August 11, 2015 Military Aviation News

Inside Syria: Kurds Roll Back ISIS, but Alliances Are Strained

08/11/2015

Green drapes were drawn against the sun, cloaking the room where members of a Syrian Kurdish militia huddled around walkie-talkies, assiduously taking down GPS coordinates. Talal Raman, a 36-year-old Kurdish fighter, worked on a Samsung tablet, annotating a Google Earth map marked with the positions of the deserted apartment buildings and crumbling villas from where his colleagues were battling Islamic State fighters south of this northern Syrian town.

Jordan airforce buys nine Pilatus trainer planes

08/11/2015

The Jordanian airforce will buy nine Pilatus training aircraft for fighter jet pilots, the Swiss company said Monday, without divulging the price tag on the deal. The deal for the nine PC-9 M two-seater planes also includes a simulator, training equipment and logistics support, Pilatus Aircraft said in a statement.

Air Force Advances JSTARS Replacement Efforts

08/11/2015

The Air Force awarded three contracts for modernization of its high tech radar surveillance plane designed to scan large geographical areas for activity, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, service officials said. Describing the effort as a recapitalization, or recap, the service is looking at a range of airframes from Gulfstream jets to Bombardier airplanes and Boeing 737-700's as potential replacements for its aging fleet of 16 E-8C JSTARS airplanes.

China hits back at U.S. criticism over South China Sea 'restrictions'

08/11/2015

China hit back on Monday at U.S. criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbors. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims..

More bang for buck in airplanes

08/11/2015

Even with no cost overruns, Abbott is committed to spending well over $100 billion on new destroyers, frigates, corvettes and subs. This compares to about $35 billion to import over 150 highly capable planes, including F-35 and Super Hornet fighters, aerial refuellers, maritime surveillance planes, radar jamming and early airborne warning aircraft.

Russian T-50 Stealth Aircraft To Be The New King Of Aerobatics

08/11/2015

The Russian T-50 PAK-FA could become the new king of aerobatics with the stealth aircraft being capable of flying at Mach 2 speed and bringing its speed down to Zero in mid-flight. It is capable of performing all known aerobatic manoeuvres while introducing some new ones which promise to take onlookers’ breath away. a feature that sets it apart from any foreign competitors such the American F-25 and F-22, Ria Novosti reported quoting officials of the Sukhoi Design Bureau.

Congress Notified of Potential $1.5B Sale of Aegis Combat Systems for New Japanese Ship Class

08/11/2015

A proposed $1.5 billion sale of two ship sets worth of Aegis combat systems, anti-submarine warfare systems and a cooperative engagement capability (CEC) equipment will give Japan’s planned new class of destroyers the capacity to connect and receive information from American battle networks, according to a list of items in a foreign military sales (FMS) notification issued by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Friday.

Zortrax 3D Printers Used To Modernize Iconic MiG-29 Fighter Jets

08/11/2015

A small number of MiG-29s are still being upgraded in Poland with new mission computers, navigation technology and radios, and at Military Aviation Plant No. 2 (Wojskowe Zaklady Lotnicze Nr 2), designers and engineers are using 3D printers manufactured by Zortrax as a tool to aid them in many of these upgrades. The 3D printers are being used for a variety of parts, and the teams there say the technology has significantly reduced the time needed to carry out the upgrades.

IAF halves its demand for Russian fighter jets

08/11/2015

Looking to cut costs and prune military imports, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has halved its demand for Russian-built fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA). It now wants just three squadrons of the fighter jets which are to be inducted into the Russian Air Force in 2016.

Japan’s F-2 Marks 8th Platform to Fly with Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod

08/11/2015

Lockheed Martin received a direct commercial sale contract through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to integrate the Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) onto the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF) F-2 aircraft. This initial contract, awarded in 2014, includes a Sniper pod, spares and support equipment for integration. The F-2 is the eighth aircraft platform to be equipped with Sniper ATP, joining variants of the F-15, F-16, F-18, A-10, B-1, B-52 and Harrier.

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