggressive approach to testing.
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01/31/2014
Developed at the end of the 1960s to be the best air superiority fighter in the world, the F-15 proved to be a real MiG Killer during Operation Desert Storm scoring most of the allied aerial victories. During the Air War over Iraq the mighty Eagle proved also to be a very robust airframe, bringing back its pilots also after suffering serious damages.
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01/31/2014
When the British and French governments signed a military cooperation agreement in 2010, it was intended to usher in close cooperation between Europe’s leading military powers. A little more than three years later, the promise of the Lancaster House Treaty has only been half fulfilled. While cooperation on the countries’ nuclear deterrents has advanced and their armed forces increasingly exchange officers, there have yet to be any savings from jointly procuring costly weaponry, analysts said.
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01/31/2014
The $397 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program suffers from such severe software problems that aircraft could not conduct operational missions today, the Pentagon’s chief tester said in his annual report to Congress, which was released to the public yesterday.
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01/31/2014
India will soon join the elite league of nations to desing and produce mid-combat aircraft with stealth capability. “Defence Research and Development Organisation has already come up with light combat aircraft (LCA) and in the next phase we are working on a mid combat aircraft (MCA) with stealth capability. The structure and design has to be made in such a way that they remain invisible to the radar,” Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, chief controller.
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01/30/2014
Islamic militants in North Sinai have released a video which appears to show them shooting down an Egyptian military Mi8/17 transport helicopter, the first time militants have successfully targeted an Egyptian military aircraft.
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01/30/2014
U.S. Air Force and Boeing Co officials on Wednesday expressed confidence that a $52 billion air refueling program would deliver its first 18 planes by August 2017 as scheduled, despite a Pentagon report warning that testing of the new aircraft could be delayed by at least six to 12 months.
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01/30/2014
While Iraq’s request to purchase Apache attack helicopters and Hellfire missiles has garnered headlines this week, two other regional countries have received approval to buy US military equipment. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DCSA) has notified Congress that it has approved key foreign military sales to the United Arab Emirates and Libya last week, bring the total worth of approvals to $7.1 billion.
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01/30/2014
United Technologies Corp. officials weren't talking late Monday about defense industry rumors that Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft could be up for sale. Even U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was in the dark after touring Sikorsky earlier in the day with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate assistant majority leader.
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01/30/2014
Britain and France are to join forces to build a new generation of lethal drones as part of a controversial defence deal. President François Hollande is due to arrive in Britain on Friday for a summit with David Cameron at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where they are expected to agree to develop an Anglo-French Predator-type military drone.
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01/30/2014
The latest iteration of the Air Force's premier air-to-air combat training exercise kicked off Jan. 27 as allied and U.S aircraft launched to simulate battle in the sky over the Nevada Test and Training Range. Allied aircrews from Great Britain and Australia joined U.S. warfighters in the continued effort to maximize combat readiness, capability and survivability in a contested and degraded environment during Red Flag 14-1, hosted by the 414th Combat Training Squadron.
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01/30/2014
This is not your typical military battle. No weapons will be fired, and no troops deployed. This is a budget battle. In an effort to trim spending, the Air Force is planning to retire hundreds of Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, better known as the "Warthog," a move that will save the Air Force more than $3.7 billion by 2020. It is all part of a congressional mandate which aims to cut $50 billion from the Air Force budget over the next five years.
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01/30/2014
The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter met most of its flight test goals in fiscal 2013, but development of the fighter, especially its mission system software and weapons integration, lagged in some respects, according to an annual report issued by the Pentagon’s top weapons test director.
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01/30/2014
Last summer, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the prospect of mothballing three aircraft carriers as part of a broader strategy to cut military spending. In December, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office listed 28 ways to reduce the budget deficit by cutting discretionary spending. Option number six was to stop building aircraft carriers.
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01/30/2014
The visit by a HAL team to Dassault facilities in France has been put on hold amid efforts by the government to verify the linkages between AgustaWestland's parent firm Finmecannica and other European defence companies. The defence ministry earlier this month scrapped a deal with AgustaWestland for procuring 12 VVIP choppers after charging it with breaching contractual obligations.
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01/29/2014
Bangladesh ordered 24 Russian Yak-130 light fighter jets worth $800 million in the final quarter of last year, a Russian newspaper reported Tuesday. The deal was paid for with a loan extended by Moscow to the country a year ago, the director of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said in a separate interview published by Kommersant on Monday, without disclosing the deal’s price tag.
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01/29/2014
Here it is, for everyone to ponder, the F-35 portion of the annual report from Michael Gilmore, director of the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation office. The only sort of public annual benchmark on the success or failure of the Pentagon’s major programs, the OT&E report is often quite dated by the time it comes out. Read the material on software delays with that in mind. The Block 2B software could be delayed by 13 months, the report concludes.
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01/29/2014
The Army is spending $4.6 million to buy a low-altitude aircraft surveillance system that would improve safety in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord training areas where four helicopter pilots were killed in a December 2011 collision. The system, to be built by Saab Defense and Security, would enable Lewis-McChord air traffic controllers to monitor helicopters that fly below 500 feet.
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01/29/2014
U.S. Customs and Border Protection grounded its fleet of unmanned aircraft Tuesday after losing one worth $12 million in the Pacific Ocean. The unarmed aircraft had a mechanical failure while on patrol of the southern California coast. The crew determined that it wouldn't make it back to Sierra Vista, Ariz., "and put the aircraft down in the water," the agency said in a statement.
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01/29/2014
The U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle isn't officially dead, but maneuver officials are already searching for a new, air-droppable combat vehicle to support light infantry units.
The Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga., recently released a Sources Sought document to see if industry is capable of building the Ultra Light Combat Vehicle – an armored chariot that could be carried by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, or airdropped by C-130 aircraft.
(Read More...)
01/29/2014
An upcoming Anglo-French summit could breathe fresh life into a bilateral defense relationship seen as faded, with industry waiting to hear if there is progress on an anti-ship missile and a future combat drone for the two nations. Prime Minister David Cameron and President François Hollande are due to meet Jan. 31 at Royal Air Force base Brize Norton in southern England.
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01/29/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 jet developed cracks in testing of the fighter's durability and wasn't sufficiently reliable in training flights last year, the Pentagon's chief tester found. On-ground testing of the Air Force and Marine Corps versions of the fighter revealed "significant findings" of cracks on five occasions in fuselage bulkheads, flanges, stiffeners and engine mounts "that will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight."
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01/29/2014
Lockheed Martin has demonstrated a 30-kilowatt electric fiber laser, the highest power ever documented while retaining beam quality and electrical efficiency. The internally funded research and development program culminated in this demonstration, which was achieved by combining many fiber lasers into a single, near-perfect quality beam of light—all while using approximately 50 percent less electricity than alternative solid-state laser technologies.
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01/29/2014
Lockheed Martin received a $31.1 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for follow-on production of paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) kits. The contract represents the majority share award of the available fiscal year 2013 funding. Production deliveries under this contract will include computer control groups and air foil groups for GBU-10 and GBU-12 bombs.
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01/28/2014
According to leaked documents the head of the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation office, Michael Gilmore, has raised major concerns about software flaws in the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the sensors on board the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The eight Australian Poseidons to be based at Edinburgh near Adelaide are due in service by 2019 to replace the RAAF's P3C Orion maritime patrol planes.
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01/28/2014
United Technologies Corp. (UTC) is considering the future of America’s leading helicopter maker, Sikorsky, and whether to sell, spinoff or forge a strategic merger for the manufacturer of the Black Hawk, one of the world’s most popular military helicopters, sources said.
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01/28/2014
South Korea and the United States are scaling down their annual joint military exercises, apparently in response to a series of conciliatory moves by North Korea. “The two sides have mapped out an exercise plan that will not feature a super-carrier or strategic bombers,” a government official said Monday, speaking of the upcoming Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills.
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01/28/2014
New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte is warning the Air Force that any attempt to cut the A-10 in 2014 may violate the law, a clear warning shot at the service as it prepares to release its 2015 budget. Ayotte and her allies inserted language into the 2014 National Defense Authorization act (NDAA) stating the service “may not retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage” any A-10 aircraft during the entirety of calendar year 2014.
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01/28/2014
Australia’s program to replace its F/A-18A/B Hornet fleet with F-35A joint strike fighters will achieve a significant milestone in July when the first aircraft rolls off the assembly line, followed by the second four weeks later. On Dec. 13, that first aircraft transitioned from the Electronic Mate and Assembly System to the final assembly line at Fort Worth. It marked the first time the aircraft had stood on its own wheels.
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01/28/2014
Iraq’s embattled government will be allowed to buy and lease Apache attack helicopters to help fight a renewed insurgency after a U.S. lawmaker lifted his long-running objections to the deal, the Pentagon said Monday. The agreement allows Iraq to lease as many as six Apaches this year and purchase another two dozen for delivery over the next three years, officials said.
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01/28/2014
India has immense potential to become a leader in aerospace industry as the sector is growing at a "faster pace", a senior scientist of Defence Research and Development Organisation said today. "India has achieved quite a lot in the field of aerospace technologies and there are ample opportunities to become a leader in the field so we have a great future as well," Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO, V G Sekaran said here.
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01/28/2014
Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), in use with the U.S. Army since 1996, recently surpassed 100,000 combat flight hours in service. The MQ-5B Hunter, which is currently deployed supporting contingency operations across the globe, provides warfighters with state-of-the-art reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition (RSTA), communications relay and weapons delivery.
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01/28/2014
London universities have millions of pounds invested in the arms industry, a London Student investigation has found. Ten of the city’s institutions have holdings in defence companies, which critics argue “profit from death”. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act suggest their combined stake in the controversial industry exceeds £7.4m.
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01/28/2014
Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport sold $13.2 billion in weapons and military equipment to foreign buyers last year but expects no short-term growth, its director said in an interview published Monday. “For the next two to three years our main task will be to maintain arms exports at $13 billion, which I do not think we will exceed, since the new types of technology potential buyers are interested in should first be adopted by the Russian army, and only then be exported.”
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01/27/2014
A Jordanian air force plane crashed on Sunday while it was on a training flight due to technical failure, an official army source said. "At 12:20 pm (local time), a Royal Jordanian Air Force plane crashed after encountering a technical problem," the military source told the state-run Jordanian News Agency (PETRA).
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01/27/2014
Russia released its Defence and Security Report for 2014’s first quarter on Thursday and said it would continue to acquire new military equipment and professionalize its army. Russia said it would purchase hundreds of warplanes, special mission aircraft and freighters during the next 10 years. Modernization of the country’s air force is expected to be complete by 2020.
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01/27/2014
The Global Hawk UAV looks to be a big winner in the US Air Force’s fiscal 2015 budget submission, an impressive turn of events for a program the service has spent years attempting to kill. The Global Hawk Block 30 will be funded when President Barack Obama’s budget arrives March 4, said two sources with knowledge of budget discussions.
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01/27/2014
The risk that President Obama may be forced to pull all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year has set off concerns inside the American intelligence agencies that they could lose their air bases used for drone strikes against Al Qaeda in Pakistan and for responding to a nuclear crisis in the region.
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01/27/2014
North Korea blasted the United States Monday for dialing up tension in the Asia-Pacific region with "a military buildup," about a month before the start of an annual Seoul-Washington joint military drill that Pyongyang has railed against as being a war rehearsal against it.
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01/27/2014
With record attendance and most of the stands brimming with spectators, India on Sunday displayed its military and cultural might at the 65th Republic Day parade on Rajpath. One of the highlights of the 8-kilometre-long march past was the Navy’s nuclear submarines as well as a display that referred to the impending induction of a submarine launched nuclear missile into the strategic forces.
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01/27/2014
The Air Force is acquiring two new light lift aircraft from Indonesia to boost the delivery of supplies and personnel to remote areas. Indonesian firm PT Dirgantara Indonesia has won the bidding for the light lift fixed-wing aircraft acquisition project, worth P814 million. The STAR learned that the defense department issued the notice of award for the project early this month.
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01/27/2014
The country’s military prowess and cultural richness was visible in all its splendour in the contingents marching the eight-km stretch from Raisina Hill to Red Fort as India celebrated her 65th Republic Day on Sunday. Thousands of proud spectators braved the winter fog and chill in Delhi to cheer the contingents.
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01/27/2014
Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer.
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01/26/2014
An IAF FIGHTER pilot who brought a stricken Mig-21 Bison back to the base after his aircraft's systems failed by holding a torch in his mouth was awarded Shaurya Chakra on the eve of Republic Day. He also managed to avoid another possible crash after his combat jet was hit by a bird in a separate incident.
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01/26/2014
India's high performance computing system 'Dhruva-3', designed for solving mission defence research and development critical applications, was launched here today. Avinash Chander, Secretary of Department of Defence Research and Development and Director General of DRDO inaugurated the system at Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG) here, a statement from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.
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01/26/2014
One of the main features of the global defense strategy laid out by President Barack Obama two years ago, shifting the U.S. military's focus from the Middle East to the Asia Pacific region, is meeting significant challenges from China and its rapidly developing military power. But U.S. military officials say American dominance of the Asia Pacific is not diminishing.
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01/26/2014
Experts on China’s Navy are sounding cautionary tones after news surfaced last week that China is reportedly constructing a second aircraft carrier. The Chinese-language report from Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao, known as a veteran pro-Beijing newspaper, stated that Wang Min, a Communist Party secretary of China’s northeastern province of Liaoning, has confirmed the construction of the ship, which unlike its first carrier, is homegrown.
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01/26/2014
Congress has given Boeing's Super Hornet fighter jet a lifeline, at least for now. The omnibus federal spending measure contains a down payment of $75 million for 22 of the fighters that the Navy didn't request. The funding, signed into law on Jan. 17, will prod Navy officials to decide this year whether to spend as much as $2 billion for the unplanned planes as a hedge against delays of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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01/26/2014
India’s biggest deal of procuring 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for $18 billion (Rs90,000 crore) has hit rough weather. Two years after French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation bagged the deal for its Rafale fighter jets on account of being the lowest bidder, its cost has now shot up by 100 per cent.
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01/25/2014
A new US Defence Department report warns that ongoing software, maintenance and reliability problems with Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 stealth fighter could delay the Marine Corps’ plans to start using its F-35 jets by mid-2015. The latest report by the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, Michael Gilmore, provides a detailed critique of the F-35’s technical challenges, and focuses heavily on what it calls the “unacceptable” performance of the plane’s software.
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01/25/2014
After the successful launch of Agni IV ballistic missile, Indian defence scientists are preparing to test long delayed indigenous beyond visual range air-to-air missile Astra in the coming weeks. Astra, meant for the IAF's combat jets, will be test fired within a month, officials said. The missile has already been fitted on Sukhoi-30 MKIs at selected IAF bases and trial runs were going on. The Astra will soon be fired from DRDO's test facility Chandipur-on-sea.
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01/25/2014
With no perceptible opposition from the Obama administration, Congress has quietly downscaled Washington’s ambitions for the final year of the Afghan war, substantially curtailing development aid and military assistance plans ahead of the U.S. troop pullout.
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01/25/2014
Global Hawks, America’s largest unmanned surveillance aircraft, will fly out of Japan for the first time this summer, the Air Force says. Interest in the drones - ranging from NASA to NATO and other U.S. allies -- has been rising due to their versatility and endurance. Two of them, along with 40 personnel, will deploy to Misawa Air Base from May to October, according to 1st Lt. Caitlin Suttie, a public affairs officer with the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa.
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01/25/2014
Britain’s new £70 million F-35 fighter is struggling with “unacceptable” software problems and is less reliable than hoped a new report has warned. The Pentagon’s chief weapons tester has warned the new stealth fighter being bought by the British and the US militaries is facing more delays and remains vulnerable to fires.
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01/25/2014
The Navy’s EA-18G electronic warfare plane will be the principal host for the Next Generation Jammer that Raytheon is developing. This image shows pods housing the existing jamming system on the plane’s underside. Once the new system is installed, the EA-18G — dubbed the “Growler” — will be able to counter all emerging threats across the electromagnetic spectrum in support of the joint force.
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01/25/2014
Despite initial high expectations, the Indian Air Force appears to be souring on a joint development deal with Russia for a new fifth-generation fighter jet, according to the Business Standard, a major Indian business publication. The Russian prototype is "unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.
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01/25/2014
A Russian carrier group that entered the Mediterranean earlier this month has begun a series of naval aviation exercises, a navy spokesman said Friday. “The naval aviators are conducting training in dogfighting, high-speed interception and improving their skills in flying intricate aerobatic maneuvers,” Captain of the 1st Class Vadim Serga said.
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01/24/2014
Chinese air force planes have been regularly patrolling the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) since it was established two months ago, an air force spokesman said here Thursday. The routine patrols have beefed up China's effective control over the ADIZ, air force colonel Shen Jinke said.
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01/24/2014
Upto Fifty people were killed and several others sustained injuries in targeted operations by security forces, conducted by fighter aircraft and gunship helicopters, in North Waziristan and the Khyber tribal agencies on Tuesday. For the first time since 2007 when the government signed the peace accord with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Taliban militants in North Waziristan, fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships pounded suspected positions of militants in the Mir Ali subdivision.
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01/24/2014
The U.S. drone program under President Barack Obama reached its fifth anniversary on Thursday having tallied up an estimated death toll of at least 2,400 people. As the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a U.K.-based non-profit, details on its website, five years ago the CIA conducted the first drone strikes of the Obama presidency. Although there were reports of suspected "militants" killed, at least 14 civilians also died that day.
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01/24/2014
The defence ministry is upset with the finance ministry for slashing Rs 7,870 crore from the funds allocated for the modernization of the armed forces, holding that it will delay the finalization of some critical procurement projects.
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01/24/2014
A new Boeing surveillance aircraft deployed to Japan last month as part of the U.S. shift to Asia isn't yet effective for its primary submarine-hunting and intelligence missions, the Pentagon's weapons tester found. The new P-8A Poseidon exhibited "all of the major deficiencies" identified in earlier exercises when subjected to more stressful realistic combat testing from September 2012 to March 2013, Michael Gilmore, chief of the Pentagon testing office.
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01/24/2014
The RAFALE has successfully completed its first test flights in a new heavily-armed configuration, comprising six air-to-ground precision AASM Hammer missiles, four medium and long range air-to-air missiles from the MICA family, two very long range METEOR missiles, as well as three 2,000 liter fuel tanks.
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01/24/2014
Tejas, the Indian Light Combat Aircraft, is going to be the star attraction amongst the products displayed as part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) contingent at the Republic Day parade. DRDO’s products for the parade include Arjun Mk-II (a new version of Indian battle tank), a tableau displaying ‘Astra’ and ‘Helina’ missiles and another tableau displaying a wide range of unmanned systems.
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01/24/2014
Argentina is considering the purchase from Israel of 18 multipurpose combat aircraft Kfir Block 60 after negotiations with Spain for 16 Mirage F1 fighter bombers fell through, according to a report from Buenos Aires daily Clarin.
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01/23/2014
In the midst of heightening tensions with Japan over the disputed Diaoyutai islands (called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China), China is still negotiating with Russia to import more advanced weapon systems with which to equip its air force and navy writes Vasiliy Kashin from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in an article for the Moscow-based Military-Industrial Courier.
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01/23/2014
International media sources have reported recently that Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) has acquired the three ‘Harfang’ unmanned aerial systems retired by the French Air Force after several years of service in Afghanistan. Harfang which deployed with the Armee de L’air in 2008 was delivered by EADS (Now Airbus Defense & Space), under the Eagle I cooperative development with Israel Aerospace Industries.
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01/23/2014
Joint productions of all future projects is expected to be the new norm in Indo-Russian relations after Moscow last year offered to set up manufacturing facilities in the country for joint production of defence hardware. India and Russia agreed to set up manufacturing facilities in India for joint production of defence hardware during Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin’s state visit to New Delhi last year.
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01/23/2014
Hopes of selling Typhoon jet fighters to the United Arab Emirates are over, the boss of BAE Systems conceded yesterday, just weeks after the firm warned talks about the £6bn deal had stalled. Chief executive Ian King said the UAE negotiation was ‘done’, adding ‘we have no plans to revive it’.
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01/23/2014
The new omnibus federal budget has millions of dollars for the Hampton Roads defense community, including money for Virginia-class submarines and construction projects at Joint Base Langley Eustis. Another line item is of particular interest to the F-22 Raptor community.
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01/23/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s claims that the development and construction of the nearly $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will sustain 125,000 jobs in 46 states is “greatly exaggerated,” according to a new report by a research center.
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01/23/2014
The U.S. Congress has given Boeing’s Super Hornet fighter jet a lifeline, at least for now. The omnibus federal spending measure contains a down payment of $75 million for 22 of the fighters that the Navy didn’t request. The funding, signed into law Friday, will prod Navy officials to decide this year whether to spend as much as $2 billion for the unplanned planes as a hedge against delays of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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01/23/2014
Boeing and research partners in the United Arab Emirates have made breakthroughs in sustainable aviation biofuel development, finding that desert plants fed by seawater will produce biofuel more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks.
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01/23/2014
The U.S. Air Force on Jan. 21 received the first B-1 bomber upgraded with the Boeing Integrated Battle Station, which essentially turns the B-1 into a new aircraft with the addition of full color displays, moving maps and a new diagnostics system.
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01/23/2014
The Russian Air Force is preparing to conduct a series of tests of new cruise missiles, as well as carrying out strategic bomber patrols including stops in other countries, the commander of its long-range fleet said Wednesday. “In 2014 we are planning practice launches of cruise missiles, including new models,” Gen. Lt. Anatoly Zhikharev told reporters, without specifying the missiles to be fired. Russian planes launched 15 cruise missiles last year.
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01/22/2014
CAE today announced it was awarded a contract to provide Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Air Force) with an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Mission Trainer representing the General Atomics Predator remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). The CAE UAS Mission Trainer will be delivered in early 2015 to Amendola Air Force Base, and will be used to provide initial and mission training for Predator pilots and sensor operators.
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01/22/2014
The Indian Navy has launched preparations to start flying operations from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The MiG-29K fighter aircraft have started taking off from the ski-jump and making arrested landings. Having finished training in Russia, 10 top naval pilots have returned home to operate from INS Vikramaditya, which is berthed at Karwar naval base.
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01/22/2014
The Taiwan Air Force’s first joint standoff weapon (JSOW), unveiled at a ceremony last week, is intended to suppress enemy air defenses and should complicate any invasion plans China might have in mind, a defense expert said. Dubbed the Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords), the weapon was displayed Jan. 16 at the airbase here in southwestern Taiwan during the inauguration of recently upgraded indigenous defense fighters under the 443 Tactical Fighter Wing.
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01/22/2014
Dassault Aviation received a development contract from the French Ministry of Defense for a further upgrade of the Rafale combat aircraft. Designated “F3 R,” the upgrade consists mainly of integration of the MBDA Meteor BVRAAM; the laser-homing version of the Sagem AASM air-ground weapon; and the new Thales PDL-NG laser designator pod. There will also be some improvements to the Rafale’s avionics and defensive systems.
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01/22/2014
The air force of Hungary will join Italy in protecting Slovenia's air space under an agreement signed late last week. Slovenia, once part of the former Yugoslavia, joined NATO in 2004 and opted for allied protection of its air space rather than purchasing aircraft. The Hungarian air force flies fourth-generation Gripen fighters, which are made by Saab of Sweden. The fighters are single-engine multi-role aircraft with a maximum speed of 1,312 miles per hour at altitude and a combat radius of 500
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01/22/2014
The $1.1 trillion federal budget adopted last week preserves jobs at Sikorsky Aircraft and continues development of a new rescue helicopter for the Air Force. Connecticut received $3.3 billion in defense spending in the 2014 budget deal signed by President Barack Obama, enough to keep the 6,566 Sikorsky workers in Stratford on the job and fund Connecticut's other defense contractors.
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01/22/2014
Taiwan has said it plans to slash its armed forces by up to 20 percent from 215,000 over the next five years, in the latest sign of warming ties with former rival China. Defence Minister Yen Ming said the military would be cut to 170,000-190,000, but that defense capabilities would not be compromised in the project to build “smaller but leaner and more professional armed forces.”
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01/22/2014
Japanese fighter jets scrambled against Chinese planes a record number of times in April-December, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, as Sino-Japanese ties are strained by an island spat and disputes stemming from Tokyo's wartime past.
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01/21/2014
The Tula-based instrument-building design bureau, KBP, plans to test the Pantsir-S1 combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system beyond the Polar Circle, KBP's first deputy managing director, Nikolai Khokhlov, told reporters on Monday.
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01/21/2014
The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $39 million contract for more than 300 third-generation (Gen3) Common Missile Warning System (CMWS), a key element in helicopter and aircraft countermeasures systems protecting US aviators in combat theatres; The Army has already acquired 2,100 such systems and has operated them in combat, accumulating more than 2,000,000 combat flight hours.
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01/21/2014
The massive omnibus spending bill creates winners and losers – and at first blush it seems that Connecticut is chiefly in the winner’s column. Like other state governments, the Malloy administration is still trying to determine the impact of the $1.1 trillion federal budget approved by Congress last week.
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01/21/2014
Chinese naval vessels including an island landing ship began drills today in the South China Sea, where China and several other nations are locked in territorial disputes. Two destroyers and China's largest amphibious landing craft started the exercises after sailing from the naval base on the southern island province of Hainan, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The ships also boast three helicopters and a company of marines.
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01/21/2014
Like the most people of Indian origin, I have been an avid reader of news on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender. It is safe to say that in the last five years many of India’s defence projects have come if not of age, at least into adolescence. The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is now flying as a genuine albeit underpowered and slow combat aircraft. The indigenous Kaveri jet engine operates on target except at high altitude, the crystal turbine blades not yet a proven quantity.
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01/21/2014
Modernisation of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has entered the final stage of its current phase. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Third Plenum, which was held in November 2013 and represents a major advance in China’s reforms, provided a substantive push to the PLA’s modernisation when it approved proposals for major organisational restructuring. The reforms coincide with China’s continuing assertiveness that has unsettled its neighbours.
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01/21/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has done a stunning about-turn, sharply criticising the showpiece Indo-Russian project to co-develop a futuristic Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). Even as New Delhi and Moscow finalise a $6 billion deal to co-develop an FGFA with capabilities tailor-made for India, the IAF has alleged the Russians would be unable to meet their promises about its performance.
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01/21/2014
Russia’s prospective rival of the US breakthrough military research agency DARPA will receive 3.3 billion rubles ($100 million) of state funding this year, its spokesman said Monday. But this year’s budget for Russia’s Advanced Research Foundation was actually decreased 12.5 percent year-on-year, the spokesman said. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), founded in 1958, has an estimated annual budget of $2.8 billion.
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01/20/2014
Britain's Ministry of Defence is close to placing its first major tranche of orders for the F-35 fighter jet, with an award for about 14 of the “stealth” warplanes due in the next few weeks.
The orders for the new plane, being built in an international project led by US defence giant Lockheed Martin, will signal the increasing role of the British military in the controversial F-35 programme.
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01/20/2014
Government warplanes on Saturday launched raids on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, killing 34 people, including five children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Air raids launched by government jets and helicopters left 23 people dead in the city itself, and killed another 11 in the surrounding countryside, the Observatory reported.
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01/20/2014
Israeli warplanes raided two locations in the center and south of Gaza Strip at dawn on Sunday, according to local radio stations. The strikes targeted two sites used for training by Izz-Eddine Al-Qassam Briagdes, military wing of the Islamic movement Hamas.
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01/20/2014
The cancellation of the Canadian military’s Close Combat Vehicle (CCV) program is the first major equipment casualty of ongoing budget reductions, with industry officials expecting other procurement projects to be delayed or cut. Gen. Tom Lawson, chief of the Defense Staff, announced the CCV cancellation on Dec. 20 but denied government budget cutbacks were to blame.
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01/20/2014
It is a defence project that has flown headlong into controversy – as befits the world’s most advanced multi-role fighter jet, packed with technological gizmos and capable of 1,200mph bombing raids. But while the debate rages over the cost and complexities of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 warplane, one issue is easily overlooked: the most expensive Pentagon defence programme in history.
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01/19/2014
In what has easily the biggest development in defense news this week, Congress just received notice that the United States is exporting cutting-edge tiltrotor technology to Israel. More amazingly - the six V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft that Israel will be buying were originally supposed to go to the U.S. Marines, currently fighting a shooting war in Afghanistan.
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01/19/2014
Off they go into the wild blue yonder, climbing high into the sun, the first five F-22 Raptors left Holloman for Tyndall Air Force Base Fla., Jan. 6, as part of the transition of the F-22s leaving the base.
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01/19/2014
The newest US Air Force stealth fighter, the F-35 Lightning-2 arrives at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale later this year adding to a growing collection of military aircraft over the skies of Arizona. But the F-35 is no stranger to our state the U.S. Marine Corps pilots have been flying them for about a year now. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Gillette is the "Green Knights" squadron commander, the first operational Marine squadron in the country to get the new F-35's.
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01/19/2014
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is acquiring three modern flight simulators for P246.4 million to help pilots operate efficiently the soon-to-be-delivered T-50 fighter jets from South Korea. The Department of National Defense (DND) said it is bidding out the project designed to enhance the operational capability of the PAF.
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01/19/2014
China is reportedly building a second aircraft carrier, estimated to be completed by 2018, on its way to expanding its fleet to four of the massive ships. Media reports - later deleted from the internet - stated Liaoning party chief Wang Min told a panel of the provincial people's congress that the second carrier was being built in the city of Dalian. The reports also quoted Wang as saying the port city was building two advanced 052D destroyers.
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01/18/2014
The Department of Defense awarded seven new defense contracts Friday, worth $591.3 million in total. United Technologies didn't win the biggest contract - but it did win the second biggest. More precisely, it was UTC subsidiary Goodrich Corp which won the day's second biggest contract, a $183 million firm-fixed-price contract action of as-yet indeterminate scope, to perform in-country setup and installation of ground stations for the Royal Saudi Air Force's DB110.
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01/18/2014
THE Russian Knights, the aerobatic team of the Russian Air Force, yesterday praised the high standard of BIAS 2014. "The show compares highly positively with other air shows and we are pleased with its high standards," the team said at a Press conference in Sakhir. "We took part with four Sukhois in 2012 and we have increased the number to five this year. We are so pleased with the air show in Bahrain and we are planning to have six planes in our participation in 2016," they said.
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01/18/2014
The Russian military has formed a helicopter squadron to strengthen its air contingent at the Erebuni air base in Armenia, the press service of Russia’s Southern Military District said Friday. Russia’s 3624th Air Base at the Erebuni airport in Yerevan currently hosts at least 16 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets operating under the framework of air defense agreements concluded between the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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01/18/2014
The Royal Saudi Air Force's (RSAF) official demonstration team, the Saudi Hawks, is at the show, revisiting the scene of its first appearance outside Saudi Arabia in February 2000. Formed in 1998, the team is equipped with Hawk Mk.65s, which can produce a single colour of smoke. The last six Hawk Mk.65As have an enhanced smoke capability, with provision for a pod identical to those carried by the RAF’s Red Arrows Hawks, and capable of producing three colours.
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01/18/2014
Rick Groesch, Lockheed Martin's regional director for the Middle East, was in bullish form at the show describing the company's F-16 upgrade plans. A number of regional air forces still operate the F-16 Fighting Falcon, among them the Royal Bahraini Air Force. Though a number of companies are offering upgrades for the F-16, Groesch, himself a former F-16 and F-117 pilot, was keen to stress the unique advantages that Lockheed, as the original manufacturer, was able to offer.
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01/17/2014
A member of an elite U.S. Army helicopter unit was killed and two crew members suffered injuries when their aircraft slammed into the ground as they tried to land at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, a military spokesman said Thursday. The MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was returning from a routine training flight when it made a "hard landing" just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on or near the airstrip at the base in coastal Georgia, said Army Maj. Allen Hill.
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01/17/2014
Israel is seeking to purchase V-22B Block C Osprey aircraft from the United States through a Foreign Military Sales deal worth about $1.13 billion. The proposed sale, reported to Congress this week, is one of two, billion-dollar contract requests announced by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The Republic of Singapore is seeking an upgrade of its F-16 Block 52 aircraft at a cost of $2.43 billion.
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01/17/2014
The first Chinese combat aircraft built specifically for aircraft carrier use, the J-15, appears to have been equipped with the in-air refueling pod. These pods contain additional fuel and the hose and drogue refueling gear for getting the fuel to other fighters. Thus when a carrier launches four fighters, two can be equipped with the refueling pod and transfer their fuel to the other two, providing those two with more range and time in the air.
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01/17/2014
PARIS The European Eurofighter consortium has signed a draft agreement to sell 28 of its fighter planes to Kuwait, online French newspaper La Tribune reported on Thursday. Of the 28 outline sales, which are not yet binding, four are covered by options to purchase, the report said.
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01/17/2014
A ceremony was held at an air base in the southern city of Tainan Thursday to mark the completion of the first batch of upgraded indigenous defense fighter (IDF) jets and the installation of a new weapons system.
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01/17/2014
According to a special report -"World Air Force 2014" - China has overtaken Russia in terms of its combat aircraft numbers, and for the first time ranks in second place worldwide. Flight Global, a British aerospace weekly magazine released the free report on its website in early January this year.
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01/17/2014
Boeing is assembling the fourth and final KC-46A test aircraft for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation aerial refueling tanker program at the company’s Everett factory, keeping the program on track to deliver the initial 18 tankers to the Air Force by 2017.
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01/17/2014
This is far from being a coincidence, as the machine is being heavily promoted as a potential replacement for the Royal Bahrain Air Force’s (RBAF) ageing Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters. Major Rakan Ateytalla, an instructor pilot on the RBAF Cobra, was clearly taken by the T-129, and compared it favourably with the USMC Bell AH-1Z Super Cobra that he had also been shown over before the show.
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01/16/2014
Since the 1960s, the U.S. Navy has needed a reliable carrier-based strike fighter, and the F-18 and its different iterations have answered the call. To this day, the fighter jet is considered “the most advanced multi-role strike fighter available” to the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the U.S. Navy.
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01/16/2014
Sukhoi Aircraft has introduced the new design solutions to increase the stealth capabilities of T-50 by managing to greatly reduce the effective surface scattering of the fighter, which is the basic element for visibility on aircraft radars.
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01/16/2014
The PAK-FA patent document published by Russia’s Federal Service for Intellectual Property shows the fifth generation stealth aircraft’s design is heavily influenced by low radar visibility requirements. At the same time, the Russians are prepared to sacrifice some stealth in their quest for super maneuverability and excellent flight characteristics.
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01/16/2014
There’s a whole lot of man-made thunder coming for folks in the north Las Vegas Valley.
Military aircraft taking off and landing at Nellis Air Force Base will increase noise levels for residents around the base as fighter jets and support planes from the United States and partner nations take to the skies for Red Flag air combat training exercises beginning in late January.
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01/16/2014
A single-seat Navy FA-18E super hornet crashed 45 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard confirms. Commander Mike Kafka with Naval Air Atlantic said the jet is part of VFA-143, assigned to Carrier Air Wing 7, and is currently assigned to USS Eisenhower. The flight originated from Oceana Naval Air Station and was conducting routine training exercises when the jet crashed at approximately 2:30 p.m.
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01/16/2014
The Pentagon plans to sell six tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft to Israel in a long-planned deal worth $1.13 billion, officials said Tuesday. Israel will become the first foreign country to be allowed to purchase the V-22 Osprey, which can take off like a helicopter and fly like a turboprop airplane.
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01/16/2014
A Turkish aircraft conducting a reconnaissance flight over Aegean international airspace was harassed by Greek F-16s five times, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced on Tuesday.
A CN-235 aircraft was harassed by Greek fighter jets for two minutes and 37 seconds while the radar lock of the Greek air defense system was kept on.
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01/15/2014
Singapore is ready to invest USD 2.43 billion to modernize its F-16 fighter jets in an arms deal with the United States, the Pentagon has said. The Defense Department yesterday informed Congress of the planned sale that would involve new radar, navigation systems, missiles and other advanced equipment for Singapore's aging fleet of F-16s.
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01/15/2014
Venezuela's armed forces reported Tuesday that it intercepted a Cessna 210 aircraft arriving from Central America after its crew ignored orders to land. The incident occurred over the coast of the western Venezuelan state of Zulia that borders on Colombia, the head of the Strategic Operational Command, Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said on Twitter.
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01/15/2014
A massive US government spending bill introduced Monday evening would ramp up war spending for the first time in four years, and it includes billions for new weapon systems. A trillion-dollar, government-wide omnibus spending measure crafted by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees includes $5 billion more for America’s overseas conflicts than requested by the White House.
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01/15/2014
The U.S. Navy announced Tuesday that it would deploy a newer nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Japan to replace USS George Washington. USS Ronald Reagan, commissioned in 2003 and currently based in San Diego, will be deployed at the Yokosuka Naval Base as part of the Pentagon's efforts to bolster combat readiness in the region. It is known to carry more than 6,000 crew members.
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01/15/2014
About 12 Virginia-based F-22 Raptor fighter jets will deploy this month to Okinawa, according to an announcement posted on the 5th Air Force website. The rotational deployment to Kadena Air Base will include about 300 people from Langley Air Force Base as part of a routine assignment, according to 5th Air Force officials.
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01/15/2014
The secret plans for America's - and Australia's - next stealth fighter have been recovered from boxes labelled "household goods" on their way to Iran. It's just the latest scare for the troubled multi-billion dollar Joint Strike Fighter F-35 Lightning II program. It's turned out to be the most expensive defence program in history, costing about $400 billion so far. Tens of more billions are expected to be spent in ironing out the many problems with its ultra-advanced electronics.
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01/15/2014
Recognizing that its self-defense capabilities are becoming inadequate, Sweden is shifting its strategic policy to embrace partnerships beyond its Nordic neighborhood, including NATO and the European Union. The first step in the process was the appointment of an expert group headed by Tomas Bertelman, a former Swedish ambassador to Moscow (2009-12). The group is due to present a final report to the Ministry of Defense in October.
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01/15/2014
Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is gaining new markets but rival manufacturers are straining to upgrade their models to catch up, Aviation Week and Space Technology said.
Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the F-35's direct competitor in the U.S. defense aviation industry but the global air force market has serious contenders in Dassault Aviation's Rafale, Eurofighter's Typhoon and Saab's Gripen.
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01/15/2014
An upgrade of BAE System’s much-used missile warning system for combat aircraft has drawn a $39 million order from the U.S. Army, which wants more than 300 of the third-generation units of the Common Missile Warning System and has already begun using them in Afghanistan, according to the company.
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01/15/2014
Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) will display the T-129 ATAK - the final evolution of the Agusta A-129 light combat helicopter - at the Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS), being held later this week (16-18 January) at the Sakhir Airbase.
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01/14/2014
All good things don't necessarily need to come to an end; sometimes they are just replaced by something even better. Such is the case with the venerable C-130H Hercules model aircraft here. The C-130 has been around since the Vietnam War, forming the backbone of the Air Force's tactical airlift fleet. It is especially well-suited to austere conditions like those found throughout Afghanistan.
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01/14/2014
Not that long ago, the Prime Minister would demand from military and intelligence chiefs at meetings of the National Security Council that “something must be done” about Syria; this apparently rose in volume and urgency in the sessions after Samantha Cameron had visited a refugee camp across the border in Lebanon.
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01/14/2014
A federal budget agreement announced Monday night includes money for the Air Force to award a contract to a Sikorsky Aircraft/Lockheed Martin joint venture to build a new generation of 112 combat search-and-rescue helicopters. The deal includes $333.5 million for the Air Force to approve the project, which would support 250 existing and new jobs at Lockheed’s facility in Owego.
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01/14/2014
The French defense procurement agency, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), has awarded Thales a contract to develop a new laser designation pod for deployment on fighter aircraft. The award follows the completion of what Thales calls a “risk reduction phase” throughout 2013, and series production of the new pod is expected to begin in 2018.
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01/14/2014
The Tejas light combat aircraft, 30 years in the making, is just 60% indigenous as of now. The story of the indigenous Arjun main battle tank is even worse. First sanctioned in May 1974, 55% of the tank is still made of imported parts. This is the recurring theme across India's fledgling defence industrial base (DIB), with the government failing to whip DRDO and its sprawling empire of over 50 laboratories as well as the five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 50 ordnance factories into shape.
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01/14/2014
A new fast jet training course is pushing RAF pilots faster and further than ever. The new Hawk T2 aircraft, which uses state of the art advanced avionics suite and sensor simulation software to help make the step up between trainer aircraft and Typhoon easier, has revolutionised flying training at RAF Valley.
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01/14/2014
The MQ-5B Hunter, which is currently deployed supporting contingency operations across the globe, provides warfighters with state-of-the-art reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition (RSTA), communications relay and weapons delivery.
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01/12/2014
The Western arms embargo against China (because of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre) continues to provide evidence of being more evaded than complied with. Major military exporters like France and Germany are leading the way. European firms are particularly eager to drop the embargo and some, like France, are basically ignoring it. This is done most frequently by disregarding the installation of dual-use Western equipment in Chinese weapons systems.
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01/12/2014
Dassault Aviation has secured the F3 R standard development contract for the RAFALE combat aircraft while French Defense Minister Jean- Yves Le Drian visited its main facility. Negotiations were finalized with the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) on December 30, with the contract estimated about 1 billion euros.
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01/12/2014
Russia has taken the first steps toward establishing its first air base in Belarus, but questions remain over how much Moscow will have to pay for the privilege.
Last month, four Russian Su-27 fighter jets and their support personnel arrived at the Baranovichi air base, near Belarus's borders with Poland and Lithiania (both NATO members). The move is part of a plan to set up a Russian fighter jet regiment, likely at another base in Belarus, by 2015. RIA Novosti writes that the new base would
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01/12/2014
Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' much-talked about memoir includes a chapter in which he relives bitter clashes with Air Force officials over nuclear weapon screw-ups, drone deployments and funding for the F-22 fighter aircraft. The showdown culminated in June 2008 with the firing of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.
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01/12/2014
A global ranking shows that China is developing its air power faster than any other country in the world, propelled in part by its newest jet fighters and special mission military aircraft, according to a Chinese news source. The online news website - Xin Lang Jun Shi (Sina Military) - cited a 2013-2014 world air power report published by U.K.-based weekly "Flight International."
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01/11/2014
The question has long vexed defense analysts, as the projected costs of fighters seem to expand even faster than those of other military hardware. Some of the reasons include the ever-increasing gulf between civilian and military technology, a gulf that demands extra specialization on the part of engineers, equipment, and workforce.
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01/11/2014
A new program enables controllers and combat aircrews to visualize, select and employ guided weapons from a diverse set of airborne platforms, an instructor told the DARPA Congressional Tech Showcase here yesterday. Marine Corps Maj. Thomas Short, an instructor at the Marine Corps Aviation Weapons School, Yuma, Ariz., describes DARPA’s Persistent Close Air Support program as precise and prompt with its digital air-to-ground coordination and shared situational awareness.
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01/11/2014
The type of U.S. Navy helicopter that crashed Wednesday near Norfolk, Va., killing at least two personnel, breaks down frequently and may be more accident-prone than other kinds of military helicopters, according to interviews and safety data. An MH-53E Sea Dragon crashed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean, about 20 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, during a training mission. Four of the five crew members were pulled from the frigid water. Two later died and a pilot remains missing.
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01/11/2014
France planned to invest 1 billion euro (1.364 billion U.S. dollars) in a bid to upgrade the Rafale combat aircraft enough to snatch deals and cope with a fierce competition, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday. "It is a clear sign of our commitment to invest in the Rafale... to have better international level. It is also a guarantee to offer for a long term products that meet the requirements of export," the minister said.
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01/11/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] received a $13.3 million Foreign Military Sales contract in November from the U.S. Air Force to support additional integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) onto the Finnish Air Force F-18C/D aircraft. This third contract for Finland includes wind tunnel models and test support, software development completion, logistics support and engineering documentation. All work under this contract will be completed by third quarter 2016.
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01/11/2014
A naval task force led by Russia’s largest warship has passed through the English Channel on its way to the Mediterranean, a Russian military official said on Friday. The group carried out naval aviation exercises while passing close to UK territorial waters, Captain 2nd Class Yevgeny Kirillov said.
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01/11/2014
Roketsan is one of Turkish major weapons manufacturer and defense contractor. The company was established in 1988 with the supports of Turkey's Defense Industry Executive Committee in order to strengthen country's defense industry capacity. Roketsan is developing Cirit , a laser-guided 70 mm rocket system which is set to equip the Turkish Army's T-129 Atak, AH-1P Cobra and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters with low-cost precision strike capabilities.
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01/10/2014
A U.S. military plane has crashed in eastern Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of three Americans. There are no indications that the aircraft was brought down by enemy fire, said a defense official. “International Security Assistance Force service members and one ISAF civilian died following an aircraft mishap in eastern Afghanistan today,” said a statement released by NATO in Afghanistan.
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01/10/2014
The first ever Air Reserve Component combat delivery Association between the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard is ending. As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the 107th Air Refueling Wing of the Air National Guard relinquished their KC-135 aircraft and became the 107th Airlift Wing. It was decided by the Department of Defense and the Air Force that the 107th would associate with the Air Force Reserve's 914th Airlift Wing.
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01/10/2014
A state-of-the-art new radar has moved another step closer to be installed on a fighter jet built in Lancashire. Work is underway on modifications and upgrades to a Typhoon development aircraft, named IPA5, as part of a programme to integrate an electronically-scanning radar, the E-scan radar.
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01/10/2014
With national elections looming in India, speculation is growing that contracts for the long-delayed medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), as well as the multi-role tanker transport (MRTT), could soon be signed. However, the MMRCA pact might cover only the supply of 18 Dassault Rafale aircraft from the French production line, leaving further negotiations for the remaining 108 required to be concluded by the new government.
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01/10/2014
A report in the Russia and India Report takes a fascinating look at the role of the twin-fin Sukhoi-30 MKI air superiority fighters in the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) combat strategy. The Su-30 MKI is an eminently versatile fighter that is capable of meeting the IAF’s evolving needs, particularly in the context of a nightmare scenario involving a two-front war with Pakistan and China.
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01/10/2014
Saab is a relatively small aerospace company, employing almost 14,000 personnel with sales of £2.25 billion in 2012: it is a David among Goliaths. And yet, as 2013 drew to a close it was announced that Brazil plans to buy 36 Saab Gripen fighter aircraft.The world fighter aircraft market is dominated by a few large firms from the USA, Europe and Russia. Among them are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter (producing the F-15; F-16; F-18; F-35; and Typhoon aircraft).
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01/10/2014
Notwithstanding the financial constraints, the defence ministry has been on a drive to procure and upgrade military assets over the last five years for which it spent a whopping amount of Rs 3.25 lakh crore. The ministry procured and upgraded a large number of military equipment for the armed forces including nuclear submarines, special operations transport aircraft and fighter planes.
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01/10/2014
Lockheed Martin received two production contracts on Dec. 19 totaling $449 million from the U.S. Air Force for continued production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Extended Range (ER) variant. The Lot 11 and Lot 12 contracts include production of 340 baseline missiles and 100 ER missiles. The contracts also include systems engineering, logistics support, tooling and test equipment.
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01/10/2014
The Royal Air Force Typhoon Display Team will display daily at the show, with Flight Lieutenant Jamie Norris taking Eurofighter Typhoon to the skies once again following a fun-packed season showcasing its performance throughout 2013, with the most recent at the Al Ain Aerobatic Show.
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01/09/2014
Tinker AFB Airmen will update ground maintenance and mission planning software in support of a new Air Force contract that will increase the B-52 Stratofortress's "smart-weapons" capacity by 50 percent. The $24.6 million agreement stipulates that Boeing will develop a modification to existing weapon launchers so the aircraft can carry smart weapons in the bomb bay, which will enable aircrews to use the B-52's entire weapons capacity.
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01/09/2014
Military experts describe China's arms race as a global military force following China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning returning to its home port of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province on January 1, completing a 37 day scientific and training mission in the South China Sea.
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01/09/2014
Nearly 4,500 active-duty military members work for the wing, which includes a separate base at nearby RAF Feltwell, supported by nearly 2,000 British and US civilians. The base is home to F-15 fighter planes, the US Air Forces in Europe’s (USAFE) only F-15 fighter wing.
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01/09/2014
A Navy helicopter with five crew members went down in the Atlantic off the Virginia coast during a routine mission Wednesday, killing two crew members and injuring two, the U.S. Navy said. Rescuers were still looking for a fifth person. The Navy identified the aircraft as an MH-53E. The helicopter, assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fourteen based at Naval Station Norfolk, was conducting routine training operations at the time of the crash, the Navy said.
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01/09/2014
The 42,500-tonne vessel set sail from Toulon 45 days ago on a three-month mission – named Bois Belleau after a First World War battle fought in 1918 – and its latest port of call is Abu Dhabi. After a short stop in Djibouti, the 12-storey ship docked in Port Zayed on Wednesday, and will remain there for four days.
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01/09/2014
British investigators Wednesday were trying to establish what caused a U.S. Air Force helicopter to crash in a bird sanctuary during a "low-level" training mission along the eastern coast of England in which four crewmembers died. The HH-60G Pave Hawk, an updated version of the U.S. Army Black Hawk, went down in the Cley Marshes nature reserve on Tuesday evening, in Norfolk.
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01/09/2014
Lockheed Martin received an $84.5 million contract on Dec. 23 from the U.S. Navy to produce paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Rounds (ELGTR). Under the four-year indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, Lockheed Martin will deliver ELGTRs, shipping containers, logistics and product support to the U.S. Navy.
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01/09/2014
Indonesia is considering Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 fighter as a replacement for its Air Force’s aging F-5 Tiger jet, the country’s defense minister said. The Su-35 is one of half a dozen options on the table, Purnomo Yusgiantoro told a press conference, Antara news agency reported Tuesday.
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01/09/2014
The Russian Aerospace Defense Force will add dozens of radars this year, a force spokesman said Wednesday. The list includes six Nebo-M active electronically scanned arrays (AESA) and a mix of 23 Podlyot low-altitude and Sopka medium- and high-altitude radars, the spokesman told journalists. An unspecified number of modernized Kasta and Desna radars is also on the list.
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01/09/2014
A refitted former Soviet aircraft carrier has reached the Indian coast after leaving Russia’s northern shipyard in mid-November, media report said on Wednesday. The Vikramaditya, a refurbished Russian carrier formerly known as the Admiral Gorshkov, arrived at a naval base in Kanwar in the western state of Karnataka on Tuesday, Indian IBN television reported citing sources in the Navy.
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01/08/2014
The Indonesian Defense Ministry announced its plan to replace the F-5 Tiger fighter aircraft with the latest generation of jet fighters such as the Russian Sukhoi Su-35. "We have received proposals from several jet fighter manufacturers for replacing the F-5 Tiger fighter aircraft. We are in the process of evaluating which jet fighter will best suit our requirements, whether the aircraft is from Russia, USA, or other countries," stated Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, here on Tuesday.
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01/08/2014
The Canadian military has been going across the globe to keep its aging search-and-rescue airplanes flying, reiterating the desperate need for replacement aircraft following decades of delays and political squabbling. Top Defence Department officials were told in a secret briefing last year that the military had been forced to “purchase spare parts from around the world” to ensure the “continued airworthiness” of the Air Force’s 47-year-old Buffalo airplanes.
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01/08/2014
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s newest ship has a flight deck its entire length and is nearly the size of the Shokaku and Zuikaku aircraft carriers that took part in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, yet Japan insists it is not an aircraft carrier. With a length of about 250 meters and standard displacement of 19,500 tons, the Izumo is the biggest ship in the fleet. Up to nine helicopters can land on its deck at the same time.
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01/08/2014
The project to procure 12 units of Korean trainer jets worth a total P18.9 billion for the Philippine Air Force continues to hang over issues of downpayment and after-sales service turnaround, but the Department of National Defense, which recommended a counter-offer, remains confident the deal will push through.
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01/08/2014
French President Francois Hollande is pushing hard to restore Paris' once-thriving defense links with the Persian Gulf monarchies, especially the major military power Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with the aim of securing major arms deals.
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01/08/2014
Hungary has taken over responsibility for policing Slovenia's airspace, it was announced on 3 January. Under the arrangement, Hungarian Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighter aircraft will provide air policing coverage of Slovenian airspace. Since Slovenia's accession to NATO in 2004, Italy has provided air policing of Slovenian airspace with Italian Air Force aircraft based in Italy. The policing of Slovenian airspace is one of three extant NATO air policing missions.
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01/08/2014
At least four people have been killed after a US military helicopter crashed during a training exercise near a Royal Air Force base close to the Norfolk coast. A 400m area was cordoned off by police following the incident near the village of Cley-next-the-Sea, at around 6pm and local people were told to stay clear.
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01/08/2014
Tyndall Air Force Base received the first five-of-24 F-22 Raptors scheduled to transfer from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Jan. 6 as part of their new combat mission. The aircraft are now a part of the 95th Fighter Squadron, which was reactivated in October 2013.
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01/08/2014
The product design work of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft has been started by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the vehicle is expected to be ready in 2018, Dr Tamilmani, Director General (Aeronautical Systems) DRDO, Bangalore has said.
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01/08/2014
The next-generation Arrow 3 interceptor, co-developed by Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries’ MLM Division, has completed its second successful flight test, further demonstrating its ability to enhance Israel’s multi-tier anti-ballistic missile defense strategy.
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01/07/2014
Every Russian region is to have its own drones department, the Emergencies Minister said Monday. "Special branches that will be equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles and other necessary robotic systems will be created in all regions. We plan to make very active use of all robotic technology, including drones," Vladimir Puchkov told journalists during a working trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
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01/06/2014
The East Asian region is witnessing a turbulent period in its history. Never before in history of East Asia, there had been an absence of power competition when a rising power threatened to challenge the established and sole recognized power in the region. Japan’s ascendance as the dominant military power during the pre-War years when Japan emerged as a major colonial power in Asia coincided with China’s eclipse from its preeminence position of the Middle Kingdom period.
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01/06/2014
Surplus Czech fighter aircraft will be sold to a U.S. company. For much of the last decade the Czech army has been touting its excess L-159 fighter and trainer aircraft for sale to foreign armies or companies. During that time the planes have been wrapped in protective covers in hangers and accumulating ever growing storage costs met by the Ministry of Defense.
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01/06/2014
BAE Systems is using 3D printed components in fighter jets flown in the UK. The news suggests that in the future, parts could simply be printed out when needed on the battlefield. The first parts where used on board Tornado fighter jets flying out of the defence firm's airfield at Warton, Lancashire, last month.
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01/06/2014
The $526.8 billion defense budget President Barack Obama signed Christmas week steers hundreds of millions of dollars to Puget Sound military installations and billions more for Boeing-made aircraft being developed here. It also buys some peace of mind for Northwest defense contractors. The spending plan coupled with a two-year bipartisan budget deal adopted last month gives them the stability they’ve been missing in an era marked by repeated fiscal crises.
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01/06/2014
When India confirmed this week that it plans to order six more C-130J Hercules transport aircraft for its air force, Lockheed Martin investors in America were thrilled. Over in India, however, the reaction can be summed up in one word: shock.
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01/06/2014
It has been 30 years in the making, has cost Rs.172.69 billion, and will easily take another year if not more to clear the last lap. Tejas, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd-manufactured Light Combat Aircraft that received its second “initial operational clearance” — it got the first IOC in January 2011 — and was inducted into the Indian Air Force last month, is meant to replace the ageing fleet of MiG21s and MiG27s.
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01/06/2014
Pilots from Russia’s Northern Fleet will undergo retraining in 2014 to master the modernized Ilyushin Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft, a military official told journalists Sunday. The first crew has already completed the theoretical part of the program and has begun the practical flight training, said Captain First Rank Vadim Serga, a representative of the Northern Fleet.
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01/06/2014
The Turkish undersecretary for defense industries, Murad Bayar accompanied the delegation. During the visit, Zidan watched the flight demonstrations of T129 ATAK Advanced Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter, which were designed and manufactured by TAI, from the flight tower at TAI’s facilities.
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01/05/2014
Syrian warplanes bombed on Wednesday a barren range of Lebanese hills used by Syrian rebels and refugees to cross between the two countries, wounding at least 10 Syrians who were rushed to hospital in a nearby Lebanese town, Beirut’s state-run National News Agency said.
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01/05/2014
China's most advanced fighter jet J-16 has been revealed online in flight mode, the latest in a series of news items on developments in the Chinese military since last November. An image of the J-16, a 3.5-generation multi-role twin-seat fighter jet, was posted on the China-based Dingsheng military website Friday along with other types of Chinese fighter jets, such as the J-11 and J-15.
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01/05/2014
New floating airfield INS Vikramaditya entered the Indian Ocean Region earlier this week where it was joined by INS Viraat, the Navy's second aircraft carrier. The Viraat's meeting with the Vikramaditya was momentous occasion for the Navy as it was only the first time since 1992 when two carriers operated together.
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01/05/2014
To the left is an F-35. It is - at least in theory - the pinnacle of American military aviation.
The F-35 has been in development since the 1990s, when by rare coincidence the three branches of the American military that fly all approached Congress with multibillion-dollar requests for aircraft updates. It is the result of the Joint Strike Fighter program, which resulted in Lockheed Martin gaining a virtual monopoly on next-generation military aircraft production.
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01/05/2014
The Pentagon waived bans on the use of Chinese-built components on US weapons systems in an effort to keep the colossal F-35 joint strike fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013.
Pentagon documents show its top arms buyer, Frank Kendall, granted waivers to two main F-35 suppliers, Northrop Grumman and Honeywell International, for the use of Chinese magnets in the fighter plane’s radar system, landing gear and other hardware.
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01/05/2014
With the induction of large numbers of class leading Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has not only made a huge technological transition from a MiG-21 dominated fleet, its war fighting doctrine has also changed, focusing on long-range and strategic missions.
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01/04/2014
For more than 40 years, American ground forces have relied on the AC-130 gunship for protection and close air support. However, the venerable AC-130H Specter variant, which has been deployed in every major combat operation since Vietnam, is beginning to show its age.
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01/04/2014
The Pentagon and defense industry have been behind some of the most important technological achievements in history, said defense acquisition chief Frank Kendall, but continued advances are threatened by reduced research spending. The military played a role in the creation of radar, stealth and even the Internet. These achievements — and many others — have given the US military an unmatched edge since the end of World War II.
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01/04/2014
In the Philippines the military has long been used to getting by on very tight budgets. That means developing tactics, techniques and improvised weapons and equipment to get the job done. The latest example is two micro-UAVs called Raptor (costing $3,400 each) and Knight Falcon (goes for about $6,700 each). Both of these are similar to the American Raven, which has been used in the Philippines in small quantities.
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01/04/2014
The last time American soldiers or Marines came under aerial attack was during the Korean War. The fact that it has been more than 60 years since an enemy launched a successful aerial attack against Americans did not happen by accident. U.S. airpower strategy is based on having air dominance in any conflict. Air dominance means marrying the best pilots in the world with the best aircraft, and tying them together with the best tactics.
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01/04/2014
Airbus Defence and Space may be a new brand, but the former defense and space businesses of EADS face a familiar problem: how to remain profitable when European defense budgets are in decline and export competition is intensifying. The combining of Airbus Military, Astrium and Cassidian took effect at the executive level on January 1. Three weeks earlier, a reduction of 5,800 jobs at the new combined division over the next three years was announced.
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01/04/2014
The Ministry of National Defence (MApN), acting on behalf of the Government of Romania, signed this year the agreement with Portugal for the purchase of the F-16 multirole aircraft that will refresh the Romanian Air Force fleet, and succeeded in paying the first tranche due under the contract; works at the Deveselu base that hosts the NATO missile shield also kicked off in an event attended by U.S. officials.
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01/04/2014
If foreign aircraft, whether hostile or friendly, intrude into Philippines skies, the air force will watch them closely and do nothing, according to military and defence officials. The Philippines has no capability to confront foreign aircraft violating the country’s airspace because of government failure to implement the military modernization act of 1995, which mandated purchase of 36 “multi-role” jet fighters, said the officials.
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01/04/2014
Combat aircraft from Russia’s Northern Fleet will extend the ranges of their patrol flights over the Arctic in 2014 using a network of revamped Soviet-era airfields, the fleet’s spokesman said Friday. “In 2014, the naval aviation of the Northern Fleet will significantly expand the geography of Arctic patrol flights, including with the use of the Temp airfield on the New Siberian Islands,” Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga said.
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01/03/2014
The Japanese government led by nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has scrapped the previous government’s National Defense Programme Guidelines (NDPG) and has adopted new defence guidelines that outline Japan’s defence and security strategy for the next ten years. At first glance, the move to revise the NDPG appears to be in response to the challenges posed to Japan’s territorial integrity by China following Senkaku’s nationalisation.
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01/03/2014
The Pentagon didn’t expect to see the major budget cuts the U.S. military has received over the past two years that has forced Pentagon leaders to update planning documents such as the Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap. The 2013 update released right before the New Year takes into account those cuts while also emphasizing the need to keep up with advances by countries like China and Iran in the drone market.
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01/03/2014
Israeli jets bombed targets in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday night, hours after a rocket launched from Gaza landed in the Negev Regional Council. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The IDF confirmed it struck the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire earlier in the evening, which caused no injuries or damage.
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01/03/2014
Bluedrop Performance Learning Inc. (“Bluedrop”) and Atlantis Systems Corp. (“Atlantis”) jointly announced today that they have completed the previously announced plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) pursuant to which Bluedrop, through its wholly-owned subsidiary 8682259 Canada Inc., acquired all of the common shares of Atlantis (“Atlantis Shares”) for aggregate cash consideration of C$1,000,000 or approximately C$0.0276 for each Atlantis Share.
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01/03/2014
Syrian air missile batteries put two Turkish F-16 jets conducting a sortie in the southern province of Hatay along the border under a radar lock, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement Jan. 2. The Turkish jets were deployed to the border area after a Syrian military aircraft approached Turkish airspace, the statement said. It added that the Syrian SU-24 changed its route to the opposite direction at five nautical miles from Turkish airspace.
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01/03/2014
Drones that can choose to deviate from a set mission and hunt in ‘swarms’ could be patrolling skies within the next 25 years, according to a new roadmap. Unmanned aircraft carrying stronger chemical weapons could also be on the horizon, the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) revealed in its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap.
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01/03/2014
Tyndall Air Force Base will receive the first of 24 F-22 Raptors Jan. 6 as part of the new combat mission. The five aircraft arriving are a part of the 95th Fighter Squadron, which re-activated in October 2013. The squadron's mission is "to project unrivaled combat power in support of national military objectives and combatant commander requirements through strategic application of 5th generation air dominance fighter aircraft and personnel."
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01/03/2014
BAE Systems has finalised a deal with the US government to upgrade more than 130 South Korean F16 fighter jets under a contract worth an estimated $1 billion (£602.7 million). The UK-based defence, aerospace and security group, which last month lost out on a potential £6 billion deal to provide Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft to the United Arab Emirates (BAE share price tumbles on double blow from the Middle East) now hopes to secure orders for F16 upgrades in other countries.
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01/03/2014
For much of the last decade the Czech army has been touting its excess L-159 fighter and trainer aircraft for sale to foreign armies or companies. During that time the planes have been wrapped in protective covers in hangers and accumulating ever growing storage costs met by the Ministry of Defense.
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01/03/2014
From the B-2 bomber to the M1 Abrams tank, the United States has for decades developed, built, and fielded the most advanced and capable weapon systems in the world. That's changing because of declining budgets, emerging technologies, and global competition from rising powers like China. Today, for the first time in recent history, the Pentagon is in danger of losing its vast technological advantages over potential adversaries.
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01/02/2014
Generally speaking, Japanese bureaucrats are not much given to exaggeration. So when a senior government insider in Tokyo, speaking off the record, recently compared the deteriorating security situation in East Asia to Europe in the 1930s amid the rise of fascism, it was time to sit up and take notice.
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01/02/2014
Syrian warplanes bombed on Wednesday a barren range of Lebanese hills used by Syrian rebels and refugees to cross between the two countries, wounding at least 10 Syrians who were rushed to hospital in a nearby Lebanese town, Beirut's state-run National News Agency said.
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01/02/2014
BMI's report examines the trends witnessed in the country's current and future defence procurement across its armed forces. The report's general conclusion is that Saudi Arabia will continue to invest heavily in defence procurement, giving it military superiority over most of its neighbours in what will remain a volatile region.
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01/02/2014
An Air Force report says a mechanical malfunction that started a fuel leak caused the crash of an Ellsworth Air Force Base B-1B bomber during an August training exercise over southeastern Montana. The report released by the Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board concluded that about 7,000 pounds of fuel leaked into the aircraft and was ignited by hot ductwork, leading to a series of detonations in the plane.
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01/02/2014
India has cancelled a €560m contract to buy high-end helicopters from AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, in move that underlines the unpredictability of one of the world’s biggest defence markets. Sitanshu Kar, a ministry spokesman, said the agreement had been “terminated with immediate effect” because of “integrity-related issues” in a contract that had been dogged by allegations of corruption.
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01/02/2014
The Israel Air Force’s Horizon Unit, responsible for the development of encrypted content, is developing ‘Waze’ technology for pilots, similar to the popular app that provides users with real time traffic updates, Israeli daily Walla reported on Wednesday. The unit is currently working on a series of groundbreaking technologies that have garnered praise from hi tech companies both in Israel and around the world.
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01/02/2014
Chinese state media say the country's first aircraft carrier has successfully completed tests and training programs on its maiden voyage. The Liaoning returned to port Wednesday after a 37-day voyage in the South China Sea. The official Xinhua News Agency says the aircraft carrier tested its combat system and conducted a formation practice and "attained the anticipated objectives."
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01/01/2014
In one of its last acts in December, the Senate confirmed Deborah Lee James as the new Air Force secretary. Nominated in August to replace Michael Donley, who retired in June, James was in limbo after Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., placed a hold on her confirmation for more than two months — due to published reports that the Air Force wants to phase out the A-10 aircraft to save money.
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01/01/2014
Bird strikes cost more than $700 million in damage annually to both military and commercial airplanes - putting both lives and property at risk. But a group of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., are working on ways to scare birds away from the aircraft, particularly during take-offs and landings; when the majority of bird strikes occur.
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01/01/2014
Drones are on our minds in Central New York because of Monday's news about Syracuse's selection as one of six locations in the United States to conduct research on the problem of keeping unmanned aircraft out of the way of commercial air traffic. For several years, military drones have operated out of Fort Drum near Watertown and Hancock Field in Mattydale. They've also drawn the attention of drone protesters.
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01/01/2014
The JF-17 Block-II — the upgrade version of the JF-17 Thunder or Xiaolong fighter jet co-designed by China and Pakistan — is likely to be a very popular combat aircraft among developing nations, according to the Diplomat, an online current affairs magazine based in Tokyo.
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01/01/2014
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday named six sites dedicated to the research and testing of unmanned aerial systems, or drones. Earlier this year, it received 25 proposals from 24 states looking to cash in on what could be a growing industry in the coming years, once the federal government has developed a legal framework for pilotless airplanes.
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01/01/2014
A bomber version of the Shenyang J-31, China's second fifth-generation stealth fighter, is likely to be designed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in the near future to meet the demands of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, the Beijing-based Sina Military Network reported on Dec. 30.
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01/01/2014
Top brass in the Indian Army and Air Force expressed shock over the Defence Ministry’s decision to award a $1 billion repeat contract on Dec. 27 for six additional C-130J Hercules transport aircraft, saying the military has many more pressing purchases to tackle.
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01/01/2014
India lies in a dangerous neighbourhood with two hostile countries, which have gone to war against it in the past. However, there has been a change in the dynamics and the economics of the Asian region that has seen the rise of China, which can now challenge not just India but even the US, along with intimidating other countries in the area.
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