March, 2018 Military Aviation News
03/31/2018
“I hear at times in my uniform out and about in daily life, ‘do they let women fly?’”said Lt. Col. Cheryl Buehn, the only female instructor pilot in the 71st Fighter Training Squadron. “I don’t think they realize they’re asking a female fighter pilot. So I take a breath and I say, ‘Absolutely. They let women fly fighters, tankers, RPAs, everything. Both men and women fly a lot of different platforms, and everyone is important to the fight right now.’”
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03/31/2018
It’s been 25 years since female pilots were allowed in combat roles in the Air Force, but it’s taking a little longer for their equipment to catch up. “What we’re finding is that women have been flying for years wearing gear that’s been designed for men,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein told Air Force Times during a March 8 editorial board meeting at the Pentagon.
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03/31/2018
Naval officers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln demonstrated for the first time the ability to remotely take control of an aircraft and land it on an aircraft carrier’s deck. Using the ATARI system, or aircraft terminal approach remote inceptor, landing signal officers demonstrated remote piloting of the F/A-18E Super Hornet while conducting carrier qualifications and flight testing aboard the Abraham Lincoln in March. The officers also demonstrated touch-and-go manoeuvres with the system.
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03/31/2018
A used Royal Air Force C-130J could soon be supporting the US Navy’s Blue Angels fighter demonstration team as a long-term replacement for the team’s famous “Fat Albert”. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) plans to quickly buy one of the RAF’s C-130Js to “avoid a gap in logistical support of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron”, according to a government acquisition notice posted on 23 March.
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03/30/2018
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, addressed senior military commanders in Moscow where he said the exercise involved anti-submarine aircraft. He did not confirm when it took place. "For the first time since Soviet times anti-submarine aircraft flights have been carried out via the North Pole towards the North American continent," he said.
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03/30/2018
Croatia's government said on Thursday it has agreed to acquire 12 F-16 multi-purpose combat aircraft from Israel for some $500 million (405.7 million euro). Croatia will pay the price in 10 equal annual installments of $50 million each, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said during a cabinet session streamed on the website of the government.
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03/30/2018
The first F-35A stealth fighter aircraft for South Korea has made its public debut amid a series of diplomatic encounters ahead of an inter-Korean summit next month. South Korea and the United States held a joint rollout ceremony for the jet at Lockheed Martin's assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday, reported Yonhap news agency. The aircraft is the first of 40 F-35As South Korea has agreed to purchase in a 2014 contract. Each aircraft is reportedly priced at around 120 billion won.
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03/30/2018
Boeing plans to launch two new divisions within its Defense, Space & Security business starting next week – a Commercial Derivative Aircraft division, and a Missile and Weapon Systems division – as part of an ongoing reorganization effort by the business unit’s chief executive, Leanne Caret.
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03/30/2018
MBDA has received a long-term contract from the UK Ministry of Defence that will extend the production and sustainment of its improved Brimstone air-to-surface missile into the 2030s. Announced on 27 March and valued at £400 million ($563 million), the capability sustainment programme deal will provide weapons for the Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoons, and potentially also equip rotorcraft and unmanned air vehicles.
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03/29/2018
Switzerland has unveiled a list of specifications for the country’s future combat aircraft and ground-based air defense system. The Swiss defense department said Friday its NKF combat aircraft should be able to protect the Swiss airspace and perform routine air policing missions continuously. The country is looking for an aircraft that can respond within minutes to violations committed by manned or unmanned air vehicles in the Swiss airspace.
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03/29/2018
A South Korean official on 28 March pressed the US Department of Defense to grant maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade contracts for the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lighting II to Korean companies during a speech at a roll-out ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.
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03/29/2018
Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR4 crews flying missions over Iraq and Syria are poised to benefit from a defensive update developed by Leonardo and recently approved for operational use by the UK Ministry of Defence.
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03/29/2018
The Chengdu/Pakistan Aernautical Complex JF-17 fighter is to get an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is expected to boost its export prospects. The KLJ-7A AESA radar developed by the Nanjing Research Institutie of Electronics Technology (NRIET) will be installed on the single-engined type, which is operated by the Pakistan air force, says NRIET's head Hu Mingchun in a China Daily report.
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03/29/2018
A new government audit explains for the first time how the Lockheed Martin F-22 quietly launched a movement within the US Department of Defense four years ago to fix a broken process for developing software for complex weapon systems.
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03/28/2018
Dozens of Chinese naval vessels are exercising this week with an aircraft carrier in a large show of force off Hainan island in the South China Sea, satellite images obtained by Reuters show. The images, provided by Planet Labs Inc, confirm a Chinese carrier group has entered the vital trade waterway as part of what the Chinese navy earlier described as combat drills that were part of routine annual exercises.
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03/28/2018
The Afghan Air Force (AAF) used laser-guided bombs for the first time during a close air support mission in the province of Farah in southwestern Afghanistan on March 22, according to a March 27 statement by the NATO-led Resolute Support mission.
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03/28/2018
The F-35 has caught flack for what critics decry as lack of dogfighting prowess, a reputation that has followed the Joint Strike Fighter for years. But in the skies above Kadena Air Base in Japan, F-35 operators are getting the chance to prove those detractors wrong.
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03/28/2018
Exercise “INIOCHOS” is a yearly medium-scale exercise hosted by the Hellenic Air Force at the facilities of the Air Tactics Center at Andravida Air Base, located in the Northwest Peloponnese, Greece. The “layout” of the exercise is quite standard: two weeks in length (including deployment and re-deployment of the assets), the exercise scenario adopts a Single Base Concept with air operation launched from an MOB (Main Operating Base).
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03/28/2018
The US Navy plans modify 45 more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in the next two years to increase the aircraft’s service life and capabilities, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on 27 March.
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03/28/2018
Poland has exercised an option worth more than €115 million ($143 million) with Leonardo to boost the size of its M-346 advanced jet trainer fleet to 12 aircraft, and could further increase this in the future.
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03/27/2018
Qatari fighter jets flew dangerously close to two UAE-registered civilian aircraft passing through Bahrain, forcing the captain of one of the flights to alter course to avoid collision. The incident was reported Monday by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates which warned of the dangers posed by the two Qatari fighter jets. It called the development an infringement of Bahrain’s airspace.
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03/27/2018
Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Several Chinese military aircraft were seen flying Monday over the Bashi Channel, which lies between Taiwan and the Philippines, as part of a long-range flight training mission in the Western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that day.
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03/27/2018
Congress seems to have come to an agreement on spending for fiscal year 2018, and military aircraft procurement is slated to receive a major bump, funding an additional 143 aircraft above the services’ requests. That’s great news for major defense primes like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, both of which stand to make billions more from the additional sales.
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03/27/2018
The US Air Force plans to acquire 22 more Cessna AC-208s to provide to allied governments to use for lightly armed surveillance missions. An acquisition notice published on 23 March suggests the USAF is open to receive bids from companies interested in modifying aircraft to carry weapons and sensors.
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03/27/2018
With some sources suggesting that Poland could launch its “Harpia” fighter tender within the next few weeks, Italian airframer Leonardo is stepping up its promotion of the Eurofighter Typhoon.
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03/27/2018
The U.S. military has been flying UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter missions in Afghanistan for years, but the storied aircraft will soon take to the country’s battlefields manned by pilots and crews from the Afghan military.
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03/27/2018
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) sent four Xian H-6K long-range bombers, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic countermeasures aircraft, one Tupolev Tu-154MD electronic intelligence plane, and at least two Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jets through international airspace between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the East China Sea on March 23 as part of a military exercise, Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.
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03/27/2018
Roaring off the deck of a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship, F-35B fighter jets piloted by US Marines soar over the Pacific Ocean near the Japanese island of Okinawa. It's a show of force by the US military, which is demonstrating its newest - and most expensive - weaponry a week before it begins annual war games with South Korea.
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03/27/2018
When the Times of India revealed that the Indian air force was revising its single-engine fighter competition to encompass twin-engine jet designs, a collective groan likely rang from New Delhi to Washington—and even Stockholm. The competition was meant to acquire a new generation of short-range jets suitable for defending India’s borders. The Indian air force is gradually retiring its 1950s-era MiG-21 single-engine fighter jets over the next few decades.
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03/26/2018
Despite various govts going slow on hi-tech defence acquisitions, it now emerges that India is the largest weapons importer. This is ‘inglorious’ in the face of stridency over ‘desi’ production. And as we struggle, our neighbours find ways to forge ahead with new defence partners, a fact we can ignore to our peril.
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03/26/2018
Captain John E. Donovan, an electronic warfare officer, monitored the equipment in his F-100F Super Sabre fighter. It was December 22, 1965, and his plane was part of a strike mission searching out enemy antiaircraft sites.
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03/26/2018
H-6K bombers, Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets carry out combat patrols after passing over Miyako Strait between Japanese islands. China’s air force used a number of its latest bombers and fighters in combat patrols over the South China Sea and drills in the Western Pacific after passing over Japan’s southern islands – its first military exercise in the area in more than three months.
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03/25/2018
President Donald Trump signed into law on 23 March a spending bill that adds 143 aircraft, worth $9.5 billion, to what was already requested by the Department of Defence, including 20 additional F-35 Lightning II fighters, 10 F/A-18 Super Hornets, and three KC-46A tanker aircraft.
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03/24/2018
Ukrainian aircraft have been moved back from a state of high combat preparedness, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Dmytro Strutynsky has said. “The state of combat preparedness that was declared today has already been lifted,” Hromadske.TV quoted him as saying.
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03/24/2018
Israeli personnel have taken a fresh opportunity to assess the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey's capabilities, during a joint exercise conducted with the US Marine Corps. Staged in Israel from mid-March, the "Kia Green" manoeuvres included support from Osprey tiltrotors operating from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima. Other US military and Israeli air force aircraft were also involved in the joint activity.
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03/24/2018
Fighter manufacturers are eyeing an opportunity to replace the Swiss air force's entire fighter fleet, although the requirement will be the subject of a public vote planned for early 2020.
Four years ago, Switzerland's planned acquisition of 22 Saab Gripen Es was scrapped after a public referendum narrowly rejected the allocation of funds required to purchase the Swedish-built type. The deal had been intended to replace the Swiss air force's aged Northrop F-5 interceptors.
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03/24/2018
A US Air Force Base in California was rocked by an explosion on Wednesday after a car breached the main gate of the base and detonated. Travis AFB officials report that a vehicle gained “unauthorized access” to the facility Wednesday evening, exploding and killing the driver. Explosive Ordnance Disposal crews and emergency units rushed to the scene after the explosion, discovering that the driver had perished in the blast.
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03/23/2018
Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry has said that it has signed a framework agreement worth 81 million leva (about 41.4 million euro) with Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RSK MiG) for the supply of spare parts and services for the Bulgarian Air Force’s MiG-29 fighter jets. The installation of the spare parts will be carried out by Bulgarian engineers at the Graf Ignatievo Bulgarian Air Force base.
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03/23/2018
Britain will spend £345m ($486m) upgrading its F-35B fighter jets to the most recent, combat-ready, version of the aircraft’s operating system. The figure was indirectly revealed by defence procurement minister Guto Bebb, in response to a Parliamentary question. “The UK’s contribution will be around 4.5 per cent of F-35 Program common upgrade costs, from which the UK gains 100 per cent of the benefit,” said Bebb in his answer to Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards.
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03/23/2018
Russian bombers and fighters took off from airfields in Crimea and flew close to Ukrainian state border; Ukraine's Air Force is on combat alert. The HQ of Ukraine's Air Force reported another provocative act by the Russian combat aviation - the second time this month. Fighters and bombers were spotted to the east and south of Ukraine's state border, namely near the occupied Crimea.
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03/23/2018
SMARTER. Better informed. Highly automated. China is striving to prepare for combat. And its new stealth fighters are on the front line. This will allow it to “seize air superiority” in the Asia-Pacific, state media claims. And it’s thinking further ahead.
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03/23/2018
Fighter manufacturers are eyeing an opportunity to replace the Swiss air force's entire fighter fleet, although the requirement will be the subject of a public vote planned for early 2020.
Four years ago, Switzerland's planned acquisition of 22 Saab Gripen Es was scrapped after a public referendum narrowly rejected the allocation of funds required to purchase the Swedish-built type. The deal had been intended to replace the Swiss air force's aged Northrop F-5 interceptors.
(Read More...)
03/22/2018
The Israeli military confirmed Wednesday it carried out the 2007 airstrike in Syria that destroyed what was believed to be a nuclear reactor, lifting the veil of secrecy over one of its most daring and mysterious operations in recent memory. Although Israel was widely believed to have been behind the Sept. 6, 2007, airstrike, it has never before commented publicly on it.
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03/22/2018
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it sent ships and planes to monitor a Chinese aircraft carrier that entered the Taiwan Strait this week. The rise in cross-strait tensions followed the U.S. passing a law greenlighting visits of senior officials between Washington and Taipei. The law’s passage drew protests in Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province.
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03/22/2018
Germany is proceeding with a project to replace its navy's fleet of 22 Westland Sea Lynx anti-submarine warfare helicopters, but does not yet have a date for launching the procurement. The fleet is set to retire in 2025, and in December last year the "functional requirements" for a replacement were approved by the German chief of defence, says the Bundeswehr.
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03/22/2018
Leonardo will from 2019 deliver its C-27J Spartan battlefield airlifter in a new baseline configuration featuring updated avionics and winglets as standard. Flight tests of the modernised variant are due to begin later this year, with the modifications in 2017 having passed the critical design review milestone. Although the Italian airframer began flight trials of the winglets in 2015, it has only just revealed its progress on the project.
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03/21/2018
Japan’s ruling party called for the nation to develop its own aircraft carrier and buy American F-35B fighter jets in response to what it described as aggressive Chinese actions. Tuesday’s proposal from the Liberal Democratic Party’s defense panel, if adopted, would be the latest step by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to beef up defense of outlying islands, including those also claimed by Beijing.
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03/21/2018
On March 17, 2017 in the Atlantic, a fighter jet landed onto the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The only difference this time was that the pilot was Finnish, not American.
Capt. Juha “Stallion” Jarvinen’s landing was the first landing on an aircraft carrier by a Finnish air force pilot in history, according to the U.S. Navy.
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03/21/2018
On Mar. 19, 2018, the first F-35A destined to the ROKAF performed its maiden flight at Lockheed Martin Ft. Worth facility, Texas. Piloted by LM F-35 Chief Test Pilot and Test Flight Director Alan Norman, the aircraft flew as “Lightning 41”, taking off at 14.48LT and landing at 16.40LT. The photo in this post was taken by Highbrass Photography’s Clinton White during South Korea’s F-35’s first sortie (designated C01).
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03/21/2018
Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson heavily criticised Boeing for what she believes will be further delivery delays of KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tankers during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on 20 March.
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03/21/2018
The Royal Australian Air Force's Boeing P-8A Poseidon fleet has achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC). The IOC for the 737-based maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft came five months ahead of schedule, says defence minister Marise Payne. The RAAF has taken delivery of six P-8As from an overall order book of 12. The type is operated by the No. 11 sqn. from RAAF Edinburgh.
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03/20/2018
US Navy leaders have announced that the first-of-its kind carrier-launched F-35C stealth fighter will deploy for its first operational deployment on the USS Carl Vinson - in 2021. The anticipated historical deployment could be accelerated by the 2019 budget proposal which supports a transition of the F-35C program from a developmental phase to more formal test and evaluation before being declared operational later this year.
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03/20/2018
Lockheed Martin announced on 19 March that a production-version of its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, had another successful test firing after it hit a stack of shipping containers aboard a boat on the Pacific Ocean.
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03/20/2018
On its first overflight mission of the Soviet Union 62 years ago, the Lockheed U-2 was tracked for the entire mission. It would take the Soviets another four years to acquire the technology to shoot down the U-2, as Central Intelligence Agency pilot Francis Gary Powers learned to his cost over Sverdlovsk on May Day.
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03/19/2018
India is planning to revise the specifications for one of the world’s biggest fighter jet orders, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would allow manufacturers such as Boeing Co. and United Aircraft Corp. to pitch their twin-engine combat aircraft.
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03/18/2018
Qatar informed the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General of a violation of Qatari sovereignty on the part of UAE. Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani said in a message to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and to President of the UN Security Council for this month Ambassador Karel van Oosterom that a military transport aircraft CN-35 that belongs to the UAE violated the airspace of Qatar on Sunday March 4.
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03/18/2018
The country’s oldest airbase, Ambala, witnessed another landmark in the history of military aviation when the Air Force’s first woman combat pilot, Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth, flew her maiden solo sortie in a fighter aircraft from the base on Friday. Bhawana took off in a MiG-12 Bison belonging to the IAF’s No.3 Squadron, the Cobras, from Ambala, where she has been posted, at 2 pm and the sortie lasted about half an hour.
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03/17/2018
Lawmakers have been pressing the U.S. Air Force the last few weeks about its light attack program. The service says that light attack, dubbed OA-X, will be an example of how it intends to buy and field planes faster in the near future.
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03/17/2018
Israel’s Lockheed Martin F-35I "Adir" is reported to have made its combat debut during strikes conducted against Syrian air defence systems last month. The action was mounted following a border clash that culminated in an Israeli air force Lockheed F-16 being shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
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03/16/2018
A US military HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, a Black Hawk variant, has crashed in western Iraq near the border with Syria, according to multiple US defense officials. One US defense official said that there were "likely fatalities" involved and that rescue teams were on the scene in under an hour. The officials cautioned that these are early reports and that the Pave Hawk was carrying seven personnel, but was not on a combat mission.
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03/16/2018
Boeing Co, considered the frontrunner in the race to supply the Indian navy with new fighter jets, is now in contention for a much bigger $15 billion order after the government abruptly asked the air force to consider the twin-engine planes.
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03/16/2018
Saab's GlobalEye swing-role surveillance aircraft completed a 1h 46min debut flight from Linköping in Sweden on 14 March, less than three weeks after its formal unveiling. Carrying the temporary registration SE-RMY, the heavily modified Bombardier Global 6000 demonstrated "smooth handling, just as predicted," according to Saab experimental test pilot Magnus Fredriksson. The debut included "collecting extensive flight-test data using the on-board instrumentation suite," the company adds.
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03/15/2018
A US Navy F-18 Hornet crashed in the water on the Naval Air Station Key West property late Wednesday afternoon. The two pilots ejected and were later found, according to the US Navy.
Rescue crews recovered both pilots after search and rescue efforts and they were taken by ambulance to Lower Keys Medical Center, the US Navy reported Wednesday evening. Their condition has not been revealed.
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03/15/2018
Qatar has finally firmed a long-held tentative deal for NH Industries (NHI) NH90 helicopters, to be split between the naval and troop transport variants. The revised order sees the Gulf state increase its commitment to 28 helicopters, up from the 22 it initially signed for in 2014.
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03/15/2018
Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson may ask Congress to reallocate funds to the light-attack aircraft programme this year, a move which would accelerate the department’s purchase of the aircraft by one year to 2019.
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03/15/2018
Beijing will evolve the Chengdu J-20 fighter into roles well beyond aerial supremacy. The aircraft’s primary mission for the time being is “making way for other aircraft in an air battle,” says Zhang Hao, who heads an air force flight test centre. Zhang made the remarks in a story carried by Beijing’s official China Daily news organ.
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03/14/2018
South Korea has concluded a contract for 90 German-built Taurus KEPD 350 long-range precision-guided cruise missiles, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) revealed on March 12. “The contract was signed in late February,” Kang Hwan-seok, a DAPA spokesperson, told reporters this Monday, according to Yonhap news agency.
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03/14/2018
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has signed a memorandum of intent with the UK Government to purchase 48 Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role fighter jets. The memorandum of intent has been signed during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the UK. In a statement, BAE Systems said: “This is a positive step towards agreeing a contract for our valued partner.
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03/14/2018
The US Air Force is likely to issue a request for proposal for its Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bomber engine replacement programme close to the first quarter of 2019, according to an Air Force document released on 13 March.
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03/13/2018
China will continue to improve and upgrade its cutting-edge J-20 stealth fighter jet, giving it more capabilities than merely penetrating an enemy's air defense networks, according to its chief designer.
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03/13/2018
During an official state visit to India from March 10 to 12, French President Emanuel Macron in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promoted the sale of additional Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF). “It is a long-term contract which is mutually beneficial. I personally consider it as the heart of the strategic partnership,” the French president said in a statement following talks with the Indian prime minister on March 10.
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03/13/2018
The Indian Air Force reportedly is set to formally reboot its plans to purchase nearly 115 fighter jets within weeks, but it may tie any final contract to a demand that it also receive technical assistance for its domestic fifth generation fighter project. This decision would seem to confirm ongoing reports that India is not happy with the progress of its existing stealth fighter deal with Russia, might again give Lockheed Martin an upper hand since it is already building the F-35.
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03/13/2018
The US Marine Corps issued a request for information for its proposed ship-based vertical takeoff and landing drone, the MUX aircraft, on 8 March. MUX, which is short for Marine Air Ground Task Force – Unmanned Expeditionary Capabilities programme, would operate autonomously from the deck of an amphibious assault ship and is designed to fill what the USMC sees as its current inability to provide persistent multi-role aerial coverage 350nm (648km) beyond its ships.
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03/13/2018
State-owned Indonesia Trading Company (ITC) has proposed operating two Airbus Defence & Space A400M tactical transports to help balance domestic trade in Indonesia. On its website, the Indonesian air force states that it would be willing to provide crews to support such a venture. The remarks came after a meeting between air force chief of staff Yuyu Sutisna and president director of ITC, Agus Andiyani.
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03/12/2018
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has fielded a squadron of new Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 “Thunder” combat aircraft, according to a recent report by the Associated Press of Pakistan. The multi-role fighter jets are stationed at Pakistan’s Samungli Base near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.
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03/12/2018
The Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker” was never planned to exported when it was originally developed, unlike its lighter cousin, the MiG-29. However, ever since being approved for export it has been one of the most popular fighter exports in the Asian region. The first customer for the Su-27 was China, which secured a procurement deal while the Soviet Union still existed. But how did Beijing accomplish this?
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03/12/2018
The Pakistan Air Force inaugurated a new JF-17 fighter squadron in Quetta last month. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) stood up a new fighter squadron composed of Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (PAC/CAC) JF-17 “Thunder” multirole fighter jets in Quetta, Balochistan last month, according to local media reports.
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03/12/2018
Airbus Helicopters announced that it received a $273 million contract from the US Army to deliver 35 more UH-72A Lakotas. The helicopters will be used as training aircraft, and will be split between the initial entry rotary wing mission at Fort Rucker, Alabama, which will receive 17 aircraft, and the observer and controller mission at the Army’s combat training centres, which will receive 18 aircraft.
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03/11/2018
Saudi Arabia could be set to acquire a follow-on batch of 48 Eurofighter Typhoons, pending the conclusion of government-to-government discussions with the UK disclosed on 9 March.
"The UK government has signed a memorandum of intent with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to aim to finalise discussions for the purchase of 48 Typhoon aircraft," BAE says. The Royal Saudi Air Force already has acquired 72 of the European type.
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03/08/2018
The head of the Norway’s main military intelligence arm says his agency has watched as Russian military aircraft flew a number of simulated attacks on key military installations in his country and NATO warships in the region. The incidents offer yet more evidence that the Kremlin is taking an increasingly aggressive stance toward the Western alliance and that it is looking for ways harass it and its other European partners that don’t run the risk setting off an actual conflict.
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03/08/2018
The Joint Program Office (JPO) estimates that continued development of the F-35 to deal with evolving threats and changing warfighting environments will cost the U.S. government more than $1 billion a year between 2018 and 2024. The figure came to light during testimony from Vice Admiral Mathias Winter to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee on 7 March.
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03/08/2018
Airbus is to dramatically slow its final assembly rate for the A400M tactical transport from a high of 19 achieved in 2017 to only eight per year from 2020, the company confirms. "Production will be adjusted to eight units per year as of 2020, following production of 15 A400Ms in 2018 and 11 units in 2019," Airbus says.
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03/07/2018
A Russian military transport plane crashed in Syria on Tuesday killing all 39 people on board, Russian officials said, an incident that sharply raised the death toll from the Kremlin’s intervention in the Syrian war. President Vladimir Putin, who is running for re-election later this month, declared in December that the Russian mission in Syria was largely completed, but casualties continue to mount.
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03/07/2018
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has officially denied reports that it has requested a classified briefing by U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin on the capabilities of its fifth-generation stealth multi-role F-35A Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II, the aircraft’s conventional takeoff and landing version.
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03/07/2018
Germany is struggling to maintain the operational readiness of its military aircraft inventory, as obsolescence issues and challenges around the introduction of new platforms combine to diminish front-line availability.
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03/07/2018
Boeing is to advance a planned service-life extension programme for the US Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, with the company having been contracted to perform work on an initial four aircraft.
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03/07/2018
Jordan and Qatar have been confirmed as new customers for United Technologies Aerospace Systems' (UTAS) DB-110 tactical reconnaissance pod, under deals worth a combined $51.2 million. Detailed by the US Department of Defense on 5 March, the awards have been made via an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract signed earlier this year by the US Air Force.
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03/06/2018
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may have been the subject of more postulation than any other military aircraft in history. After years of cost overruns, delays, and issues, the fighter platform that America has long touted as the most advanced on the planet is finally nearing a stage when its comparisons to tried and true combat aircraft can leave the drawing board and start being based on legitimate side by side comparisons.
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03/06/2018
Since 1984, Lockheed Martin, a Maryland-based aerospace and defense company, has provided modification, maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for both military and civil aircraft from its 16-hangar facility at the S.C. Technology and Aviation Center in southern Greenville County. Now the company’s local operation is gearing up for another busy year.
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03/06/2018
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a legendary aircraft?—?an icon of the Vietnam War and the archetype of the third-generation jet fighter designs that entered service in the 1960s. More than 5,000 of these heavy supersonic fighters were built, and hundreds continue to serve and even see combat in several air forces today.
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03/06/2018
China on Monday announced the largest increase in three years to its defense budget, saying it would spend 8.1 percent more than the previous year as the country continues a push to modernize its military and expand its air and naval capabilities.
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03/06/2018
Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Boeing have inaugurated an assembly line in Hyderabad that will be the exclusive source of future AH-64 Apache fuselages. Under the Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL) joint venture, the fuselage sections will be produced at TASL’s production facility on the outskirts of Hyderabad, says Boeing in a statement. The joint venture was set up in 2015, and the line will start producing fuselage sections in 2018.
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03/05/2018
The JAS-39 Gripen is the Swedish defense industry’s largest export, financially. The Gripen has seen considerable success replacing aging fighters in former Warsaw Pact countries, and has also seen sales in Africa, the Americas and Asia. But why is the Gripen successful on the export market? How does it stack up against other NATO products and Soviet jets?
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03/05/2018
Workers on the Typhoon line at Warton in Lancashire were given the news they had long dreaded last October. Faced with dwindling orders, BAE Systems was slowing down production of the fighter jet to a trickle. About 750 jobs would be cut at Warton and its sister plant Samlesbury, the defence giant said, part of 1,400 job losses across its military air business. The production rate is expected to drop to 11 Typhoons a year — down from the previous rate of 20.
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03/05/2018
Reserve airmen of the 920th Rescue Wing are doing their part to keep aircraft here up to snuff, as they await the arrival of a new combat rescue helicopter and HC-130 recovery planes. And while leaders at the base are craving more modern planes, they're still years away from formal delivery. For the most active Reserve unit -- and the only Reserve rescue wing in the Air Force - officials said they need and want the best to be ready for the missions they are already tasked to do.
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03/05/2018
Some time in the next several weeks or months, the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme will pass a historic milestone. The system development and demonstration phase that began 17 years ago appears poised – barring any unforeseen showstoppers – to conclude by the end of summer. The aircraft, engine, simulators and logistics system will shift from development to operational status, albeit six years behind schedule.
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03/02/2018
Russia's surprise deployment of Sukhoi Su-57s to a base inside Syria has positioned its new stealth fighter within the same region of operations as the Israeli air force's Lockheed Martin F-35I. Video footage appearing to show Su-57s arriving in Syria was confirmed by pictures captured by an Israeli imaging satellite. The new type's deployment marks the peak of Moscow's direct intervention so far in Syria's long-running civil war.
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03/02/2018
With Lockheed Martin having marked the latest milestone in its C-130J “Super Hercules” programme on 9 February – the delivery of its 400th example – we use Flight Fleets Analyzer data to detail the type’s sales performance so far.
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03/02/2018
US military officials have launched a new affordability initiative for the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme that targets labour costs and manufacturing efficiency, says Vice Adm Mat Winter, the F-35 programme executive officer.
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03/01/2018
On Feb. 21, 2018, the Iraqi government announced that the Iraqi air force had reopened its academy at Balad air base. U.S. Central Command announced that the Coalition Aviation Advisory and Training Team will help establish standardized training programs. Forty cadets will start their coursework in March 2018.
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03/01/2018
Saab is poised to start ground-test activities with its first GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, having unveiled the heavily-adapted Bombardier Global 6000 for launch customer the United Arab Emirates. Rolled out at the Swedish company's Linköping site on 23 February, the modified business jet is the first of three such "swing-role" platforms ordered by the Gulf nation since November 2015.
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