May 21, 2015 Military Aviation News
05/21/2015
A Russian military aeroplane has been spotted in British airspace near a Nato monitoring base earlier today. The Antonov An-30 military surveillance aircraft was spotted flying roughly 30 miles from Menwith Hill, a high-tech Nato monitoring station based in north Yorkshire, by 41-year-old semi-professional photographer Steve Bradley.
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05/21/2015
Islamic State extremists Wednesday captured the Syrian desert town of Palmyra, famed for its ancient ruins and a notorious political prison, in their second major victory in just four days after ousting the Iraqi army from the city of Ramadi. Syrian state news media reported that the government had withdrawn local militias protecting the town after evacuating their families, and local activists said other regime forces had retreated 30 miles to the east to a local phosphate mine.
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05/21/2015
Boeing has floated the idea of selling refurbished A-10 Warthogs to other nations as the US Air Force seeks to retire the venerable attack airplane. The company is currently extending the service life of the air force’s A-10 fleet through a re-winging programme, and it recently delivered its 100th modification with more than 70 modifications left on contract.
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05/21/2015
The U.S. Defense Department approved a deal selling Israel $1.8 billion worth of precision guided munitions and bombs, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. The deal includes 14,500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), an arms system attached to bombs that enables precision targeting with GPS, intended for Air Force fighter jets.
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05/21/2015
The Russian army plans to integrate more than 250 aircraft into its armed forces by the end of the year, a top defense official said Wednesday. The influx will be the latest in a series of apparent upgrades to Russia’s military capability as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s vow to modernize the nation’s armed forces by the end of the decade.
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05/21/2015
Lt. General Jon Davis, Head of Marine Corps aviation, told Reuters that they might declare a squadron of 10 Lockheed Martin Corporation F-35 military aircraft ready for combat by July 15 this year. Earlier this week, Lockheed Martin also delivered six F-35B aircraft to the USS Wasp amphibious warship for operational testing.
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05/21/2015
The Chinese navy issued warnings eight times as a U.S. surveillance plane on Wednesday swooped over islands that Beijing is using to extend its zone of influence. The series of man-made islands and the massive Chinese military build-up on them have alarmed the Pentagon, which is carrying out the surveillance flights in order to make clear the U.S. does not recognize China's territorial claims. The militarized islands have also alarmed America's regional allies.
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05/21/2015
Boeing recently completed maintenance on a U.S. Air Force E-4B advanced airborne command post earlier than planned, enabling the Air Force to quickly return the vital aircraft to operational service. It was the first E-4B serviced at Boeing’s San Antonio site. Boeing also performs maintenance on Air Force C-17 Globemaster III airlifters, KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and on commercial aircraft at that site.
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05/21/2015
Initial operating capability (IOC) of the modernized French Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet has been achieved with Boeing’s delivery of the second of four upgraded aircraft and completion of the operational tests and evaluations. The upgrade is part of a Foreign Military Sale between the French Defense Procurement and Technology Agency (Direction générale de l'armement – DGA) and the U.S. government.
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05/21/2015
The US State Department has approved a $1.9 billion proposed sale of 10 advanced multi-mission helicopters, equipment and weaponry to Saudi Arabia, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. Produced by US defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky, the MH-60R is the US Navy’s premier anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopter.
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