January, 2020 Military Aviation News
01/31/2020
After a failed push to get F-35 planes at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, they could be headed there. While speaking at Dana Incorporated in Warren on Thursday, President Donald Trump said his administration is strongly considering putting the planes at the Michigan National Guard base.
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01/31/2020
Lockheed Martin is projecting annual production of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter could rise to as high as 180 examples by 2024.mmThe company sees continued sales to US military services as well as potential wins in international fighter procurement competitions, such as in Finland, Switzerland and Canada, steadily boosting production of the combat aircraft.
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01/30/2020
Defence has acknowledged that a logistics system in the 72 Joint Strike Fighters being purchased by Australia for $17bn could create a “risk of cyber intrusion and data loss”. In answers to questions from Labor senator Kimberley Kitching, the department said the Autonomic Logistics Information Systems had “several developmental challenges” but the cyber risks were being managed.
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01/30/2020
Two Gripen-E fighter jets built by Swedish manufacturer Saab have arrived at Pirkkala Air Force Base to start two weeks of intensive testing and evaluation. They’re the third of five aircraft types coming to Finland through the end of February, as the Air Force weighs up the pros and cons of each in the process to determine which company will win the €10 billion contract to replace the country’s ageing fleet of Hornet jets.
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01/30/2020
Keeping our country safe is something Americans expect from their government. When it can serve that purpose in a cost-conscious way, all the better. That’s why upgrading our fighter fleet to the modernized and cost-effective F-15EX is a no-brainer.
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01/30/2020
Vietnam has signed a $350 million deal last year to buy a dozen combat training aircraft from Russia, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday. Russia is the biggest arms supplier to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Vietnam’s fleet deploys Russian-made fighters jets, surface ships and submarines, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
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01/29/2020
Taking training to new heights, Air Force Number 4 Squadron based at RAAF Base Williamtown has welcomed its first three Pilatus PC-21 aircraft to their new home. Regarded as “the world’s most advanced pilot training aircraft”, the PC-21’s arrival on Friday, 24 January, at 4SQN demonstrated the platform’s training versatility – with the aircraft being engaged and immersed in a different but still highly significant training role.
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01/29/2020
When an MQ-1 Predator fired an AGM-114 Hellfire missile in the opening stage of Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan, the world discovered a new form of power projection: kinetic force delivered from unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). That proof of concept drove exponential growth in RPA usage, with combat air patrols (CAPs) swelling from just four in 2004 to 65 simultaneous, worldwide CAPs every day in 2014.
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01/29/2020
The US Air Force confirmed on Monday that one of its aircraft had crashed in Afghanistan, killing all on board. The aircraft was a Bombardier E-11A, the military version of the popular Bombardier Global Express aircraft family used by the world's elite for long-range travel. Though the Taliban has taken credit, Air Force officials have denied that it was shot down.
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01/29/2020
“Star Trek” would be a lot less interesting if we found out the Enterprise didn't run on an advanced isolinear computing system but instead ran on something like MS-DOS. We might laugh at how incredulous that work of science fiction would be. But in today's U.S. Air Force, the F-22 – one of the most advanced fighters ever made – runs on a similar disparity.
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01/29/2020
The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAS has started its first deployment, joining a US Navy (USN) squadron at Andersen AFB in Guam. A pair of MQ-4Cs reached Guam on 26 January, and will be operated as part of an early operational capability (EOC), says the USN. The EOC will inform a concept of operations for the type.
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01/28/2020
Poland will sign on Friday a contract with Lockheed Martin worth USD 4.6 bln for the purchase of F-35 combat aircraft, Minister of Defence Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted on Monday. Blaszczak wrote that he would sign the deal to buy 32 state-of-the-art fifth generation Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters in Deblin, eastern Poland, on Friday afternoon.
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01/28/2020
Poland will sign on Friday a contract with Lockheed Martin worth USD 4.6 bln for the purchase of F-35 combat aircraft, Minister of Defence Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted on Monday. Blaszczak wrote that he would sign the deal to buy 32 state-of-the-art fifth generation Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters in Deblin, eastern Poland, on Friday afternoon.
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01/28/2020
More than 1,000 personnel from the U.S. Air Force’s active, national guard and reserve components participated in the decade’s first Sentry Aloha exercise Jan. 8-22, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The air-to-air combat exercise, designated as Sentry Aloha 20-1, is hosted by the Hawaii Air National Guard and designed to train Airmen from around the country in a joint and interoperable venue on a large scale.
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01/27/2020
Officials told the media there were no indications it had been brought down by enemy activity.
The aircraft crashed in Deh Yak district, Ghazni province, an area with a strong Taliban presence. Afghan authorities initially said it belonged to state-owned airline Ariana, but the company issued a denial, saying all its planes were accounted for. The Pentagon has not released further details and it is unclear how many people were on board.
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01/27/2020
The warming ties between Iran and Turkey add another factor to the new direction Turkey has taken in its defense policy. In recent months, Turkey has taken a few steps that made the question of whether it can still be a member of NATO a very acute one. The surprising fact is that the organization has not reacted and has not taken any action to try and stop the process. That further puts a question mark on its real value as an organization that may be called for combined military operations.
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01/27/2020
A vital military range is at risk from Big Oil – and the clock is ticking. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is a military range essential to our military’s success and critical to delivering the required combat capabilities to our men and women deployed overseas – and the oil industry wants to drill for oil there.
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01/27/2020
India is celebrating its 71st Republic Day and like every year, IAF is hosting a a spectacular air display at the Republic Day Parade that includes attack and transport aircrafts of the IAF. Here’s a list of all the active fighter jets also called the multi-role fighters and strike aircraft owned by the Indian Air Force, from Sukhoi Su30MKI to the Tejas LCA.
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01/26/2020
Five sailors are in stable condition following the crash of their MH-60S helicopter in the Philippine Sea, U.S. 7th Fleet said on Saturday. The MH-60S was operating from 7th Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) when it went down about 5:15 p.m. local time, read a statement from the Navy. “Three aircrew were recovered by a Japan Air Self-Defense Force UH-60 search and rescue helicopter, and the other two were recovered by a USS Blue Ridge MH-60S helicopter,” read the statement.
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01/26/2020
The spectre of China is looming ever larger over Asia. Now international relations experts are sounding alarms at the risks of an armed clash. There are always tensions between states, says the ANU's Professor John Blaxland, "but there is a gnawing sense that this decade may see us get closer to the brink than in generations".
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01/26/2020
The United States has approved a plan to provide Ch-47 Chinook helicopters to the Special Mission Wing of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The Department of Defense informed regarding the planned delivery of the helicopters in its semiannual report which it recently provided to the U.S. Congress, covering events during the period of June 1 to November 30, 2019.
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01/25/2020
Russian-built Mi-24 ‘Hind’ attack helicopters are no strangers to U.S. airshow venues like Nellis AFB for previous editions of Aviation Nation, but official mention of the aircraft being used in active training with the USAF is much less common. Last week, the Air Force’s 355th Wing Public Affairs unit officially released a story about the USAF 55th Rescue Squadron of the Air Combat Command training with two Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters at Davis-Monthan AFB outside Tucson, Arizona.
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01/25/2020
JF-17 Thunder Block-III 4+ Generation made its maiden flight back in December 2019 and Pak-China jointly built fighter jet proved its might and air superiority all over again. At Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s (CAIG) facilities, the first ever powered up prototype was flown in a test flight hailing some major upgrades and technologies from China’s top of the line J-20 fighter jet.
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01/25/2020
In its pursuit to sell F-21 multi-role fighter jets to Indian Air Force, US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin will exhibit its cutting-edge technology including aircraft platforms, precision weapons and missile systems at the Defence Expo-2020 (DefExpo), scheduled to be held in Lucknow from 5 to 8 February.
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01/25/2020
Poland’s defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced that Warsaw’s deal to buy dozens of fifth-generation F-35 stealth aircrafts from the US will be signed next week. “We’ve basically finalized the negotiations, with only minor procedural issues still pending. I’m convinced that in January we will sign an agreement with the United States for the purchase of 32 F-35 planes, the most modern aircraft in the world,” Blaszczak said in an interview.
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01/25/2020
The US Coast Guard’s MH-65D Dolphin helicopter upgrade programme began full-rate production on 21 November. Full-rate production means the US Coast Guard plans to convert 22 examples of the Eurocopter MH-65D per year into the “E” configuration, says the service on 16 January.
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01/25/2020
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems started a series of internally funded demonstration flights on 19 November 2019 with the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range unmanned air vehicle (UAV) serving as a tactical ballistic missile spotter.
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01/24/2020
Boeing confirmed to reports that its AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopter was “down-selected” for a potential acquisition program with the Bangladeshi armed forces. Terry Jamison, the director of international vertical lift sales at Boeing, stated that Bangladesh is actively considering the Apache on both cost and capability grounds.
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01/24/2020
First F-35 fighter aircraft that Poland is planning to order would be “ready in 2024”, Head of the Polish Ministry of Defence, Mariusz Blaszczak said. He also confirmed the fact that conclusion of a relevant agreement on that matter (actual delivery of the aircraft) is planned to happen next week.
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01/24/2020
The Lockheed Martin F-35 has demonstrated has demonstrated a capability to downlink targeting data about multiple “air-breathing threats” to ground forces. The work took place at White Sands Missile Range in December 2019, according to Lockheed Martin.
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01/24/2020
Saab has commenced assembly production for the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk advanced jet trainer.
The Swedish company says it is producing seven aft fuselage sections in Linköping, Sweden which will then undergo final assembly at Boeing’s factory in St. Louis, Missouri.
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01/23/2020
The U.S Air Force on Jan. 21 conducted a massive elephant walk at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, launching ten A-10 Thunderbolt II, or the more affectionate A-10 Warthogs, in a row. “A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter aircraft flown here by pilots of the 107th Fighter Squadron, perform an, “Elephant Walk,” on the runway as they deploy for Snowbird January 21, 2020,” according to a news release issued by the 127th Wing Public Affairs.
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01/22/2020
China will need to speed up the production of its most advanced Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter jets, with the supply of the "Powerful Dragons" well behind demand, military analysts said.
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01/22/2020
Turkish Aerospace Industries revealed a mockup of a new stealth fighter at the Paris Air Show on June 17, 2019. Don’t get excited. The mockup of the TF-X fighter bears a resemblance to the U.S. Air Force’s own F-22. But whereas the F-22 is a real, front-line warplane with an actual combat record, the TF-X is unlikely to even get built.
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01/22/2020
The US Navy CMV-22B Osprey made its initial flight at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center in Texas. The Bell Boeing CMV-22’s first flight comes ahead of its manufacturers’ plan to deliver the tiltrotor to the Naval Air Systems Command’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 21 in early 2020 for developmental testing, Bell and Boeing say on 21 January.
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01/21/2020
The significant change in USMC aviation since the introduction of the Osprey has set in motion fundamental changes overall in USMC capabilities and concepts of operations. In the past decade, the Osprey has matured as a combat platform and fostered significant change in concepts of operations. No less than the virtual end of the ARG-MEU and the shaping of a new approach to amphibious warfare and shaping new concepts of operations for dealing with peer competitors is underway.
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01/21/2020
Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft, equipped with ' BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, was inducted at Thanjavur airbase on Monday. The missile can hit targets at around 300 kilometers with precision. Bhadauria said that the decision to deploy the Su-30 MKI at Thanjavur was taken due to its strategic location.
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01/21/2020
BAE Systems intends to acquire two parts of the Collins Aerospace and Raytheon portfolios which were mandated for sale as part of regulatory requirements enabling the US companies’ pending merger. Announcing the formal asset purchase agreements on 20 January, BAE values its proposed acquisition of Collins’ military GPS business at over $1.9 billion, and says obtaining Raytheon’s airborne tactical radios unit will cost $275 million.
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01/20/2020
The 116th Squadron “Lions of the South”, based at Nevatim in southern Israel, is the second Israeli Air Force unit to be equipped with the “Adir”. On Jan. 16, 2020, the IAF officially reopened the 116th (“Lions Of The South”) squadron. The unit joins the 140th “Golden Eagle” squadron, becoming the second to operate the “Adir” (as the Israeli Lightning II stealth aircraft are dubbed).
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01/20/2020
The PAF Chief of Air Staff (CAS), revealed the PAF’s plans to procure 26 JF-17Bs in an interview in May 2019.[1] According to the CAS, the primary purpose of inducting the JF-17B was to train new pilots on the JF-17 “without first putting them through the F-16, Mirage or F-7P/PG” as they are currently. In other words, as the JF-17 becomes the PAF’s most numerous aircraft, the PAF is adding twin-seat variants to convert pilots with limited experience in JF-17.
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01/20/2020
The latest version of the F-16, officially dubbed the F-16 Block 70, is a thoroughly modern fighter jet. The original F-16 was introduced in the 1970s, but the new jet is a different beast thanks to advanced avionics. F-16 Block 70 fighter jet can be deployed in suppression of enemy air defences missions, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat, and deep interdiction and maritime interdiction missions.
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01/19/2020
Israel unveiled its second F-35i squadron to coincide with the new year at its Nevatim Airbase where its F-35s are based. This is a milestone for Israel which received its first F-35s in 2016 and declared its first squadron operation in December 2017. Israel’s F-35i is a modified version with unique features. Israel is expected to acquire at least 50 of the Lockheed Martin jets amid rising tension with Iran. It fulfills Israel’s desire to have a qualitative military edge over adversaries thro
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01/19/2020
The B-52 Stratofortress will no longer carry the B61-7 and B83-1 nuclear gravity bombs as it prepares to carry the new long-range standoff weapon, known as LRSO. Following reports that the bomb variants had been removed from the Cold War-era aircraft's inventory, officials at Air Force Global Strike Command confirmed the move is in line with the bomber's transition into an era of modern warfare.
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01/19/2020
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Washington found that Zia’s policies dovetailed conveniently with getting Pakistani assistance in supporting Mujahideen insurgents fighting Communist forces. Thus, Pakistani and U.S. agents collaborated in organizing and arming militants proliferating in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.
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01/19/2020
Historically a land power, the Soviet Union grappled with the idea of a large naval aviation arm for most of its history, eventually settling on a series of hybrid aircraft carriers. Big plans for additional ships died with the Soviet collapse, but Russia inherited one large aircraft carrier at the end of the Cold War—that remains in service today.
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01/18/2020
For the first time ever, an E-2D Hawkeye came in for a landing, testing the USS Gerald R. Ford's Advanced Arresting Gear, a system that is unique to the Navy's new Ford-class aircraft carrier.
It was part of what's called "A.C.T." - Aircraft Compatibility Testing. The "trap" was successful, and that's a good thing, after several years of seemingly endless technological difficulties for the $12.9 billion Ford.
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01/18/2020
On May 22, Israeli Air Force commander Amikam Norkin announced that its F-35I stealth fighters had flown on two combat missions on “different fronts,” showing as proof a photograph of an F-35 overflying Beirut. While details on those missions have not been released—apparently, they were not deployed in a massive Israeli air attack on Iranian forces in Syria that took place on May 9—this nonetheless apparently confirmed the first combat operations undertaken by any variant.
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01/18/2020
The Russian Navy displayed a model of a new small missile during a Jan. 9 meeting in Sevastopol attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Joint Small-sized Modular Aviation Weapon, (Mezhvidovoye Malogabaritnoye Modulnoye Aviatsionnoye Sredstvo Porazheniya, or MMM ASP), according to the descriptive plate on the model, is being made to defeat “fuel depots, manpower, various naval surface targets, strongholds, aircraft and helicopters at the base site.”
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01/18/2020
The Army secretary along with senior Army officials joined industry leaders last week to get a closer look at cutting-edge capabilities for future vertical lift ahead of the fiscal year 2030 goal to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. Developers from Bell Textron, a Texas-based aerospace manufacturer, demoed their part-aircraft, part-helicopter - Bell V-280 Valor - to leaders who will ultimately choose the force's newest chopper.
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01/18/2020
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin has won a $32.9 million contract modification for logistics support to the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced on January 14. “This modification provides for contractor logistics support, repair and return and diminishing manufacturing source management services for Taiwan F-16s Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar,” the DoD stated.
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01/18/2020
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is all set to enhance its strike capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region keeping an eye on the increasing Chinese presence to augment the Indian Navy's strength by inducting Sukhoi fighter jets armed with lethal BrahMos missile in the newly set up squadron based in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The new squadron will initially have five to six fighter jets but gradually it will operate with full strength. Each squadron has 18 aircraft. The induction will happen on January 20
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01/18/2020
During World War II Japan found that control of islands offered some strategic advantages, but not enough to force the United States to reduce each island individually. Moreover, over time the islands became a strategic liability, as Japan struggled to keep them supplied with food, fuel and equipment. The islands of the SCS are conveniently located for China, but do they really represent an asset to China’s military? The answer is yes, but in an actual conflict the value would dwindle quickly.
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01/17/2020
Sierra Technical Services recently completed several ground tests, including an engine test run, on its Fifth Generation Aerial Target (5GAT) aircraft. The aircraft, which is powered by two General Electric J85 engines salvaged from retired Northrop T-38 Talon trainer jets, is intended to be used as a stealth target drone for the US Air Force (USAF) to shoot down.
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01/17/2020
The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) X-60A rocket recently completed test firings of its engine while on the ground at Cecil Spaceport in Jacksonville, Florida. The X-60A is an air-launched, single-stage rocket designed to reach hypersonic speeds so that the AFRL can routinely test hypersonic technologies, such as air-breathing propulsion, advanced materials, and hypersonic vehicle subsystems. The system is designed to reach speeds above Mach 5.
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01/16/2020
A military aircraft crashed on Tuesday during the training of the Air Forces and its pilot was announced dead,according to military spokesperson Colonel Tamer al-Rifai. Rifai added in his statement that the military craft crashed in one of the training locations, and that they are still figuring out the reason behind the crash.
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01/16/2020
The US Navy (USN) for the first time in late 2019 flew an F/A-18F Super Hornet carrying an Infrared Search & Track (IRST) Block II pod under the centerline of its undercarriage. The IRST Block II is in the risk reduction phase of development, says Boeing on 15 January. Flights at Boeing’s facilities in the St. Louis, Missouri area are to be used to collect data on how the hardware is performing.
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01/16/2020
Paris has tapped Dassault and Thales to provide three signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft based on the Falcon 8X business jet under its ARCHANGE requirement. The project will see the Thales CUGE system installed on two aircraft initially, with a third to follow, say the two companies.
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01/15/2020
By modifying an existing, proven airframe – with an undefeated air-to-air combat record - the Air Force can take advantage of an existing manufacturing process and ground support infrastructure without the need for extensive pilot-re-training. This will allow the military to deploy the F-15EX quickly with little added cost to the American taxpayer – saving valuable funds for F-35 production.
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01/15/2020
The Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Light Combat Aircraft technology demonstrator has successfully performed an arrested landing on board the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, followed by a maiden ski jump take-off. The fighter is undergoing additional carrier trials, following which it will return to the Shore Base Test Facility (SBTF) at Goa. The flight represented a historic moment for Indian aviation, being the first time a locally-produced jet has arrested aboard a carrier.
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01/15/2020
Egypt now has the capability to aerial refuel combat aircraft, with an official video released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) showing 'buddy-buddy' systems fitted to air force MiG-29M 'Fulcrum' fighters. The video, which was released on 13 January to highlight the capabilities of the Egyptian armed forces, shows a pair of MiG-29Ms equipped with centreline hose-and-drogue units preparing to offload fuel to two Dassault Rafale combat aircraft.
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01/14/2020
Details about why Iran air defense forces mistook a Ukrainian airliner for a cruise missile remain murky, but one thing is clear: Safeguards for operating surface-to-air missiles are supposed to prevent that kind of mistaken identity and all of them failed. The error, which killed all 176 people aboard the plane on Wednesday, is probably the result of multiple layers of failure that extend into high levels of the government and military, said Steven Zaloga, senior analyst for missile systems at
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01/14/2020
The UK Royal Air Force in April is set to stand up a new squadron to bring swarming drones into service and assess their capabilities. The technology, originally announced by former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, was due to be in service by the end of 2019; however, the capabilities will now be brought into service in April.
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01/14/2020
Lockheed Martin has won a $3 billion multiyear contract to deliver up to 50 C-130J Super Hercules to the US Air Force (USAF), US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Coast Guard. The Department of Defense awarded $1.5 billion for the first tranche of 21 C-130Js on 27 December, the company says on 13 January.
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01/13/2020
While America's attention was firmly fixed on Iran, China had a large fishing fleet operating illegally in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone protected by China's coast guard, said Rear Adm. Ken Whitesell, deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet. Indonesia deployed fighter jets and warships to "drive out the foreign vessels, " News Corp Australia reported.
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01/13/2020
Four members of Iraq's military were wounded Sunday in a rocket attack targeting an air base just north of Baghdad where American trainers are present, Iraqi security officials said. The attack by at least six rockets came just days after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house U.S. forces, causing no casualties.
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01/13/2020
The government is in the process of acquiring around 200 aircraft to cope with the depleting aerial inventories of the Indian Air Force, defence secretary Ajay Kumar said here on Sunday.
The contract for HAL-manufactured 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1 A advanced fighter jets are in the final stages, he said. Apart from these, Expression of Interest (EOI) has been floated for another 110 aircraft, based on which Request for Proposal (RFP) will be floated, Kumar said.
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01/12/2020
The 18th Aggressor Squadron departed Eielson this week to participate in exercise Sentry Aloha 20-1, which is scheduled to take place Jan. 8-22 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawai, hosted by Hawaii Air National Guard. For more than 20 years, Sentry Aloha exercises have provided tailored, cost-effective and realistic combat training for the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and other military personnel.
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01/12/2020
Burkina Faso’s air force conducted its first joint air operation with France, when an Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano worked alongside French Mirage 2000D fighter jets near Arbinda in December, the French Armed Forces Ministry said in a release.
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01/12/2020
On 10 January 2019 the Director-General of the Israeli Defence Ministry, Udi Adam, confirmed officially in Zagreb that Israel could not sell Croatia its F-16 Barak jets as it could not obtain Washington's approval for the deal. A year later, by all accounts, Croatia is further away from buying a new generation of combat aircraft than it was a year ago, says the daily.
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01/12/2020
On December 24, 2019, a sleek-looking Su-57 stealth fighter designated Blue 01 took to the skies for an engine test flight from Dzemgi airport in eastern Russia. Manufacturer Sukhoi had already built ten T-50 prototype aircraft for Russia’s PAK FA stealth fighter program, and had even twice deployed them to Syria for combat tests.
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01/12/2020
The Naval Light Combat Aircraft made its first successful landing on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya on Saturday. The Defence Research and Development Organisation-developed fighter aircraft is expected to attempt its maiden take off from the carrier soon. The indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Aircraft (N) Mk1 made the successful arrested landing on the India's biggest warship INS Vikramaditya on Saturday.
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01/11/2020
Germany's Air Force has a special mission: deliver American nukes in the case of a nuclear strike. But its Tornado fleet is rapidly nearing the end of its shelf life. So why has Germany yet to decide on a replacement?
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01/11/2020
Though the cause of the Ukraine International Airlines crash remains unconfirmed, defence experts suspect high stress and poor civilian-military coordination led ill-trained missile units to mistakenly shoot down the Boeing 737-800. US and Canadian officials have already said they believe Iranian surface-to-air-missiles (SAMs), possibly fired by accident, downed flight PS752 on 8 January, killing 176 people.
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01/11/2020
The US Air Force (USAF) is requesting information for modifications to the US Navy’s (USN) Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) programme that would make that weapon suitable for its Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter.
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01/10/2020
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra completed production of the first batch of eight twin-seat Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (PAC/CAC) JF-17B Thunder for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in late December.
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01/10/2020
The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of up to 12 Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters to Singapore for an estimated $2.75 billion. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency says that it notified the US Congress on 9 January.
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01/10/2020
An Air National Guard F-16 recently received the fleet’s first active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The US Air Force (USAF) installed the Northrop Grumman-made AN/APG-83 SABR radar on an undisclosed recent date, says Northrop Grumman on 9 January. The recipient aircraft will be used as part of the service’s effort to declare initial operational capability of the AESA radars on the Air National Guard’s F-16 fleet.
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01/10/2020
Finland has launched the latest stage of its HX fighter contest, with a first candidate type now involved in flight evaluation from the nation’s Pirkkala air base. Detailing the new phase in a blog post, Finnish defence ministry programme manager Lauri Puranen describes it as a “testing and verification event for HX candidates”. Intended to evaluate aircraft performance against the responses submitted following Helsinki’s earlier invitation to tender.
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01/10/2020
According to various U.S. media outlets, Pentagon has intelligence suggesting Iran may have mistakenly fired two surface-to-air missiles at the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 that crashed shortly after take-off from Iran’s Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran early in the morning on Jan. 8, 2020. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, registration UR-PSR, was flying with 176 people on board, to Kyiv as flight PS752. No one survived the crash.
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01/09/2020
Iran's missile attack on two large military bases in Iraq damaged installations housing U.S. service members and battered an airplane hangar, aircraft, buildings and runways. Preliminary reports from American and Iraqi military officials reported that Iran fired 22 missiles at both Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq and at the airbase near Erbil in the north. Two Defense Department officials told Newsweek that 18 ballistic missiles struck Al Asad Airbase alone.
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01/09/2020
Russia appears to be developing a new, small air-to-air missile that could arm the Su-57 stealth fighter. The United States also is working on smaller air-to-air missiles to arm its own growing force of radar-evading warplanes. The new missile appeared in a display at munitions-maker Vympel NPO's I. I. Toropov design facility in Moscow on Nov. 18, 2019, The War Zone reporter Joe Trevithick noted.
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01/09/2020
The U.S. military is looking for a new, modern aircraft that could replace the outdated Black Hawk helicopter fleet across all branches. On Wednesday, North Texas-based, Bell held a demonstration event for their offering, the V-280 Valor. In attendance was U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy who took the opportunity to comment on the tension with Iran.
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01/09/2020
The UK’s Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group will provide in-service support services for a trio of Lockheed Martin KC-130J tanker/transports for the Kuwait air force, after securing the business via the US government. Announcing its contract receipt on 6 January, Marshall said it will perform “planned maintenance interval inspections, full aircraft repainting and specific overhaul tasks this year” for the customer.
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01/09/2020
The cost to buy new aircraft to maintain the US Navy’s (USN) current fleet size is projected to be about $380 billion over the next 30 years. The replacement of fighter and attack aircraft, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet would represent the largest overall costs between 2020 and 2050, totaling about $190 billion, according to a projection by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), released on 6 January.
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01/08/2020
The strategic bombers and their support tankers could be tracked online as they moved from Barksdale Air Force Base to the American outpost in the Indian Ocean as part of the U.S. build up in the region.
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01/08/2020
The flightline at Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center is a busy place.As the year-round host for training events like Northern Strike – the Defense Department's largest joint reserve-component exercise – it's not uncommon to see more than 60 aircraft on Alpena's tarmac. During exercise Northern Strike 19, more than 450 flights launched from the airfield over two weeks.
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01/08/2020
Iranian state TV says the attack is a retaliation after the country's top commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad, on the orders of US President Donald Trump.
The Pentagon says at least two sites were attacked, in Irbil and Al-Asad. It is unclear if there have been any casualties.
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01/08/2020
Warsaw intends to buy between four and eight new helicopters to replace its navy’s Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite maritime rotorcraft, which are to be withdrawn from use due to a lack of technical support. Cirium fleets data shows that the Polish navy has an active fleet of four SH-2Gs, each aged at almost 30 years.
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01/07/2020
President Trump has made numerous claims in recent days that he has completely updated the U.S. military’s equipment and suggested it is well-prepared for a major conflict with Iran. But his comments grossly overstate spending decisions and mask an aging fleet of planes. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that “The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment” and that if necessary he would use it to hit Iran “very fast and very hard.”
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01/07/2020
In a show of military might, jet after jet took off from Hill Air Force Base on Monday in a scheduled exercise meant to keep the fleet ready at a moment’s notice. While the effort has been in the works for some time, it came against a backdrop of political and military tensions in the Middle East following the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
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01/07/2020
The F-35 Joint Program Office awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.9 billion contract to sustain and support the worldwide fleet of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters in 2020. The contract will also fund increasing maintenance capacity for future deliveries of the F-35, says Lockheed Martin. To meet the needs of the growing F-35 fleet, the contract funds hiring industry sustainment experts for base and depot maintenance, pilot and maintainer training, and sustainment engineering efforts, says the compa
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01/06/2020
Turkey has started deploying troops to Libya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday evening in a live television interview, keeping his promise to support the fragile government in Tripoli even as Western states have warned against escalating a conflict between the government and rebel forces.
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01/06/2020
A U.S. service member and two Department of Defense contractors died Sunday following an attack from al-Shabab militants in Manda Bay, Kenya, according to U.S. Africa Command. Two other Defense Department members were also injured in the attack, but remain in stable condition.
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01/06/2020
In an apparent slip of the tongue on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Israel as a nuclear power before correcting himself with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile. Israel is widely believed to have an atomic arsenal but has never confirmed or denied that it has nuclear weapons, maintaining a so-called policy of ambiguity on the issue for decades.
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01/06/2020
Germany's foreign minister said Saturday he is hoping for direct talks with Iran, in addition to the country's European partners and the United Nations, as a way of de-escalating tensions in the Middle East following the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
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01/06/2020
The U.S. military said the security situation was "fluid" at a Kenyan airfield used by U.S. forces after a pre-dawn attack Sunday by the al-Shabab extremist group. The attack destroyed U.S. aircraft and vehicles, Kenyan authorities said, and at least four attackers were killed. It was not yet clear whether any U.S. or Kenyan forces were killed. A U.S. Africa Command statement said "an accountability of personnel assessment is underway."
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01/05/2020
Indonesia is stepping up sea and aerial patrols of islands near the disputed South China Sea, an official said on Saturday, following a diplomatic spat over "trespassing" Chinese vessels. Military aircraft and three warships with some 600 navy, army and air force personnel have been deployed to waters around the Natuna islands, which border the South China Sea.
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01/05/2020
"Severe revenge awaits" those behind the attack on General Qasem Soleimani, said Iran's Supreme Leader. So what do we know about Iran's military capabilities?
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01/05/2020
Turkey has all but given up on rescuing its deal for 100 F-35 fighter jets with the United States, and instead is seeking alternatives to the American jets besides improving its defensive capabilities. With the new U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in effect, it is highly likely that Turkey will not be able to receive its fifth-gen F-35 multirole stealth aircraft in the foreseeable future, according to an article by Dr. Can Kasapoglu of EDAM, an Istanbul based think tank.
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01/05/2020
With 2020 here and the Air Force prepares to take on the challenges of the next decade, we must also review our successes and lessons learned from the last year. For Air Force Operational Energy, 2019 was a year for laying the foundation to build a more optimized and lethal force in the years to come.
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01/05/2020
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is diligently pursuing the acquisition of three major assets to bolster its maritime surveillance capabilities. Newly-appointed RMAF chief General Datuk Seri Ackbal Abdul Samad said the assets comprised unmanned aircraft systems, maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and ground-based radars. “These are vital elements to shore up the air force which needs such requirements to meet the challenges ahead.
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01/04/2020
Following a U.S. airstrike on the convoy of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps General Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport, which claimed the life of the senior commander and two dozen others, Tehran has vowed to respond with a "crushing revenge" sparking a rise in tensions across the Middle East.
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01/04/2020
With the United States withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, a war with Tehran seems to be a distinct possibility. In the event of a military conflict between Washington and Tehran, there is also the ever growing possibility that the White House might seek regime change in Iran.
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01/04/2020
The Iranian air force on paper is one of the biggest air arms in the world. Its order of battle includes around 350 fighters, more than twice as many as the Royal Air Force possesses. But most of Iran’s fighters are old and outdated. The ones that aren’t old are just new copies of old designs. The air force’s squadrons fly American-made F-14s, F-5s and F-4s dating from the 1970s, some 1980s-vintage MiG-29s and Sukhoi fighter-bombers and a few J-7s that the Islamic Republic bought from China.
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01/04/2020
Lockheed Martin delivered 134 examples of its F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter in 2019 to the US military services, international development partners and Foreign Military Sales customers.
The total was three more than the 131 aircraft it expected to deliver in 2019, the company said on 30 December 2019.
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01/04/2020
Lockheed Martin was awarded a five-year contract worth $7 billion for maintenance of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. The contract is an option exercised by the US Air Force (USAF) from its ongoing sustainment deal with Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense says in an online notice on 20 December. This additional five-year contract will extend the service’s contract work with Lockheed Martin through 31 December 2032.
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01/04/2020
The US Air Force is again allowing Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tankers to carry passengers and cargo, lifting a ban after accepting Boeing’s cargo-lock retrofit. The USAF announced in September that during test flights multiple cargo-floor restraint locks malfunctioned and came unlocked. At the time, in-service KC-46As were transporting cargo. The service suspended cargo and passenger flights as a precaution.
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01/04/2020
Indonesian Aerospace has rolled out the first prototype of a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV for which it sees a number of domestic missions. The aircraft was unveiled on 30 December 2019 at Indonesian Aerospace’s Bandung factory, says the company, also known as PTDI.
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01/03/2020
A shortage of naval pilots is holding back Beijing’s ambitions to develop a truly combat-ready fleet, military analysts have said. China officially commissioned its second aircraft carrier the Shandong last week, which means it will need at least 70 pilots, along with more supporting flight officers.
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01/03/2020
Neither Iran or Israel may seek war. But a diplomatic breakdown after the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, strategic errors and a military buildup make a direct conflict — even an inadvertent one — more likely. Tensions between Israel and Iran have increased since President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action— the 2015 accord to wind back Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief — in 2018.
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01/03/2020
An upgraded version of a fighter jet being jointly developed by China and Pakistan has made its maiden flight in the Chinese city of Chengdu, official media reported on Thursday. The JF-17 Thunder, earlier named as FC-1 Xiaolong, was a single-engine multi-role light fighter jet jointly produced by the two countries for several years with engines supplied by Russia. The upgraded version features the technologies of China's stealth fighter J-20.
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01/03/2020
If you drive along the main northern road through South Australia with a good set of binoculars, you may soon be able to catch a glimpse of a strange, windowless jet, one that is about to embark on its maiden flight. It’s a prototype of the next big thing in aerial combat: a self-piloted warplane designed to work together with human-piloted aircraft.
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01/03/2020
The Block III version of the Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 fighter has conducted its maiden flight, and China appears to be making progress with indigenous engines for the J-20 stealth fighter. Social media accounts covering Chinese defence aerospace developments were busy over the holidays, with two notable developments.
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01/02/2020
The first public photograph has appeared depicting an F-35 stealth fighter in the livery of Israel’s second squadron of the radar-evading jets. The Israeli air arm in late December 2019 released a photo of an F-35 wearing the tail markings of 116 Squadron.
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01/02/2020
The battle for the South China Sea is heating up. Vietnam. Malaysia. The Philippines. All have drawn lines in the sandbars against China. But it may already be too late. This past year, Vietnam stood its ground over the right to deploy an oil rig within its UN-mandated waters. Malaysia complained publicly of interference by the Chinese coastguard. The Philippines moved to secure its Scarborough Shoal islands.
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01/02/2020
The U.S. State Department has signed off on Argentina’s proposed purchase of four ex-U.S. Navy P-3C patrol planes. The $78-million acquisition, should Buenos Aires follow through on it, would continue the slow regeneration of Argentina’s air power.
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01/02/2020
Lockheed Martin Corp. says it delivered 134 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters worldwide in 2019, surpassing its goal of 131. The milestone marks a "47% increase from 2018 and nearly a 200% production increase from 2016," the company said in a news release Monday. "Next year, Lockheed Martin plans to deliver 141 F-35s and is prepared to increase production volume year-over-year to hit peak production in 2023."
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01/01/2020
The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have now “validated” several new weapons on the F-22 Raptor to equip the stealth fighter with more long-range precision attack technology, a wider targeting envelope or “field of regard” and new networking technology enabling improved, real-time “collaborative targeting” between aircraft.
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01/01/2020
2019 has been a pretty good year for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. In October DoD announced a fairly dramatic rise in readiness rates, and yesterday Lockheed Martin announced it had exceeded its year-end delivery goal of 131 aircraft, pushing the per-unit price tag down to below the 2016 target of $80 million, a year earlier than planned.
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01/01/2020
The German air force just received the last Eurofighter Typhoon fighter from its initial order for 143 of the planes. The German air force in late 2019 operates 141 surviving Typhoons plus 74 Tornado fighter-bombers and 30 Tornado ECRs, the latter equipped with special weapons and sensors for the dangerous suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses, or SEAD, mission.
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01/01/2020
Lockheed Martin closed out the calendar year with $2.35 billion in five new contracts for the F-35 program. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter -- a single-engine stealth multirole combat aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps -- is considered the most advanced fighter aircraft in the sky, as well as a notable driver of the Pentagon's budget.
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