April 10, 2014 Military Aviation News
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
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."
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
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.
(Read More...)
All Articles