August, 2018 Military Aviation News
08/29/2018
Russia plans to hold massive war games involving 300,000 personnel next month - its biggest military manoeuvres since a Cold War drill in 1981. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Vostok-2018 drills were justified given "aggressive and unfriendly" attitudes towards his country. Units from China and Mongolia will also take part in the exercises at military ranges in central and eastern Russia. The manoeuvres come at a time of rising tension between Nato and Russia.
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08/29/2018
The US Navy hit a major milestone in its quest to make aircraft carriers a more deadly, potent force by sailing the USS Abraham Lincoln with F-35C stealth fighters training alongside F/A-18s for the first time. The Navy's F-35C represents the most troubled branch of the F-35 family. With the Air Force and Marines Corps F-35s coming online over a year ago, the F-35C sorely lags behind as it struggled to master carrier takeoff and landings.
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08/29/2018
The US Air Force posted online an official request for proposals for its Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support programme on 24 August. The USAF intends to contract 30,000 adversary air sorties annually in the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii, according to the notice. The service also wants aircraft for 10,000 close air support sorties annually in the continental United States to facilitate joint terminal attack controller training.
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08/28/2018
On a recent trip to East Asia, the subject of steadily increasing Chinese maritime and air activity in the waters and airspace of Japan and Taiwan came up often. China’s navy and air force are growing in number and sophistication of platforms, and China has been sending ships and aircraft in increasing numbers through international waters around both Taiwan and Japan, through their Exclusive Economic Zones, Air Defense Identification Zones, contiguous zones, and even territorial waters and airsp
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08/28/2018
Qatar will expand two air bases including Udeid, which hosts the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East, a senior military official said on Monday amid a year-long dispute between the tiny Gulf Arab state and its neighbours.
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08/28/2018
The first Chinese-built aircraft carrier is entering the home straight to combat readiness with the start of a final sea trial that could last up to a year, according to observers. Just three months after its maiden voyage, the 65,000-tonne Type 001A vessel left a shipyard in Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning on Sunday towed by several tugboats, according to photographs and footage posted online by the Chinese military.
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08/28/2018
Bell Helicopter was awarded a $510 million contract to manufacture 29 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for the US Marine Corps. The contract amount will also fund the purchase of long lead materials and components for an additional seven Lot 16 aircraft, according to a notice posted on the Department of Defense’s contracts page on 23 August.
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08/28/2018
India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has taken a step toward the possible acquisition of 24 Lockheed Martin Sikorsky MH-60R anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters. The news came in a defence ministry announcement that the DAC has earmarked INR460 billion ($6.4 billion) for new military equipment including helicopters for the navy and artillery for the army.
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08/24/2018
Iran drew widespread ridicule when it revealed that its supposedly "state of the art" and domestically designed and built new "Kowsar" jet fighter was really a 1970s US design with a fresh coat of paint — but according to an expert, the plane has an untold purpose that could save the Iranian air force.
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08/24/2018
NATO has started to build a stockpile of common air-to-ground precision guided munitions with the receipt of its first weapons shipment from the USA on 22 August. The stockpile is meant to allow European NATO members to draw upon each other’s precision guided munitions in case of need, such as during joint air operations or in reaction to a crisis.
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08/22/2018
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) is expected to sign a contract for a pre-production batch of 12 Sukhoi Su-57 fighter aircraft, Russia’s first indigenously designed and built fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, with United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a major Russian aerospace and defense company, this week, according to the head of UAC Yuri Slyusar.
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08/22/2018
Serbia's air force received two Russian MiG-29 fighter jets as part of an arms purchase that could heighten tensions in the Balkans and increase Moscow's influence in the region. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended the ceremony on Tuesday at a military airport close to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for helping make Serbia's armed forces stronger.
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08/22/2018
The Air Force has entered the next phase in its development of a new, combat-ready Light Attack aircraft designed to maneuver close to terrain, support ground combat operations and operate closely with U.S. allies in an irregular warfare scenario. The service is now entering a proposal phase for its new aircraft, designed to lead to a production contract by next year.
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08/22/2018
Germany wants to replace its fleet of 89 Tornado combat jets with a new aircraft that retains the plane's nuclear capability, but doing so may mean the US gets a say about which aircraft the Luftwaffe ultimately picks, according to Defense News.
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08/22/2018
NASA started a several months-long series of flights on 3 August to identify the physiological impacts of flying in high-performance military aircraft on the human body. The flights are being conducted at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California and will take place over 160 flight hours. The tests are managed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center at Langley Research Center in Virginia.
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08/20/2018
A pair of stealthy fifth-generation U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor air superiority fighters squared off against a pair of Royal Norwegian Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters during a one-day training exercise over Norway on August 15 .
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08/20/2018
The Pentagon has highlighted China’s growing military clout in a new report, saying the air force is developing its bombers to hit targets as far away as possible – and “likely training for strikes” against the United States and its allies. It said the People’s Liberation Army was pursuing nuclear capability for its long-range bombers, and the air force had “been reassigned a nuclear mission”, in its annual report to the US Congress on China’s military developments released on Thursday.
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08/18/2018
Details are still coming in, but a T-38 Talon training jet from the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma has crashed. This is the sixth aircraft the Air Force has lost in non-combat mishaps in 2018 and the third incident involving a T-38 since November 2017.
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08/18/2018
Russia is close to commencing ground and flight trials with its first modernised Tupolev Tu-22M3M bomber, with a lead example having emerged from the United Aircraft (UAC) plant in Kazan in mid-August.
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08/18/2018
A new Pentagon report highlights the strides Beijing is making with its bomber capabilities, as well as other airpower trends. In its annual report to congress about military developments in China, the US Department of Defense highlights the capabilities of the Xian H-6K bomber. It dedicates a whole chapter to Beijing’s ratcheting up of long-range bomber patrols.
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08/17/2018
President Donald Trump signed the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act into law on 13 August, budgeting $39.5 billion for the purchase of 413 new aircraft. The largest appropriation for a single aircraft type is $7.6 billion to procure 77 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters; $4.2 billion to procure 48 F-35As for the US Air Force; $2.3 billion to procure 20 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps; and $1.1 billion to procure nine F-35Cs for the US Navy.
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08/16/2018
The Singapore air force’s first Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) has arrived in the country. Images posted on social media show the aircraft landing at Changi International Airport, adjacent to the Changi West air base where the nation's Boeing KC-135R tankers are stationed.
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08/15/2018
The Air Force will soon operate F-35s with fast-evolving collision-avoidance technology able to help fighter jets avoid ground collisions by using computer automation to redirect an aircraft in the event that a pilot is injured or incapacitated.
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08/15/2018
The Russians seem to recognize that the initial version of the Su-57 will not offer a particularly more useful capability than the Su-35. Moscow only plans to purchase a dozen of the initial AL-41F1-powered version of the Su-57.
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08/15/2018
Britain has recently showcased their latest creation which aims to dominate the skies in the future. The fighter jet is named The Tempest, and it is co-developed by British aerospace companies BAE Systems Plc, Rolls Royce Holdings, MBDA UK and Anglo-Italian firm Leonardo SpA.
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08/15/2018
Boeing was awarded $17 million to convert nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F aircraft into Blue Angel demonstration aircraft. The Super Hornets are to replace the squadron’s McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets, which have been in use since 1986. The retrofit work will be done in St. Louis, Missouri and is expected to be finished in December 2021, according to the notice posted online 13 August.
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08/14/2018
The US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) granted a $49.1 million contract to UES Inc. to help research and develop technologies to counter laser attacks on aircraft. Laser attacks are rising this year as China’s military forces have allegedly used beams to blind and harass US military pilots flying near Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea and a military base in Djibouti, according to the Department of Defense.
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08/14/2018
Latvia could advance its armed forces modernisation programme via a four-aircraft purchase of Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters, after the US Department of State gave its approval to a potential deal.
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08/13/2018
The RAAF’s Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) deployment to the Middle East under Operation Okra has marked 100 million pounds (over 45,000 metric tonnes) of fuel offloaded during air-to-air refuelling operations. Since September 2014, the RAAF had maintained a single KC-30A from Amberley-based 33SQN in the Persian Gulf region to support an RAAF Air Task Group and coalition aircraft on combat operations up into Iraq and Syria.
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08/12/2018
In a bizarre incident originating from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state an Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 twin-engine turboprop commuter airliner was commandeered by a lone male, reported to be an airport maintenance worker, and crashed into the ground on Ketron Island, which is southwest of Tacoma, in south Puget Sound. There were no passengers on board the aircraft. Ketron Island has only about 20 year-round residents according to news outlets.
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08/12/2018
China’s expanding line-up of multirole, all-weather J-16 fighter jets will help the air force to launch strikes deep into enemy territory and destroy key strategic assets like airfields and bridges, military analysts say.
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08/12/2018
India’s aircraft carrier ambitions just passed a major milestone. On August 2, India’s domestically built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) conducted an arrested landing for the very first time. The naval variant of the LCA is India’s first indigenous carrier-based aircraft. The Teja didn’t land on a carrier deck. In fact, it didn’t land at all. The aircraft was simply practicing grabbing a tailhook of an arresting wire from the ground.
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08/11/2018
Australia is building its future air power capabilities around the F-35. What future threats might the fifth-gen fighter face? As tensions rise over China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, Australia deploys a squadron of F-35A Lightning Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs), to the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth. This is a location very familiar to many Australian defence personnel from decades of deployments, going back to the dark days of World War 2.
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08/11/2018
THE Chinese military told a US Navy plane flying over the highly-disputed island in the South China Sea to “leave immediately”. The US Navy P-8A Poseidon jet was flying at 16,500 feet to get a view of low-lying coral reefs that have been turned into garrisons with five-storey buildings, large radar installations, power plants and runways sturdy enough to carry large military aircraft.
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08/11/2018
At least nine active duty US Marine Corps Aviation squadrons failed to accurately report the present state of their squadron’s aircraft readiness in late 2017 and early 2018 due to confusion about what data should be recorded.
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08/11/2018
Hard and bitter experience entitles the small but vocal community of advocates for buying cheap turboprop-powered attack aircraft to be sceptical, but their time may have finally come.
The US Air Force actually seems serious about buying several squadrons of either Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29s or Beechcraft AT-6s from Textron Aviation.
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08/10/2018
It was another busy day as Northern Strike continued on Wednesday, August 8, with first-responder drills focused on vehicle extrication taking place in Rogers City. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters also practiced sling-loading equipment at Alpena CRTC, along with many other activities in Grayling and on the Lake Huron Water Range.
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08/10/2018
In the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress agreed with the Air Force to cancel the manned JSTARS recap program in favor of a largely space-based system, the Advanced Battle Management System. ABMS is undefined, without an estimate of cost and with an unknown fielding date. In the meantime, against Air Force wishes, Congress has disallowed the retirement of any of the 17 legacy E-8C JSTARS aircraft.
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08/10/2018
The onslaught of Russian aircraft were shadowed by the NATO Air Policing Mission (APM) team tasked with guarding airspace over the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
NATO aircraft were scrambled to escort Russian planes on eight separate occasions between July 30 and August 5, according to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. On each occasion the Russian aircraft were flying either to or from Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave situated between Poland and Lithuania along the Baltic
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08/10/2018
The Aircraft and Weapons division chief with the US Air Force Cost Analysis Agency has made a series of suggestions in a research paper for keeping the price of a sixth generation fighter down after analysing a myriad of cost-overruns by the B-2, F-22 and F-35 programmes.
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08/09/2018
A Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft accidently fired an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) while flying near Otepää in Estonia, less than 50 km west of the Russian border. The missile has not been recovered. The last assumed location of the missile is roughly 40 km to the north of the city of Tartu, and its direction was northbound. The incident took place on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 sometime around 3:45 PM local.
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08/09/2018
Military units from the U.S., U.K., Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are at Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and across northern Michigan through August 18 for Exercise Northern Strike ‘18. Officials say residents in parts of the U.P. may see military aircraft including fighters, cargo planes and helicopters during the exercise.
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08/09/2018
Will the Pentagon, with its 30-year planning cycle for building ships, still be launching aircraft carriers in 2048 — even though they’re highly vulnerable to attack today? That’s an example of the military-modernization questions that kept nagging participants at last weekend’s gathering of the Aspen Strategy Group, which annually brings together top-level current and former national security officials, along with a few journalists, to discuss defense and foreign policy.
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08/09/2018
Head of the Press Center of Ukraine’s Air Force, Roman Yurchilo has confirmed the participation U.S. troops in the upcoming Clear Sky 2018 multinational military exercise in Ukraine. Ukraine this year will hold the largest multinational aviation exercise since its independence. The Clear Sky 2018 exercise scheduled to be held in mid-October for two weeks.
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08/08/2018
The flight deck of the flagship of the Russian Navy, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, will undergo a major upgrade to carry MiG-29K/MiG-29KUB fighter jets as part of a general overhaul of the warship slated to begin in the coming weeks, according to Russian defense industry officials.
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08/08/2018
The US Air Force has selected Lockheed Martin to rapidly develop and field both new hypersonic missiles launched as a response to surprise developments in high-speed weapons by China and Russia, newly-released acquisition documents confirm.
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08/08/2018
After more than a year of flight demonstrations the US Air Force is formally moving the light attack aircraft experiment into the acquisitions phase, with the intention that it will award a production contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation or Textron Aviation in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019.
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08/08/2018
China has reportedly conducted the maiden flight of a new hypersonic test vehicle, achieving speeds of Mach 5.5 for over six minutes, and reaching Mach 6. The test of the unmanned system, designated Starry Sky 2, took place recently in Northwestern China, reports the official China Daily newspaper.
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08/06/2018
The Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E is the top Russian air-superiority fighter in service today, and represents the pinnacle of fourth-generation jet fighter design. It will remain so until Russia succeeds in bringing its fifth-generation PAK-FA stealth fighter into production.
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08/06/2018
Air Mobility Command began a programme to modernize the C-5s in 1998 after a study concluded the decades-old aircraft had 80 percent of their service life remaining. Since, Lockheed Martin upgraded 52 C-5s for the USAF with new engines, avionics and diagnostics systems – upgrades which will extend the service life of the fleet out until the 2040s.
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08/05/2018
On the eve of the celebration of the 23rd anniversary of Operation Storm which ended Croatia’s 1991-95 war of independence, three Israeli F-16 Barak multi-purpose combat aircraft landed at the 91st air base of the Croatian Air Force in Pleso on 2 August.
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08/05/2018
The announcement came as the air force said a squadron of J-16s – described as 4.5-generation fighter jets – had conducted a combat training exercise along with J-10, J-11B and Su-30 aircraft. “[The exercise] was a solid step towards comprehensive combat capability,” according to the PLA Air Force statement late on Thursday, which did not specify the date or location of the drill.
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08/05/2018
An unresolved software flaw won’t delay the first delivery of the Boeing KC-46A tanker after the US Federal Aviation Administration approved a temporary exemption from safety requirements. Boeing’s engineers discovered earlier this year that the KC-46A lacks an independent system to monitor fuel flow, as required by the FAA’s safety regulations.
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08/03/2018
President Donald Trump is expected to approve the colossal defense policy bill that authorizes a top-line budget of $717 billion. The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act includes $616.9 billion for the Pentagon's base budget, another $69 billion for the overseas contingency operations, or OCO, funding and $21.9 billion for nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department.
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08/03/2018
The Hindustan Aeronautics LCA Navy fighter has passed a milestone with the engagement of an arresting hook in taxi tests. The work involved LCA Naval Prototype 2 contacting an arresting wire with the aircraft moving at “moderate taxi-in speeds,” says HAL. HAL says that this is the first of several tests at INS Goa that will develop the type’s arrestor hook capability.
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08/02/2018
The aircraft’s sensor technologies allow the platform to perform a much greater ISR function than previous aircraft can, giving it a “drone-like” ability to gather and disseminate surveillance information. As part of this, the F-35 can also use a specially engineered data-link to communicate in real-time with other F-35s and other aircraft and fighter jets.
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08/02/2018
Malaysia’s Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu has confirmed that country’s Air Force continues to facemaintenance problems and a lack ofspare parts of its Russian-made fighter jet fleet, according to a report in The Star Online newspaper on 31 July.
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08/02/2018
The Ukrainian Air Force received modernized MiG-29MU1 combat aircraft; two fighter planes were already transferred to one of the military units. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko informed this on his Facebook page.
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08/02/2018
A newly-posted solicitation document combines plans for replacing three separate US military aircraft fleets flown today by three different Boeing types into a single programme. The 747-200-derived E-4B, 707-based E-6B and 757-based C-32A could all be replaced under the US Air Force’s proposed NEAT programme.
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