November 13, 2015 Military Aviation News
11/13/2015
A UNITED States B-52 strategic bomber flew over artificial Chinese islands in the South China Sea recently and was contacted by Chinese ground controllers but continued its mission undeterred, a Pentagon spokesman said overnight.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
Air Force Col. Martha McSally was leading a squadron of A-10 attack jets over Afghanistan when they encountered U.S. forces engaged in a desperate fight against Islamist insurgents. One of the embattled troops signaled his unit’s location with a small mirror that reflected sunlight upward. McSally, the first American woman to fly in combat, and the other pilots flew to the light and opened fire with the seven-barrel Gatling cannons nestled in the A-10s’ noses.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is the best air superiority fighter ever built, but could America have done better? When the YF-22 prototype won the contract for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) in April 1991, it was a lesser plane compared to the Northrop YF-23 in many ways. Though the YF-22 was a more maneuverable aircraft, the YF-23 had far greater supersonic cruise capability—especially when outfitted with the General Electric YF120 variable cycle engines.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
Turkey, perhaps for the first time, allowed its soil to be used for combat operations by both NATO allies and non-NATO countries when it struck a deal with the US in late July to open Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey to the US-led coalition forces of about 60 nations in their fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
BAE Systems PLC on Thursday cut its earnings outlook for the year and said it would reduce production and jobs for the Typhoon combat jet after failing to secure export business it had expected to win. BAE Systems said full-year earnings per share should be 38 pence, the same as last year, after previously saying they would be “marginally higher,” the London-based arms maker said on Thursday. Earnings would have been lower if not for a 2 pence-a-share tax benefit.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
The Pentagon is unflinchingly tight-lipped about any new, high tech planes it has in the works. But every so often, a bit of information manages to squeak out into the public domain. In 2013, the U.S. Air Force sent a secret spy plane out over the Pacific region. The unknown aircraft – possibly a drone – flew “national collection missions” – a euphemism for strategic intelligence against states like North Korea or China.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
The Indian government will increase orders for its homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), called Tejas, from 20 to 120, but Air Force officials question the plane's capabilities, and the scheduled arrival of a more advanced model remains murky.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
Argentine defence minister Agustin Rossi has announced that negotiations for new fighter jets are under way, but will be left to the next government to purchase. Rossi’s decision comes only a day after the Argentine government announced the purchase of Israeli manufactured Kfir fighters.
(Read More...)
11/13/2015
A Russian engine is being installed in Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder fighter jet which inspires hope for cooperation between the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and the Russian engine maker, a PAC representative said on Monday.
(Read More...)
All Articles