November, 2020 Military Aviation News
11/30/2020
The Air Force will move training for one of its gunships from Hurlburt Field Special Operations Base east of Pensacola to a base in New Mexico. Officials say Kirtland Air Force Base is their preferred site for the relocation of the Ghostrider Formal Training Unit, flying AC-130J aircraft, because of factors including the increasingly crowded airspace around Hurlburt.
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11/30/2020
“A Su-27 fighter jet of the Southern Military District’s air defense units on duty was scrambled to identify the air target and to prevent it from violating the state border of the Russian Federation,” the statement says. “The Russian fighter jet crew identified the air target as an RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force and escorted it over the Black Sea.”
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11/30/2020
The U.S. Army has announced that its researchers in cooperation with Uber research lab are working on silent and efficient VTOL, or vertical takeoff and landing operation, for the next generation fleet of Army air vehicles.
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11/30/2020
Thursday’s crash of the Indian Navy’s MiG-29K trainer aircraft in the Arabian Sea has once again revived the debate whether the country should replace the Russian-made jets with a new carrier-based fighter like the Rafale or the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
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11/30/2020
The B-1B Lancer’s expanded carriage capabilities comes one step closer to fruition following an external captive carry flight over the skies of Edwards Air Force Base, California, Nov. 20.
The flight featured a B -1B Lancer assigned to the 412th Test Wing’s 419th Flight Test Squadron, Global Power Combined Test Force, and carried an inert Joint Air-to-Surface. Standoff Missile under an external pylon for the first time.
This demonstration may pave the way possibly for the B-1B to carry hyper
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11/30/2020
The Israeli Defense Ministry is in negotiations to sell 29 retired F-16 fighter jets to a Canadian company, Calcalist has learned. The deal is valued at $100 million, and is set to be the largest of its kind ever. The planes are F-16 Hawks of the A/B variety, and had been in the Israeli Air Force’s possession since the 1980s, the last of which was retired from service in 2016.
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11/29/2020
The Typhoons were launched from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland after two Russian Tu-142 Bear F planes were detected near UK airspace on Saturday morning. The RAF said the Russian aircraft are used for anti-submarine warfare and maritime patrol - and it is "essential" their movements are "carefully monitored" when operating so close to the UK.
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11/29/2020
The 101,600 ton warship arrives in a region on the brink of a new crisis as Tehran accused Israel of assassinating Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. US Navy officials have however insisted the deployment is not related to any "specific threats" in the region. It was also claimed the carrier's arrival is to cover for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
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11/29/2020
US manufacturer Boeing is likely to export a considerable number of F-15 EX heavyweight fighter jets to countries such as Israel, India, and Qatar. The company had in July entered into a deal with the US Air Force, as part of which Boeing could build as many as more than 200 Boeing F-15 EX aircraft worth approximately $23 billion.
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11/28/2020
In a release Friday, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, Royal Air Force, Allan Marshall said the new stealth fighter jets to increases the British fleet to 21 F-35s. “Looking forward to their arrival in the UK over the coming days,” the message added. According to Britain’s Royal Air Force website, the F-35B Lightning combat aircraft currently operates alongside the Typhoon.
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11/28/2020
The BrahMos-NG is intended to be a mini-version of the existing BrahMos, being lighter and shorter while still having a range of about 300 km. It would be India’s premier air-to-surface missile and would arm most of its fighter fleet which includes the Su-30MKI, LCA Tejas, MiG-29UPG, MiG-29K, and even the Dassault Rafale.
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11/28/2020
The US Department of Defense has awarded a KRW290bn ($261.9m) contract to Korean Air for service life extension and depot level maintenance of F-16 fighter jets. Work will be performed on jets that are deployed to the US Forces in Korea and Japan for a ten-year period commencing this month. The programme will involve the highest level of aircraft maintenance, which includes reliability verification of the main parts of the fuselage and wings of the F-16 fighter jets.
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11/28/2020
The Indian military has launched a huge search for a young pilot who went missing after an air navy plane crashed into the sea. The MiG-29K trainer aircrraft went down while flying over the Arabian Sea at 5pm local time (11.30am GMT) on Thursday. One pilot was rescued but the other remains missing, the navy said on Friday. “One pilot ejected safely. Search by air and surface units is in progress for the second pilot. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident,” added the Indian ar
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11/27/2020
China’s transport planes will augment their capacity by 20 percent soon with the indigenously-developed WS-20 engine. Military sources have told South China Morning Post that China is testing “domestically designed engines for its military transport planes”.
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11/27/2020
The Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) has just released two shots showing an F-35A and an F-35B, both assigned to the 32° Stormo (Wing) and operated by the 13° Gruppo (Squadron), the first Italian unit to fly the F-35 since December 2016, flying a training mission in “Beast Mode”, with internal and external weapons for the very first time.
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11/27/2020
Luke Airmen working with an Arizona State University student have developed a 3D augmented reality system that will revolutionize the way pilots conduct mission debriefs and will represent the Air Education and Training Command at Spark Tank 2021.
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11/26/2020
When our aging C-2 Greyhound aircraft took off from the USS Gerald R. Ford the experience was clearly different. Propelled by the electro-magnetic system that has replaced steam catapults it was much smoother and much quicker. The new launch and landing systems provide key tools for a significant reshaping of the operational tempo for the large deck carrier.
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11/25/2020
The US government has offered Switzerland the option to locally assemble four Lockheed Martin F-35As as part of a potentially 40-aircraft acquisition by the Alpine nation. Switzerland’s Armasuisse procurement agency on 18 November received responses to its second Air2030 request for proposals on behalf of four bidders for its new fighter aircraft requirement.
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11/24/2020
A Chinese military plane intruded on Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday (Nov. 22), marking the 16th such intrusion in November. One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered the southwest corner of the ADIZ, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND). Taiwan in response scrambled fighter jets, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the Chinese plane.
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11/24/2020
Air Defence Exercise "ADEX 2020-3" of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) was held in Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore, Cox’s Bazar, Tangail and Barisal on Monday. The aim of this exercise is to assess and evaluate the efficiency and capability of BAF Air Defence and identify the weaknesses and draw lessons for further improvement in the air defence system.
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11/24/2020
India is set to begin flight trials of its Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) on fighter aircraft Tejas. A source was cited by The Times of India as saying that Astra missile on Tejas has virtually completed ‘initial ground trials’. The source was quoted as saying: “The flight trials of the indigenous missile on the indigenous fighter will begin within the next few months.”
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11/23/2020
China's Y-20 strategic transport aircraft is finally getting its long-awaited domestically developed engines, which recently made their first public appearance, multiple media reports speculated recently. The new engines are expected to boost the Y-20's key performances including range and cargo capacity, in addition to reducing reliance on imported engines, experts said on Sunday.
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11/23/2020
There is an old joke, about the F-4 Phantom fighter jet — an aircraft that was prominent during the Vietnam war. So the story goes, they asked a fighter pilot, what it was like to fly an F-4. He began by saying, “Well, with enough thrust, anything can fly …” The Phantom has been called “double ugly,” “rhino,” “old smokey,” and monikers even less flattering, according to Air & Space.
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11/23/2020
Up in the island superstructure of USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest carrier, work at sea feels much the same as ever for Petty Office 1st Class Scott Torres, an air traffic controller, and Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Dunn, an officer of the deck when he is standing watch on the bridge.
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11/22/2020
U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base have conducted a surprise, round-trip to the Persian Gulf area “to deter aggression and reassure U.S. partners and allies”.
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11/22/2020
Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) pilots have claimed that their country’s whopping $4.3 billion F-16 fighter jet deal signed with United States aerospace juggernaut Lockheed Martin has been falling apart almost a decade after completion.
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11/21/2020
ran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a heavy warship Thursday capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers amid ongoing tensions with the U.S. Photographs of the ship, named after slain Guard naval commander Abdollah Roudaki, showed it carrying truck-launched surface-to-surface missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. It also carried four small fast boats, the kind the Guard routinely uses in the Persian Gulf. Sailors manned deck-mounted machine guns.
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11/21/2020
The Malabar War exercises between India, America, Japan and Australia in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean have increased China’s tension. In videos surfaced on Friday, the Indian Navy’s MiG-29 and the American Navy’s F-18 gunfire are seen maneuvering on the ground. Fighter aircraft can be seen flying and landing from the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
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11/21/2020
This marks the successful completion of the MiG project, and the last airframe numbered CU-2780 was received by Air Marshal Vibhas Pande, Air Officer-in-Charge, Maintenance of the IAF.
The last delivery marks an important milestone for India’s MiG-21 replacement efforts. MiG-21 is expected to serve till late 2021 or early 2022 and further in reserve units. The aircraft is expected to be replaced by India’s own Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, which is still only in limited series production.
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11/21/2020
The US has reportedly proposed to provide its F/A-18 fighter jets to the Indian Navy to address the service’s requirement for combat jets. Earlier this week, defence ministers from India and the US signed a?Basic Exchange and Agreement (BECA) for geo-spatial cooperation. The agreement was signed during the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in New Delhi, India to discuss bilateral defence issues.
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11/20/2020
The Federal Republic of Germany and Airbus have officially proposed the sale of Eurofighter aircraft to the Swiss Federal Office of Armaments armasuisse. The offer was submitted in partnership with other Eurofighter nations and industry partners, Leonardo and BAE Systems. It is said to meet the needs of Switzerland new combat aircraft Neues Kampfflugzeug (NKF) procurement process, which is intended to replace the existing F-5 and F/A-18 fleet.
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11/20/2020
International Test Pilots School (ITPS) Canada has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to acquire a fleet of FA-50 light combat aircraft.
The London, Ont.-based company earlier this year launched the International Tactical Training Centre (ITTC) to provide advanced fighter pilot training with a first cohort of students from the Royal Malaysian Air Force for fighter lead-in training (FLIT).
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11/20/2020
These already-potent F/A-18 Super Hornets, returning to Naval Air Station Lemoore after a 2019 training mission, are about to get an upgrade. A new radar, new fuel tanks, and a new computer will give the Hornets more ability to sting.
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11/19/2020
Israel's military says it launched air strikes against Iranian and Syrian military targets in Syria overnight, after explosive devices were found in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Syrian state news agency said the country's air defences had "confronted an Israeli aerial aggression" and downed a number of missiles. It reported that three Syrian soldiers were killed and another was injured. But a monitoring group reported that 10 people died, including five Iranians.
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11/19/2020
The new warplane is hoped to replace Japan’s fleet of F-2s when they retire from service in 2035. It is hoped a prototype of the new aircraft will be manufactured by 2024. In May China announced it would be increasing its defence expenditure by another 6.6 percent in 2020. Last month Beijing said its second aircraft carrier, the 50,000-tonne Shandong, is now combat ready.
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11/19/2020
French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation SA is giving stiff competition to the United States Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program by developing a state-of-the-art fighter, better known as Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which could very well replace the Rafales in the near future.
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11/19/2020
The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS John Finn (DDG-113) became the first ship to successfully shoot down an incoming ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. The demonstration of this new capability could provide a new level of missile defense for the United States from incoming attack by ICBMs.
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11/19/2020
Taiwan's air force has grounded its F-16 fleet after losing a plane on a training mission, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday, the second loss of a fighter jet in less than a month at a time of increased missions to intercept Chinese aircraft.
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11/19/2020
According to Russian aviation website AviaPro, “Despite the statements of the Armenian defense department about the use of Su-30SM fighters to perform various kinds of combat missions in the airspace of Armenia and NKR, in fact, these fighters never even took off because of the fear of Armenia lose them in a battle against Turkish F-16s or when attacking Azerbaijani air defense systems.”
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11/18/2020
US Air Force (USAF) has deployed the F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 480th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE. The aircraft arrived at the Al Dhafra Air Base on 12 November.
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11/18/2020
Taiwan’s Air Force has confirmed it lost contact with one of its F-16 fighter jets, which disappeared from radar screens Tuesday night (Nov. 17) during a training session, according to a UDN report. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported that an F-16 fighter jet took off from Hualien at 6:05 p.m. for night training, but it disappeared from the radar screen at 6:07 p.m. The aircraft disappeared 8 nautical miles (15 kilometers) northeast of Hualien Airport while training with two other co
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11/18/2020
Athens made a request to the U.S. to buy two dozen F-35 fighter jets through a letter it sent on Nov. 6, Greek media has reported. The letter was written by Theodoros Lagios, the director-general of Armaments and Investments, reported the journal Greek Reporter on Nov. 16.
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11/17/2020
With frequent upgrades, jet trainers can help fighter pilots hone their craft and equip them with the necessary skills to handle modern warplanes. China’s Hongdu L-15 is one such aircraft, which trains pilots of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and Navy (PLAN) to fly advanced fighter jets such as the J-10, J-11, J-15, J-16, and J-20.
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11/17/2020
The fighters assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing and associated personnel of 94th Fighter Squadron Airmen deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to conduct missions in the Western Pacific with allies and joint partners.
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11/17/2020
DARPA has recently awarded contracts to five companies to develop algorithms enabling mixed teams of manned and unmanned combat aircraft to conduct aerial dogfighting autonomously.
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11/16/2020
A Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine military aircraft and another Y-8 surveillance plane flew into Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) Sunday, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response to the incident, which has become an almost daily occurrence in recent months amid escalating cross-Taiwan strait tensions, Taiwan's Air Force scrambled jets to chase off the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings and mobilized air defense systems to monitor their movement
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11/16/2020
According to reports in Chinese state media the Global Times (GT), military experts in the world’s second-biggest economy are becoming increasingly convinced about the competence of Su-57 warplanes but also remain skeptical if the Russian jets can integrate into the Chinese system since China has developed its own stealth jets – the J-20s.
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11/15/2020
Beijing-backed think-tank the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SSCBI) said three planes had been used to conduct secret surveillance flights over the disputed waters. A report from the group said the aircraft had taken off from bases in Okinawa in Japan and Manila in the Philippines and had carried 150 patrols in the East China, Yellow and South China seas since March.
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11/14/2020
Capt. Brett DeVries, a 107th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot assigned to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., poses beside the aircraft he safely landed after a malfunction forced him to make an emergency landing July 20, 2017, at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center. For his efforts, DeVries was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Nov. 6, 2020.
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11/14/2020
A ‘Request For Information’ by the US has been issued to identify potential companies that can come up with a solution to supply a new generation Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS). The FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS were inducted into the service in 1981, and are nearing their retirement after four decades- many of which are being used under a service life extension to fulfill the needs.
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11/14/2020
While all eyes were glued on to the potential mega-deal involving the sale of the 50 advanced US F-35 stealth jets to the UAE in a whopping $23 billion deal, European aerospace giant Airbus is aggressively pitching its Eurofighters Typhoons across Europe.
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11/13/2020
Kazakhstan received last week the next batch of Su-30SM multirole fighter — an aircraft manufactured by IRKUT which is a subsidiary of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the country’s defense ministry said on Friday. Military officials in Kazakhstan are convinced that the Russia-made fighters will significantly bolster country’s military fleet.
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11/13/2020
Airbus is trying to make hay out of its $6.5 billion sale of 38 Eurofighter aircraft to Germany for other procurement competitions in Switzerland and Finland. The European defense giant inked a deal with the German air force this week after the country’s parliament, the Bundestag, approved the budget earlier this month. The Luftwaffe stands to get 30 single-seater and 8 twin-seater planes, Airbus said in a statement.
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11/12/2020
On November 10 the U.S. State Department approved three possible Foreign Military Sales to the United Arab Emirates. The three packages, potentially worth in excess of $23 billion, cover the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35s, which the UAE has sought for some time, and the acquisition of the General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardians. The third approval is for a huge package of fighter weapons.
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11/12/2020
Airbus has signed a contract to deliver 38 new Eurofighter aircraft to the German Air Force. This makes Germany the largest ordering nation in Europe's biggest defence programme. The order, also known by its project name Quadriga, covers the delivery of 30 single-seater and 8 twin-seater Eurofighters. Three of the aircraft will be equipped with additional test installations as Instrumented Test Aircraft for the further development of the Eurofighter programme.
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11/12/2020
Under development for the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Tempest will be one of the first sixth-generation jet fighter aircraft. It's designed to complement current combat craft like the F-35 Lightning II and the Typhoon fighters starting in the mid-2030s until the older warplanes are retired in the 2040s. The stealth fighter will be able to carry hypersonic missiles and control drone swarms, and produce large amounts of electricity so it can power laser weapons.
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11/11/2020
Six Super Tucano aircraft will soon be delivered to Nigeria from the United States, the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, has said. The aircraft are part of the 12 fighter jets sold to Nigeria by the U.S. to aid combat actions and air assaults. He said this on Monday after defending the 2021 budget estimates of the Nigerian Air Force before the Senate Committee on Air force.
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11/11/2020
A fearsome-looking array of weapons artfully arranged in front of the aircraft expected to carry them is a familiar trope of military aviation and has frequently been used for both military “shows of strength” and marketing purposes. Until now, however, there have been precious few opportunities to see Russia’s strategic bombers displayed alongside their potential payloads.
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11/11/2020
Boeing has won three foreign military sales contracts from the US Air Force for training services, aircraft support and spare parts for F-15QA fighter aircraft ordered by the Qatari air force. Qatar signed a $12 billion deal for 36 examples of combat aircraft in 2017. Boeing plans to deliver the first F-15QA fighters to Qatar starting in 2021.
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11/10/2020
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) continues to carry out life extension and periodic depot maintenance on its aircraft fleet as it improves serviceability across the board. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, during a visit to Kainji Air Base on 3 November, “applauded the appreciable level of work on the in-country Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) on two Alpha Jet aircraft, NAF 465 and NAF 471.
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11/10/2020
The French Air and Space Force announced the initial operational capability (IOC) of the Talios laser designation pod on the Dassault Rafale F3-R multi-role fighter. The first flight of the F3R standard jet, which took place in September, saw an Indian air force (IAF) pilot operating from the rear-seat of the twin-seater jet.
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11/10/2020
Airborne Tactical Advantage Co. (ATAC), part of the Textron Systems segment of Textron Inc., has been selected to continue to provide the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps with fleet fighter jet training support services under the Fighter Jet Services (FJS) program, the company said in a Nov. 9 release.
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11/09/2020
The 23d Wing and 347th Rescue Group leadership received the Air Force’s newest Combat Rescue aircraft on 5 November. The delivery of the new model is significant to the personnel recovery mission as it begins the transition from the predecessor, the HH-60G Pave Hawk, which has been flown for more than 26 years.
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11/09/2020
According to information published by the Global Time website on November 6, 2020, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning or Type 001 has been at sea over the past week, making history by qualifying the first batch of new J-15 fighter jet pilots who were directly recruited from high school and trained specifically to fly carrier-based aircraft.
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11/08/2020
The ever-changing landscape of the Americas, in which the United States stands as the supreme leader in defensive capabilities owing to their possession of the most advanced fighter jets, warships, and other weapons, other nations especially in the South American belt have felt the need to bolster their own strength.
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11/08/2020
The contract has been awarded to Airbus for the purchase of 38 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, with the cost estimates indicating a figure of 5.4 billion euros. The variants ordered are the Tranche-3, which would replace the in-service Tranche-1 variant of the Typhoons.
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11/08/2020
American F-18 Super Hornets will be pitted against Russian-origin MiG-29K fighter jets of the Indian Navy at the Malabar Naval Drill which will include the US, Australia, Japan, and India. The war drills, termed by Beijing as an anti-China grouping will be held from November 17 to 20.
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11/07/2020
“Something I’d like to see in the future is an article talking about the performance of the Hornet versus the Super Hornet. I often times see people comment that the legacy Hornet is more maneuverable than the Super, but I’d like to see an article by someone who has stick time in both who knows what they are talking about. Perhaps G.M. would be interested in this topic since he has flown both?”
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11/07/2020
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning has been at sea over the past week, making history by qualifying the first batch of new fighter jet pilots who were directly recruited from high school and trained specifically to fly carrier-based aircraft.
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11/07/2020
The German parliament approved the acquisition of 38 new Eurofighter on Nov. 5, 2020. The new jets will replace the 38 older Eurofighters of Tranche 1, the first delivered to the Luftwaffe, as part of Project Quadriga. The contract signature with Airbus is expected this month, with deliveries starting in 2025.
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11/07/2020
ITPS Canada Ltd, a commercial provider of tactical aviation training services, is poised to add the two-seat Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 Fighting Eagle light combat aircraft to its roster, with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Canadian firm and the jet’s manufacturer. The relationship, which ITPS officially announced yesterday, is described as serving to “promote the FA-50 for tactical and adversary training.”
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11/06/2020
The U.S.-led multinational coalition launched almost 35,000 strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria over the past six years, officials told Military Times Wednesday. From August 2014 to September 2020, aircraft of the Combined Joint Task Force conducted 34,917 strikes in the region.
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11/06/2020
One of the high priority areas that need urgent addressing by the Suga-led Japanese government is the development of a next-generation fighter jet which could replace the country’s long-serving F-2 fighters while also supplementing the US F-35s in bolstering the military capabilities.
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11/05/2020
For many, becoming a pilot in the United States Air Force is a dream that can be achieved through the traditional means of commissioning, but every so often a unique story is brought to life in this process. One such story is of 2nd Lt. Clifford Mua, 41st Flying Training Squadron student pilot, currently undergoing Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
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11/05/2020
After a long wait, Russia’s Su-57 fifth-generation fighter aircraft may finally be available for the country’s air force, if the government sources quoted by TASS are to be believed. According to the report, the first serial-produced Su-57 fighter will be delivered to the Defense Ministry in December this year.
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11/05/2020
Two months after disclosing the existence of a next-generation fighter jet demonstrator, the U.S. Air Force is staying mum on which company may have built it. But one thing is for sure: Classified aviation programs are on the rise, and opportunities abound for the three major American defense aerospace primes — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.
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11/04/2020
U.S. Airmen and aircraft from two bases in England recently deployed to Aalborg, Denmark for a two-week, multilateral agile combat employment (ACE) exercise hosted by the Combined Special Operations Air Task Group.
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11/04/2020
The US Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) Office awarded Lockheed Martin a $25 million contract to support the next phase of the service’s Palletized Munitions Experimentation Campaign for airlifter platforms like the C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules.
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11/03/2020
The second serially produced Su-57 fighter of Russia marked its first flight on Saturday in Khabarovsk territory marking the start of serial production of the stealth jet. The first serially-produced Su-57 aircraft had crashed in December 2019, causing a huge setback to Russia's attempt to produce the stealth Jets for the Russian Air Force. Flight tests were suspended for over ten months.
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11/03/2020
Since the 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Air Force has been severely crippled. The main perpetrators are believed to have been from the Turkish Air Force after they unsuccessfully tried to launch a coup. Nearly 300 Turkish pilots were purged among the thousands of senior armed forces personnel, with some forced to retire, some imprisoned, and others forced to seek asylum in other countries.
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11/03/2020
The RAAF’s E-7A Wedgetail aircraft has returned home following a full-year deployment in the Middle East with Australia’s Air Task Group 630. The aircraft performed airborne command and control as part of Operation Okra, the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the US-led Coalition to combat the Daesh terrorist threat in Iraq.
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11/03/2020
The 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy identifies “strengthening alliances as we attract new partners” as a crucial line of effort. The United States commonly expresses its defense cooperation arrangements through treaties granting the U.S. the right to station forces abroad, such as in South Korea; the right to transit foreign national airspace, such as in Uzbekistan; and the right to pre-position materiel, such as in Poland.
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11/03/2020
Experts have raised questions on China’s air pilots capabilities who are beckoning the world’s best fighter jet pilots for combat. During the 2015 wargames between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Thai air forces at the Exercise Falcon Strike 2015, held at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, exposed the inability of Chinese air pilots to tactically dogfight, despite flying the J-11 advanced fighters.
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11/02/2020
It was not until November last year that it became clear the United States was not going ahead with the potential sale of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter when the Pentagon’s head of acquisition confirmed it to the media. The new geopolitical developments have led the White House to now agree to the sale of the top-of-the-line F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates after its recognition of Israel. The deal is potentially going to shift the regional power balance, according to
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11/02/2020
The FA-50 is produced by South Korean company KAI (Korea Aerospace Industries) in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. Argentina was actively looking for its procurement when a letter dated 28th October surfaced on the internet, showing the South Korean manufacturer informing Buenos Aires that it is unable to supply the light fighter and strike jet since it has British-made parts.
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11/01/2020
Japan is taking new steps to engineer an advanced, next-generation fighter jet to emerge in the 2030s, raising some interesting questions about the kinds of technologies it is likely to incorporate. A report from the Associated Press states that Japan has picked Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop a next-generation stealth fighter, an initiative likely to improve Japan’s strategic position in the region and add new tactical possibilities to the Japanese Air Self Defense Force.
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11/01/2020
It’s no secret that America flew an assortment of captured and acquired Russian fighter jets under extreme secrecy as part of a program dubbed Constant Peg in the late 1970s and 1980s. The 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron "Red Eagles" that conducted these highly classified missions, operated from the secluded Tonopah Test Range (TTR) airfield in a corner of the Nevada Test and Training Range in order to provide exposure to frontline U.S. fighter pilots of these valuable “assets.”
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