July, 2020 Military Aviation News
07/31/2020
A RUSSIAN fighter jet scrambled after two US "reconnaissance planes" approached the border on Thursday, the Russian defence ministry said. The Russian defence ministry claimed the two US planes approached the Russian border over the Black Sea. It said the Russian fighter approached the US strategic reconnaissance aircraft RC-135 and P-8A Poseidon patrolling plane.
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07/31/2020
The Air Force may replace its 218 F-15Es with F-15EXs, which could expand the new program to over 400 aircraft, according to service documents justifying the sole-source contract to Boeing. The Air Force also claims buying the F-15EX will save some $3 billion in military construction and support costs versus buying more advanced F-35s.
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07/31/2020
Boeing's T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer, which it developed together with Swedish aviation firm Saab for the U.S. Air Force, is already generating interest on the international market. The T-7A, which could also have a future as a light combat aircraft, is now officially in the running to replace the Royal Australian Air Force's BAE Hawk jet trainers and could be an option to supplant the Serbian Air Force's G-4 Super Galeb jet trainers and J-22 Orao ground attack planes.
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07/30/2020
Boeing has completed a Direct Commercial Sale (DCS) agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to implement upgrades to Japan’s F-15J Eagle fleet. The contract is part of the larger $4.5-billion modernization program that was announced by the U.S. Government in October 2019. Boeing says this DCS contract “lays the foundation” of the modernization program, although the Japanese government has not yet formalized the project.
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07/30/2020
The Indian Navy is seeking a third aircraft carrier and two new fighter squadrons to counter Chinese threat in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). In recent months, Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean Region has increased and the Indian Navy believes that a third aircraft carrier will help India contain China.
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07/30/2020
The first batch of five French-made Rafale fighter jets arrived at an Indian air force base on Wednesday, Indian officials said, as the country seeks to modernize its military amid security challenges with Pakistan and China. The planes landed at the airbase in Ambala in Haryana state amid tight security. Police and soldiers closed roads leading to the base, banned photography and enforced restrictions on gatherings of more than four people, police officer Abhishek Jorwal said.
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07/29/2020
The State Duma of the Russian Federation promised to respond to the flights of American military aircraft over the Black Sea, registered in the last five days. First Deputy Head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Hero of the Russian Federation Andrei Krasov stated this in a comment to Interfax agency on July 27.
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07/29/2020
Air Combat Command on July 21 awarded three companies contracts worth up to $433.6 million to provide 5,418 annual sorties of adversary air support at five bases over the next four and a half years, a command spokesperson told Air Force Magazine. The contracts with Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, Tactical Air Support, and Draken International are the first to be awarded under the larger Combat Air Force/Contracted Air Support indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract,
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07/29/2020
China has never been shy of flaunting its military prowess. Special military drills and airshows have been a regular feature for the PLA. China often showcases its flagship, all-weather, fifth-generation stealth aircraft; Chengdu J-20. Inducted in the PLA in March 2017, J-20 is the world’s third fifth-generation operational aircraft after F-22 and F-35.
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07/29/2020
The Royal Air Force faces a reckoning. In coming years, the service will have to decide what kind of air force it wants to be—and acquire the aircraft to match that purpose. The RAF must choose between optimizing itself for high-intensity warfare against a technological foe—in other words, Russia—or tailoring its forces for low-intensity operations.
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07/29/2020
Two Russian military aircraft are suspected of having violated Finland's airspace close to its capital city of Helsinki, Finland's defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a brief statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets allegedly violated Finland's airspace over the Gulf of Finland, near Helsinki, at around 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), Tuesday afternoon.
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07/28/2020
South Korea reportedly plans to order 20 F-35B stealth jump jets, a strong signal that the South Korean navy is moving forward with development of a light aircraft carrier. A carrier might seem like an odd, even unwise, investment for a country whose major threat—indeed, an existential threat—is a huge land army poised just 30 miles from its capital.
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07/28/2020
Air Combat Command has awarded contracts for the first five U.S. Air Force bases to receive contract aggressor support under its huge “red air” adversary support program. The Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, or ATAC, has announced that it has secured the support contracts for Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, and Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
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07/28/2020
The first batch of Rafale fighter jets bought by India from France took to the skies for India. The multi-role fighter aircraft will arrive at Ambala air force station on Wednesday. It may be recalled that India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force under a Rs 59,000-crore deal nearly four years ago. The fleet is expected to significantly boost the IAF's combat capabilities at a time when India is locked in a tense border row with C
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07/28/2020
In an announcement made by Russia's official news agency, TASS, the Russian defence ministry said a SU-27 fighter jet had made the interception. The defence ministry said a US surveillance plane was identified flying close to the Russian border. The ministry said the aircraft – identified as a P-8 Poseidon – then veered away from Russian airspace.
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07/27/2020
Russian fighter jets were recently deployed to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors (PMCs) operating on the ground there. The Russian fighter aircraft arrived in Libya, from an airbase in Russia, after transiting Syria where it is assessed they were repainted to camouflage their Russian origin.
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07/27/2020
Summer in Northern Michigan means boating, fishing – and increasingly, premier Joint Fires readiness training. Since 2012, Northern Strike, the National Guard Bureau’s largest joint, multi-component exercise, has been held at the pristine training grounds of Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center and Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center. This year, those facilities are being christened the National All-Domain Warfighting Center.
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07/27/2020
Amidst India and China military stand-off, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has carried out exercises at its forward airbase in Skardu near Ladakh in the occupied Gilgit-Baltistan region. Pakistan has deployed JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft at Skardu airbase which carried out these exercises.
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07/27/2020
At least five Rafale fighter aircraft will take off from Merignac in France Monday to arrive in India Wednesday and, if required, these aircraft can also be operationally deployed within a week amid the India-China standoff in Ladakh, ThePrint has learnt.
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07/26/2020
India is aggressively working on developing its 5th generation advanced multirole combat aircraft (AMCA). The primary aim is to develop the AMCA indigenously, reduce dependency on foreign players like Russia and France and at the same time support the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.
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07/25/2020
Australia has joined forces with the U.S and Japan for a huge trilateral exercise that is being held in the Indo-Pacific region over the coming months. The collaboration brings together the Australian Defense Forces, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, which are engaged in the regional deployment.
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07/25/2020
A US aircraft flew too close to the Chinese coast on Thursday and was warned off by Chinese forces – something the US and its allies never hesitate to characterize as aggressive behavior when the aircraft are Chinese. It’s a change of cast from the typical news: a US aircraft strayed too close to Chinese airspace on Thursday and got a stern warning from Chinese forces to turn away.
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07/25/2020
U.S. Africa Command has mounting evidence that Russia, through the Wagner Group, continues to position military equipment in Libya capable of conducting kinetic operations there. Overhead imagery shows Wagner forces and equipment on the front lines of the Libyan conflict in Sirte. Wagner, also known as the Wagner Group, is a Russian private military company.
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07/24/2020
The arrival of the first pair of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs at Eielson Air Force Base on Apr. 21, 2020, was significant on many levels. This remote installation is located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks in the interior of Alaska and about 110 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The installation has received huge funding over the past three years to create a massive secure enclave for its new stealthy inhabitants.
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07/24/2020
An American F-15 fighter jet came within 1,000 meters of an Iranian civilian airliner flying over southern Syria on Thursday, to carry out a visual identification of the aircraft, the U.S. military confirmed. The visual identification was completed safely, but not before the Mahan Air pilots carried out a rapid descent into Beirut that resulted in several passenger injuries.
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07/24/2020
With the Rafales arriving in the country in the middle of a dispute with China, the Indian Air Force is further boosting the capabilities of the combat aircraft by equipping it with the HAMMER missiles from France. The order for the HAMMER standoff missiles with the capability to take out any type of targets at the range of around 60-70 kms is being processed under the emergency powers for acquisition given to the armed forces by the Narendra Modi government.
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07/23/2020
Iran has expressed interested to acquire latest, state-of-art Russian weapons which could possibly include S-400 missile defence systems, SU-35 jets to enhance its defence capacities. This was confirmed by Iranian ambassador to Russia – Kazem Jalali in an interview with the Kommersant daily.
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07/23/2020
The first eight of a planned Air Force purchase of 76 F-15EX fighter jets will be coming to Eglin Air Force Base for testing, with the first two of those aircraft slated to arrive sometime early next year, according to an announcement from the office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
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07/23/2020
The British, Swedish and Italian defense industries are in discussion to collaborate on air combat capability, defense contractor BAE Systems said on Wednesday. The framework was promoted Wednesday as a means to employ tens of thousands of skilled workers in those countries' leading defense industry companies, a BAE statement said.
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07/22/2020
The US said that it is expelling Turkey from its F-35 fighter jets programme after Ankara received the first parts of a Russian air defence system. The US says the “F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence-collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities”.
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07/22/2020
At a time when Indian Navy’s P-8I surveillance planes are carrying out frequent sweeps over the Eastern Ladakh sector, the Navy’s maritime fighter jets MiG-29K will be deployed in the Northern sector for operations. The deployment of the naval fighter aircraft at the Indian Air Force (IAF) bases is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directives for enhancing jointness between the three services and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat’s call for the possibility of deployment.
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07/21/2020
Airmen from the Republic of Singapore could one day train with American pilots in Arkansas' second-largest city, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton. Fort Smith Regional Airport has been selected as one of five possible sites to host both F-35 planes and Singapore's F-16 squadron, Cotton's office said. Cotton has advocated for Fort Smith to be included in this economic development and national security initiative for a long time.
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07/21/2020
The new prototype of the Leonardo M-346 Light Fighter Family of Aircraft (LFFA) performed its first flight on July 13, 2020, from Venegono airport, where the company’s final assembly lines are based. The aircraft, formerly known as M-346 Fighter Attack (FA), is the first prototype in complete configuration, featuring all the equipment that differentiates it from the standard M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT).
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07/21/2020
Naval drills led by the U.S. and Ukraine kicked off today in the Black Sea, while Russia called for a series of nearby snap naval drills. Sea Breeze, the bilateral U.S.-Ukraine maritime exercise, kicked off its 20th series on Monday. “It started in 1997, and for the Ukrainian side, this [was] the main tool for entering NATO,” Rear Adm. Oleksiy Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian Navy, said via a translator in a Monday conference call with reporters.
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07/21/2020
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is slated to hold a hearing: “F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Ensuring Safety and Accountability in the Government’s Trillion Dollar Investment.” The portentous nature of the title implies the question, what is going on with this program? Given the money, time, and effort invested in this aircraft and its associated systems, expectations are for real results, not negative headlines and flight line setbacks.
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07/20/2020
In the wake of the tragic Kiowa helicopter crash on Thursday (July 16), concerns have grown over Taiwan’s remaining fleet of the observation helicopters. According to the Army’s Aviation and Special Forces Command, the helicopter belonging to the 601st brigade was returning to Lung Tan from Hsinchu Air Force base after performing combat readiness operations when the rotor speed slowed, resulting in a hard landing at Hsinchu base.
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07/20/2020
Japan is now immediately scrambling fighter jets against all Chinese military aircraft taking off from an air base in Fujian Province, as tensions continue between the two countries over the Senkaku Islands, government sources said Saturday. Air Self-Defense Force planes have also been flying daily patrols over the East China Sea from sunrise to sunset to monitor Chinese military aircraft in the area, the sources said.
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07/20/2020
We don’t know where the U.S. Air Force plans to base its new F-15EX Eagle fighters. But we know where the flying branch should put at least some of the upgraded F-15s. Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa. Armed with the new AGM-183 hypersonic missile, the new F-15s could be the most powerful strike aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region—and a huge threat to any Chinese attempt to invade Taiwan.
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07/20/2020
The Air Force has deployed its entire fleet of modern fighters like Mirage 2000, Sukhoi-30, and the MiG-29 fighters all along with the advanced and forward bases from where they have been carrying out both day and night operations. The advanced Apache attack helicopter has also been deployed in forward bases along the China border.
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07/19/2020
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increasingly sought to expand its influence in the Middle East. Experts write that the UAE has vested interests in the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and has not shied away from using mercenaries in its regional endeavours.
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07/19/2020
Turkey has guaranteed that the data of the Russian S-400 air defence system will not be compromised. The Turkish government has ensured Russia that all sensitive information regarding the S-400 missiles would be kept safe.
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07/18/2020
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s are getting ready to attack enemy aircraft, dogfight, strike air defenses and conduct surveillance exercises in a massive annual service wargame called Red Flag. During the combat simulation, friendly “blue” will engage mock-enemy “red” teams in all-out combat, intended to closely replicate the kinds of serious advanced, high-tech threats the Air Force might face in a major power confrontation.
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07/18/2020
The surprise combat readiness check involves over 3,000 personnel and more than 300 items of military hardware, including warships and combat aircraft, and also the troops and equipment of the Black Sea Fleet’s army corps
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07/18/2020
The new concept of operations exploits the in-jet simulation capability of the new T-7 Red Hawk, paired with ground-based virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI), to accelerate student progress.
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07/18/2020
For the first time, Royal Netherland Air Force F-16s and F-35As partnered with 4th and 5th generation aircraft from the Royal Air Force and F-15s from the 48th Fighter Wing during exercise Point Blank 20-3 July 16, 2020. More than 60 aircraft took off from home stations and met in the skies over the North Sea for a realistic, high-fidelity training environment that included KC-135 Stratotankers and a RC-135 Rivet Joint from RAF Mildenhall, along with NATO Airborne Warning and Control Systems.
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07/18/2020
As the USS Ronald Reagan carrier battle group sails into the South China Sea, evidence has emerged that China has deployed fighter jets to an airstrip on a disputed island there. Satellite imagery from July 15 shows at least four aircraft present. This move comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo declared that “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful.”
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07/18/2020
BAE Systems, the defence company behind the British air force’s new fighter jet, has teased the prospect of electric-battery systems playing a substantial role in powering the RAF’s next-generation Tempest warplane, due to enter service in the 2030s.
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07/17/2020
Recent satellite images of Al Jufrah Air Base in central Libya shows two Su-24 Fencer combat jets parked outside hardened aircraft shelters at the southern end of the base. This indicates these jets are still operating out of the base nearly a month after U.S. Africa Command released imagery showing one of them actually in flight there.
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07/16/2020
Iran is once again showcasing its capability to manufacture fighter jets domestically. However, these jets are heavily based on vintage U.S. airframes, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) fleet still consists of mostly antiquated aircraft.
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07/16/2020
In its latest whitepaper, Japan has discussed its impending acquisition of F-35B fighter jets and highlighted efforts by regional militaries to expand their influence and activities despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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07/16/2020
In-cockpit footage of actual air combat training always makes great viewing, however, a new video offers rare insight into Chinese fighter operations making it even more engaging. This intense clip posted online by China’s People’s Daily newspaper shows People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots turning and burning in Chengdu J-10 multi-role fighters.
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07/16/2020
BAE Systems Plc, the developer of Britain’s next fighter jet, said it’s considering powering the planned warplane using alternative propulsion such as hybrid and fully electric systems.
BAE, which is working with engine-maker Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and others, is “examining all options” to power the plane, manufacturing director Dave Holmes said on a webcast Wednesday. The Tempest is due to join the Royal Air Force fleet from 2035.
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07/15/2020
The military balance in the Taiwan Strait is tilting in China’s favor, and the gap is widening as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) modernizes its arsenal, an annual defense white paper released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense yesterday said. Defense of Japan 2020 says that “the overall military balance between China and Taiwan is shifting in favor of China, and the gap appears to be growing year by year,” in its section on China’s relations with foreign countries and regions.
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07/15/2020
The Israeli Air Force is expected to have as many as twenty-seven F-35s by November of this year, bringing upgraded electronic warfare technology and new dimensions of aerial combat power to the Middle Eastern country facing threats from nearby hostile countries in the region, such as Iran.
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07/15/2020
Engaged in a boundary dispute with China in eastern Ladakh, India is planning to enhance its surveillance capabilities and firepower by placing orders for Heron surveillance drones and Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel under the emergency financial powers granted by the government.
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07/15/2020
The Russian Defense Ministry’s newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda reported that that as many thirty foreign aircraft had conducted spy missions near its border just within the past week. Eight times Russian fighter jets from the air defense were scrambled to intercept the foreign aircraft though no violations of the state border occurred.
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07/15/2020
Boeing believes a light attack variant of its T-7 jet trainer could replace the world’s aging fleets of Northrop F-5 and Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet combat aircraft. Boeing has long touted the “growth potential” of the T-7, noting that the jet trainer could be retrofitted with weapons, such as missiles or bombs, to serve as a light attack aircraft. The company has said that it believes there is a global market for 2,600 T-7s, as trainers, light-attack or aggressor aircraft.
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07/14/2020
An F-16C Viper from the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico crashed while landing Monday evening, the base said in a release. The fighter jet’s pilot ejected successfully and is being treated for minor injuries, Holloman said. The crash occurred at about 6 p.m. local time. Holloman said emergency response teams were at the site of the crash.
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07/14/2020
HT quoting officials in New Delhi claims that the Indian army is set to procure 200 pieces of RQ-11 Raven UAV, which can help the Indian Army soldiers to conduct reconnaissance. After the Indian army acquired Spike Mark III ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles) from Israel as part of emergency procurements due to India-China border standoff, it now plans to acquire firefly munitions that can hit an enemy target with precision.
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07/14/2020
The Indian air force is in the process of a major overhaul. Recently, at the height of India-China border conflict, Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh flew to Russia and signed a $2.3 billion deal for Russian jets which included 21 MiG-29s and 12 Sukhoi Su-30MKIs.
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07/14/2020
The Navy is expected to start receiving new twin-engine aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) by 2032 and it will be a replacement for the Russian MiG-29K carrier jets in service, a defence source said.
“The Navy is expected to get the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)-built twin-engine carrier aircraft by 2032. It will replace the MiG-29Ks in service which are scheduled to start going out by 2034,” the source said.
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07/14/2020
Combat Sentry, similar to the live-fire Combat Hammer and Combat Archer evaluations at Tyndall, puts two E-3 Sentry AWACS from the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., to the test. For almost two weeks, the E-3s will fly in environments where optionally manned QF-16s, subscale BQM-167 drones, and E-9A monitoring aircraft will test the battle management and command and control capability with simulated cruise missiles, live fire operations, and maritime operations.
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07/14/2020
The Department of the Air Force has awarded a nearly $1.2 billion contract for its first lot of eight F-15EX fighter aircraft. The contract, awarded to Boeing, provides for the design, development, integration, manufacturing, test, verification, certification, delivery, sustainment and modification of F-15EX aircraft, including spares, support equipment, training materials, technical data and technical support.
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07/13/2020
A modified version of China’s first stealth fighter jet, the J-20, has formally entered mass production, with upgrades earning it a place as a fifth-generation fighter jet, according to a military source close to the project. The moment was marked at a ceremonial unveiling of the modified J-20B stealth fighter jet on Wednesday attended by many senior military leaders including Central Military Commission (CMC) vice-chairman General Zhang Youxia, the source said.
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07/13/2020
Beijing’s state-controlled Global Times news service declared: “Any US aircraft carrier movement in the region is at the pleasure of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army).” The US Navy’s chief of information retorted: “And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea.”
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07/13/2020
The US recently approved the sale of F-35 joint strike fighters to Japan at a whopping cost of $23 billion. China, a traditional foe and close neighbour of Japan has expressed concern of having such advanced jets in the region which could be detrimental to the security of both China and Russia.
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07/13/2020
According to US experts – the F-21 merely resembles the old F-16 but rather is a new aircraft with new cockpit display, a larger airframe spine to accommodate additional electronics and a new infrared sensor and refuelling probe that is compatible with India’s Russian made aerial tankers.
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07/13/2020
Twenty-one people were injured after an explosion and fire on board a ship at the US Naval Base in San Diego, US Navy officials said. "Seventeen Sailors and four civilians are being treated for non-life threatening injuries at a local hospital," the US Navy said in a statement. The sailors on the USS Bonhomme Richard had "minor injuries" from the fire and were taken to a hospital, Lt. Cmdr. Patricia Kreuzberger told CNN earlier Sunday.
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07/12/2020
A V-22 Osprey aircraft bound for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) based at Camp Kisarazu departs Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan, July 10, 2020, to mark the official delivery of the first V-22 to the Japan Self Defense Force. Japan has purchased the American V-22 to improve its amphibious and naval warfare capabilities.
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07/12/2020
The Indian government plans to purchase from Russia of spare parts intended for military equipment. We are talking about submarines Kilo-class, su-30MKI and heavy tanks T-90. The Cabinet of India also expressed its intention to acquire missiles and ammunition for warships, submarines, tanks and fighter jets named. The representative of the Indian Ministry of defense told the media that the contract between Moscow and new Delhi provides a deal for $ 800 million.
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07/12/2020
Russian fighter jets of the Eastern Military District were scrambled to intercept a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Saturday. Russian radars detected the target in international airspace over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan. The aircraft was heading towards the Russian sovereign airspace.
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07/12/2020
Recently declassified Defense Department documents show the Pentagon knew troops were exposed to multiple toxins and hazards that have led to hundreds of cancer cases and dozens of dead veterans after deploying to Uzbekistan in the early days of the War on Terror. The Department of Veterans Affairs is denying most of them care and disability.
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07/11/2020
With Turkey vowing to support more offensives by its ally in the Libyan civil war, Egypt might intervene militarily on the opposite side, potentially leading to a dangerous conflict between the Turkish and Egyptian militaries in that North African nation.
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07/11/2020
Japan has announced plans to build one of the world's most sophisticated stealth jet fighters, likely a twin-engine aircraft designed to take over the country's critical air defense role sometime in the next decade.
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07/11/2020
Online flight tracking software has shown a notable uptick in U.S. military aerial activity in the strategic Bashi Channel, which runs from the southern end of Taiwan to the northern tip of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, in recent weeks. A steady stream of U.S. Air Force KC-135 tankers has been seen flying in and out of this general area, which serves the main boundary between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.
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07/11/2020
The report, released earlier this month, re-examined two separate accidents, in December 2018 and April 2016, over the Western Pacific both involving F/A-18 aircraft of Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, a tactical aircraft squadron, and KC-130 tankers, with the 2018 collision claiming six lives.
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07/11/2020
Gov. Steve Sisolak said he is backing Nevada's Democratic congressional delegation, which is opposing a military effort to widen the boundaries of a vast U.S. Air Force bombing range into a national wildlife refuge. Sisolak joined Reps. Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee on Thursday in opposing the plan. Other opponents include the Moapa Band of Paiutes and the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe.
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07/11/2020
A group of Russian technicians who are supporting the Indian navy in providing timely maintenance for the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya have not left the country. Despite the delays with the carrier’s acceptance for service, INS Vikramaditya offers ample opportunities for India’s Navy and allows New Delhi to keep its domination in the Indian Ocean, the news portal said in its article.
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07/11/2020
Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korean aerospace, and defense company started production of the front, the middle and rear hull of KF-X domestic fighter jet. It has published an image of a partially assembled fuselage of the KF-X fighter prototype, which was assembled at the KAI’s aircraft factory in Sacheon. The company plans to roll out the first prototype next April and commence test flights in 2022.
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07/11/2020
The U.S. Navy has its first Black female tactical jet pilot. Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle recently completed the service's Tactical Air (Strike) training program in the T-45C Goshawk, the Navy announced Friday. The milestone makes Swegle, a Naval Academy graduate, the first known Black woman who has been certified for the TACAIR mission, and she could go on to fly fighters such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler or F-35C Joint Strike Fighter.
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07/10/2020
Faced with increasingly brazen Chinese efforts to exercise control over the entirety of the South China Sea, the U.S. military is using a series of big aircraft carrier operations to show allies that the United States isn’t about to turn its back on the hotly contested region.
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07/10/2020
Details remain limited, but an Afghan Air Force A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft crashed earlier today, reportedly with a U.S. pilot on board. Reports also say this individual was injured after ejecting, but they have already been rescued. Their exact affiliation, such as whether they are a member of the U.S. military or a private contractor, is unclear as is whether there was also a member of the Afghan Air Force in the aircraft at the time of the accident.
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07/09/2020
Following a period of high tensions with China and a brief clash with Chinese forces in mid-June, which resulted in over 150 Indian casualties, the Indian Air Force has begun to conduct night patrols using two of its most capable combat aircraft from forward basses near the Sino-Indian border. India notably has the advantage of considerably more airbases near the border region than China has, and currently relies on the MiG-29UPG medium fighter and the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter to patrol t
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07/09/2020
U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. to build 58 AIM-9X precision short-range infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for jet fighters and other combat aircraft under terms of a $34.7 million order announced Monday.
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07/09/2020
The Pentagon should not judge weapon systems on “overly simplistic metrics” but adopt a more holistic evaluation that weighs a weapon’s cost and capabilities against the total costs of achieving the mission, a new paper from the Mitchell Institute argues.
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07/08/2020
Is India really getting ready to buy the F-35? Indian media reported back in 2018 that the Indian Air Force has asked Lockheed Martin to brief it on the capabilities of the F-35. Yet it's not clear if this is true, or even whether an F-35 is on the horizon.
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07/08/2020
As tensions between the United States and Russia have intensified, both nations have engaged in airborne “show of force” operations intended to demonstrate their intent to resist intimidation and defend their territories. Such operations can prove hazardous when the aircraft of one antagonist come perilously close to those of another, a phenomenon that has occurred on numerous occasions over the past few years.
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07/08/2020
Saab has started production of a Gripen E fighter at its facility in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. The aerostructures plant, called Saab Aeronáutica Montagens, is the first outside Sweden to produce large components of the combat aircraft, the company says on 7 July.
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07/08/2020
In a boost to the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence Thursday cleared the purchase of 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft, besides 248 indigenous long-range air to air missiles, Astra, among others. In total, the ministry cleared the purchase of platforms and equipment for the armed forces to the tune of Rs 38,900 crore. It has also approved the upgrade of the existing 59 MiG-29 aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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07/07/2020
The Lebanese government plans to sell five outdated Air Force Hawker Hunter fighter jets and three Sikorsky S-61 helicopters in an attempt to reallocate the service’s resources, a government source has confirmed to Defense News.
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07/07/2020
The Japan Self-Defense Forces expressed its gratitude to Vietnam for helping service and refuel an anti-submarine patrol aircraft the past two months. In a Twitter video last week, the Japan Joint Staff (JJS) of the Japan Self-Defense Forces said on June 26, its P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft with 19 crew members had returned to Japan safely after almost two months at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.
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07/07/2020
For the first time in six years, two US Navy aircraft carriers are in the South China Sea, the latest show of military might from Washington as it pushes back against China's sweeping claim to much of the contested region.
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07/07/2020
Informed sources told The Arab Weekly that the warplanes that targeted al-Watiya airbase in western Libya were Rafale jets, which limits the identity of the attacking power to France and Egypt, the two countries within the range of the base that possess this type of aircraft.
The sources considered the attack a quick response to Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar’s visit to Tripoli, which reflected the extent of Turkish persistence in western Libya.
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07/07/2020
Several NATO aircraft were scrambled to intercept or monitor the Russian Naval Aviation activity. Among them, the Italian Air Force F-35A jets currently deployed to Iceland, for Operation Northern Lighting II, their second tour of duty in support of NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing mission. According to NATO, the Italian 5th generation aircraft, belonging to th Task Group “Falco” of the Task Force Air 32nd Wing, in QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) at Keflavik, were scrambled to intercept the Russian airc
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07/06/2020
The island of Taiwan‘s defense authority said fighter jets of the Chinese People‘s Liberation Army (PLA) approached the island on Tuesday, the day a US military aircraft flew over the island that‘s bound to further raise cross-Straits tensions following a series of US arms sales to the island, and a US warship transit through the Taiwan Straits.
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07/06/2020
With China’s armed forces growing bigger and more sophisticated by the year, Western and allied militaries are scrambling to keep up. The Australian military, for one, has a plan for taking the fight to China. As part of a $400 billion defense-wide plan stretching out to 2030, the Royal Australian Air Force intends to arm its growing fleet of American-made fighters with long-range cruise missiles.
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07/06/2020
In opting to domestically produce a fighter that they could almost certainly import for less, South Korea’s defense industry anticipates that the KF-X program will mark the beginning of a profitable fighter business to propel them as a leading military hardware exporter in the Southeast Asia region.
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07/05/2020
The frontline fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force are flying consistently in and out of this airbase near the border with China, including the Russian-origin mighty Su-30MKIs and the MiG-29s. When the ANI team visited the forward airbase, it could see transport aircraft including the American C-17 and the C-130J along with their Russian counterparts Ilyushin-76 and the Antonov-32.
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07/04/2020
Congressman David Obey was worried that some of the sensitive and secretive technologies that went into developing the F-22 could be discovered and reverse-engineered by enemies of the United States if the U.S. were to export the airframe. In particular, the stealth characteristics unique to the plane.
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07/04/2020
The Voyager was rebranded with the Union flag to "better represent" the UK abroad at a cost of £900,000 last month, sparking a political row. The aircraft has a military role in refuelling jets while in the air. It was scrambled along with RAF Lossiemouth Typhoons to intercept Russian military aircraft.
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07/04/2020
The United States Air Force has posted a video about its Skyborg program. First revealed in March 2019, Skyborg was borne of an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) notion that drones outfitted with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities could give fighter pilots an advantage.
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07/03/2020
Russia and the United States, since the end of the Cold War, have had confrontations on many issues, and it is highly unlikely if both will ever find something in common. There have been differences on regional issues from the Middle East and North Africa through Asia to Europe. Now the latest, that has drawn both global leaders into sharp antagonism is the proposed [re]deployment of US military forces from Germany to Poland.
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07/02/2020
A ceremony to put Su-30SM fighter jets on standby posture to protect Belarus' borders took place at the 61st fighter airbase on 1 July, BelTA has learned. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin noted: “Today is a remarkable day for the personnel of the 61st airbase: the latest aircraft – Su-30SM – are put on standby posture to defend the skies. It is symbolical that the event took place on the eve of Independence Day and in the year of the 75th anniversary of the Victory.
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07/02/2020
For the first time since the retirement of the F-111C bomber in 2010, the government looks set to restore a long-range deterrence and strike capability to the Australian Defence Force. This is a very sensible move.
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07/02/2020
Congress wants to pump the brakes on U.S. Special Operations Command’s effort to buy a new plane for armed overwatch in remote areas, after many lawmakers recently supported a similar Air Force program. SOCOM wants a relatively uncomplicated, affordable aircraft that can offer airstrike backup as well as keep an eye on the battleground below to coordinate combat action and watch adversary movements.
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07/02/2020
U.S. Air Force F-35 pilots at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, will now be able to step into a simulator and train alongside virtual F-16s, F-15s and other aircraft, a Lockheed Martin executive said Wednesday. Air Combat Command formally accepted Lockheed’s Distributed Mission Training system on June 22 after a final test on June 18. During that test, four F-35 simulators at Nellis carried out a virtual mission with pilots in F-22, F-16 and E-3 AWACs simulators at other bases.
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07/02/2020
The U.S. Navy is ordering four F-35C carrier-based fighter-bomber jet aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp. under terms of a $360.8 million deal announced Monday. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to build four F-35C Carrier Variant Lot 14 aircraft. The F-35C, which has a tail hook, folding wings, and structural reinforcement, is designed to take off and land on aircraft car
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07/01/2020
Reports Suggest the Aircraft Could Not Lower Its Landing Gear, Crashed on Landing. A USAF F-16CM Fighting Falcon has crashed at Shaw AFB near Sumter, South Carolina in the southeastern United States at approximately 23:30 local time. Images and video from the crash scene posted on Facebook showed smoke and flames coming from the base after sundown.
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07/01/2020
The pilot of a fighter jet was killed in a crash late Tuesday night, Air Force officials said. The F-16CM Fighting Falcon was on a routine training mission from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter when it went down at about 11:30 p.m., officials said in a news release.
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07/01/2020
The India-China 1996 agreement lays down that neither side shall open fire, conduct blast operations or hunt with guns or explosives within two kilometres from the LAC.
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07/01/2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce an overhaul of Australia's defense strategy and force structure as the U.S. ally looks to counter an increasingly assertive China in an Indo-Pacific region he calls "the focus of the dominant global contest of our age."
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07/01/2020
Iran will significantly expand its military arsenal by buying high-grade weapons from both China and Russia once the arms embargo ends in October, leading defence analysts have said. The world’s most advanced air defence missiles – bar those from the United States – are likely to be snapped up by Tehran along with advanced jets and submarines if the United Nations ban is lifted.
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07/01/2020
The U.S. Air Force’s long-planned test of an airborne laser weapon aboard a fighter jet has been delayed until 2023 due to technical challenges and complications spurred by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, its program head said.
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