2022 Military Aviation News
12/31/2022
Defence chiefs have signed a £9million deal paving the way for a Red Arrows replacement plane. In July last year we revealed the RAF’s display team could, for the first time, be forced to fly foreign jets when their current Hawks are retired in 2030.
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12/31/2022
Pilots from the 194th Fighter Squadron, 144th Fighter Wing, California Air National Guard, based at Fresno Air National Guard Base, Calif., challenged US Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) students during their graduation capstone event Nov. 18-20, 2022, at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.
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12/31/2022
Taiwan is currently upgrading 141 F-16A/B jets into F-16Vs and has ordered 66 new F-16Vs with enhanced avionics, missiles, and radar systems to counter China’s Air Force, including the J-20 stealth fighters. On December 30, the Liberty Times reported that the 100th fully upgraded fighter, serial number 6673, landed at Hualien Air Force Base. After completing its third and final test flight at the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung, the aircraft was flown to the airb
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12/30/2022
Guam is a strategic position for the US to monitor Chinese activities in the region. The island is home to two US military bases. One military base houses conventional and nuclear submarines, as well as U.S. warships. Pacific Fleet The other base, Anderson, houses B-1, B-2, or B-52 heavy bombers.
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12/30/2022
The Air Force will end 2022 without releasing any public data on the scope of air operations conducted in the Middle East this year. The decision limits the transparency of American troops’ continued involvement in Iraq and Syria, amid dwindling public interest and shrinking military resources in the region. “At this time, [Air Forces Central Command] is not releasing data specifying sortie type or weapons release,” spokesperson Capt. Kayshel Trudell said Tuesday.
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12/30/2022
‘The missile achieved the desired mission objectives in the Bay of Bengal region. With this, IAF has achieved a significant capability boost to carry out precision strikes from SU-30MKI aircraft against land/sea targets over very long ranges,’ the IAF said in a statement. The Brahmos’ extended range capability coupled with the high performance of the SU-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate future battle fields, the IAF added.
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12/30/2022
Seoul has approved major projects to upgrade its existing F-15K Slam Eagle fighter jets, and to buy additional refueling tankers. The move comes as South Korea seeks to bolster its armed forces to counter the growing North Korean threat. As part of this effort, South Korea’s air force is set to be a major beneficiary, and approval for the plans comes just two days after the first North Korean cross-border drone intrusion in five years — which you can read more about here.
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12/30/2022
The Pentagon on Thursday released video it said showed a Chinese fighter jet coming dangerously close to a U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea last week. The People’s Liberation Army Navy pilot flew the J-11 fighter in front of, and within 20 feet of, the Rivet Joint’s nose during the Dec. 21 intercept, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
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12/29/2022
Ukrainian military pilots are performing tasks that are not even technically provided for by their aircraft, and operating using modern tactics; Western F-16 fighters will fully reveal the potential of pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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12/29/2022
The Japanese and Indian Air Forces will conduct their first bilateral fighter jet training in January, bolstering ties amid continued tensions with China. Their first-ever joint air combat training will commence on January 16 to 26 at Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture, 95 kilometers (59 miles) northeast of Tokyo. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) said the 10-day air drills would “promote mutual understanding and strengthen defense cooperation between the air forces.”
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12/29/2022
The year 2022 was one of incremental change for the Air Force, as its top civilian fought to get buy-in for his seven priorities both from Congress and inside the Pentagon itself. But in a recent interview with Breaking Defense, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall hinted that 2023 could be more of a roller coaster.
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12/29/2022
Rishi Sunak announces an agreement Between the UK, Italy, and Japan to create a a combat fighter jet aircraft (The Tempest Jet) that will utilise artificial intelligence. The nations will develop a next generation fighter – due to enter service in the mid-2030s – that will eventually replace the Typhoon jet. The Tempest Jet carry an assortment of the latest weapons and defensive warfare capabilities.
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12/28/2022
The thundering of hammers and wrenches echoed throughout an ordinarily calm aircraft hangar on Dec. 21, 2022, as a $1.5 million National Guard Bureau investment was pieced together at Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburgh, NY, home of the 105th Airlift Wing and its nine C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
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12/28/2022
Strategic bombers are designed for deep penetration missions into enemy airspace to destroy high-value targets in order to significantly degrade the opponent’s warfighting capability and will. While the term “strategic bomber” is often used synonymously with nuclear armed bomber, conventionally armed aircraft are equally capable of striking strategically significant targets deep within enemy territory.
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12/28/2022
The Pentagon and United States F-35 Joint Program Office — the government's implementing agency for the production of F-35 aircraft — have reportedly grounded a "small number" of "higher-risk" F-35 aircraft until at least January. Tuesday's news comes nearly two weeks after a Dec. 15 hover crash of F-35B aircraft, reportedly brought on by propulsion system issues.
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12/28/2022
The South Korean military scrambled fighter jets, attack helicopters, and other assets on December 26 in response to the first North Korean drone infiltration across the border in five years. One of these assets was a light attack aircraft, which crashed immediately after takeoff.
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12/27/2022
Israel has grounded 11 of its advanced F-35 stealth jets after a similar model of aircraft crashed during a test flight in Texas, United States earlier this month. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the grounding decision was made after an initial review of the F-35 aircraft was done which revealed potentially similar malfunctions as what had occurred in the US fighter’s crash.
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12/27/2022
The Interim Red Air Aggressor Training Service (IRAATS) delivered its first ‘Operational Readiness Training’ sortie to the Royal Air Force on 20 December, 2022. The Royal Air Force say here that an L-159E ‘Honey Badger’ aircraft provided threat replication to a Typhoon from 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron in the training airspace over the North Sea.
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12/27/2022
A South Korean warplane crashed on Monday while responding to an incursion of North Korean drones into South Korea's airspace, according to local media, though both crew members survived. The KA-1 light attack aircraft went down shortly after leaving its base in the district of Wonju, east of Seoul, according to a South Korean defense ministry official.
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12/27/2022
The Chinese military has sent 71 planes and seven ships towards Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese defence ministry, marking the biggest daily incursion yet as Beijing protested against “collusion and provocation” by the self-ruled island and the United States. In a statement on Monday, the Taiwanese defence ministry said 47 of the Chinese planes crossed the median line of the Taiwan strait, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, during the 24-hour display of force.
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12/25/2022
Moments of history, as written by the Turkish media. Turkey’s first self-produced light combat aircraft and trainer aircraft left the hangar and showed itself to the world. The developer of Hurjet is the Turkish company TAI and will be associated in the future – TAI Hurjet.
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12/25/2022
“During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s working visit to Minsk on December 19, a decision was made to provide training for the crews of combat aircraft converted for the possible use of ammunition with a special warhead,” Galuzin said. The official added that the US, with its NATO allies, have been undertaking similar activities for decades. “This particular case is also about a symmetrical response of Russia and Belarus to unfriendly steps of the alliance member states,” Galuzin emphasized.
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12/25/2022
Western intelligence sources who monitor security deals between Iran and Russia say Moscow will soon provide a full squadron of fighter jets to the Islamic Republic. It will apparently be 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, originally produced for Egypt under a deal that was torpedoed by the United States. The Russians were looking for buyers for the unsold surplus, and it looks like Tehran will be getting those planes very soon. According to an intelligence report, Iranian pilots are already trainin
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12/24/2022
China, North Korea, and Russia are acting as if to wake a long-time sleeping lion in Asia – that is, Japan. On December 23, the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Kishia Fumio approved 6.82 trillion yen ($51.4 billion) in defense spending in fiscal year 2023, starting in April, amid what it calls “the most severe and complex security environment since World War II.”
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12/24/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 21 December, President Putin was presented with plans to expand the Russian military by around 30% to 1.5 million personnel. It isn't clear when this level would be achieved. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shigou explained that the expansion would involve at least two brigades in north-western Russia growing to divisional strength. He cited the supposed threat from Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO.
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12/24/2022
The Russian Navy and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) are exercising in the East China Sea while the PLAN Liaoning Carrier Strike Group continues operating in the Philippine Sea. On Wednesday, the Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Ministry of Defense said on a Russian Navy cruiser, destroyer and two corvettes were sighted Tuesday, sailing southwest in an area 50 miles northeast of Tsushima.
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12/24/2022
A federal watchdog wants to make sure the U.S. military is getting the best bang for its buck when buying new aircraft. The Pentagon plans to spend about $100 billion in the next five years to modernize its tactical aviation fleets — that is, fighter jets, attack planes and electronic warfare platforms. But the military should look at those plans holistically to avoid wasting money and duplicating effort, the Government Accountability Office argued in a report published Tuesday.
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12/23/2022
Officials said the drills, which will take place from January 16 to 26, will be the first of their kind in Japan, reported NHK japan. Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force will deploy F-2 and F-15 fighters.
According to the ASDF, the Indian Air Force’s four Su-30MKI fighters and two C-17 transport planes are scheduled to arrive in Japan on January 10 to participate in the drill.
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12/23/2022
?The first two F-35B Lightning II STOVL aircraft of the Marina Militare (Italian Navy), MM7451/4-01 and MM7452/4-02, landed aboard Cavour aircraft carrier on Dec. 16, 2022, completing the long return trip from the U.S. that had (virtually) started on Nov. 29, with the ceremony held last November 29, at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, to celebrate the end of the PIA (Pooling Implementing Arrangement) signed in 2018 by the Italian MOD Defense and the US Marine Corps.
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12/23/2022
Taiwan scrambled fighter jets to confront dozens of Chinese aircraft that flew into the self-governed Island's southeastern Air Defense Zone on Thursday. China's sortie included 21 fighter aircraft, four bombers and an assortment of support craft as well. The group totaled 39 planes in all, and Taiwan's military also detected three Chinese naval vessels operating in the region, Reuters reported.
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12/22/2022
The United States will give Ukraine top-of-the-line Patriot anti-aircraft missiles as part of $1.8 billion military assistance package, according to Dec. 21 news reports. The top-end American air defense technology will add a new layer to Kyiv’s air defense capacities, but not so much to prevent Russian drone attacks against Ukrainians cities.
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12/22/2022
Italian aerospace firm Leonardo has completed the delivery of M-346 advanced trainer aircraft to the Polish Air Force, boosting Poland’s fleet to 16. The third and final delivery of four advanced jet trainers last week made the Polish Air Force’s the second largest fleet of M-346 aircraft in Europe. “We are very proud to have equipped the Polish Air Force with an advanced training system based on our M-346,” Senior Vice President Dario Marfè said.
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12/22/2022
As part of a military strategic analysis study up to 2045, the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) designed its roadmap for the next two decades, which will guide its expansion and modernization. The study, conducted for the entire Swedish Armed Forces, seeks to guide decisions on defense policy towards 2045. It echoes the war in Ukraine and Sweden’s future membership in the NATO structure, which marks a turning point for the country after decades of strategic neutrality.
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12/22/2022
Colombia has shortlisted a French bid to sell 16 Rafale fighter planes to the South American nation for up to $3.15 billion, the Colombian government said on Wednesday. Colombia wants to replace the Israeli-made Kfir aircraft it acquired in the late 1980s, and would use the new planes to defend its territory, fight organized crime and conduct aerial surveillance.
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12/22/2022
Earlier this month, an agreement was signed by the UK, Japan, and Italy to develop the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), which will see them work together on next-generation fighter aircraft. The deal fused the UK-Italy Tempest and Japan’s F(X) programs. As negotiations to establish the responsibilities of each nation in the ambitious project move forward, Italy has raised a precondition for the functioning of the GCAP.
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12/21/2022
The U.S. will send $1.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine in a massive package that will for the first time include a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for their fighter jets, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as the Biden administration prepares to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington.
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12/21/2022
Fresh from conducting Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) patrols over Afghanistan, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) steamed into the NAG from the Northern Arabian Sea in late October 2002 where the aircrew of the embarked Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14) started to perform the Operation Southern Watch (OSW) mission.
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12/21/2022
Russia will continue training Belarusian Air Force pilots to fly combat jets that have been refurbished to carry a "special warhead," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday during a joint news conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk. "I think it would be possible to continue implementing the proposal made by the Belarusian President to train crews for Belarusian combat planes.
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12/21/2022
DOD is upgrading its fleet of fighter and attack planes, known as tactical aircraft. Most of these planes—purchased in the 1970s and 80s—have outlived their planned service lives. Over the next 5 years, DOD is proposing to spend nearly $100 billion on major investments and changes to its current mix of tactical aircraft.
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12/21/2022
The 40th Flight Test Squadron ar Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, took possession of the first of two government-owned Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost, high-performance unmanned aerial vehicles. The Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation team established within the unit will use the XQ-58 and Eglin range for further developmental ground and flight testing.
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12/20/2022
During his first visit to Belarus in more than three years, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with his counterpart, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, on a wide range of military and economic issues, including training Belarusian pilots to fly combat jets equipped with “special warheads,” according to the official Belarusian BelTa new agency. Lukashenko also thanked Putin for providing nuclear-capable Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and an S-400 air defense complex to Bela
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12/20/2022
Swedish aerospace firm Saab announced Friday that it has been awarded a contract for 3.5 billion Swedish Krona ($338 million) to perform major upgrades on the Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft. According to the company, the plane will be equipped with a new engine to improve its flight performance. A more effective electronic warfare system will also be integrated to deny adversaries the ability to jam or disrupt the Gripen.
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12/20/2022
Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar Tech on Dec. 14 conducted the first flight test of its next-generation unmanned fighter jet, known as the Bayraktar Kizilelma. The drone is expected to be the air force backbone of the Turkish Navy’s future flagship, LHD Anadolu.
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12/20/2022
The U.S. Air Force’s entire fleet of B-2 Spirits is grounded, and the sole runway at their home base remains closed after one of the stealth bombers had a malfunction while flying and was forced to make an emergency landing Dec. 10. The head of Global Strike Command, Gen. Timothy Ray, directed the “safety pause” to inspect the fleet after the incident, Master Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio of Bomb Wing Public Affairs told Defense One in an email.
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12/19/2022
Japan and the United States have launched a new organization to analyze information collected by their defense equipment, including U.S. unmanned aircraft recently deployed near the East China Sea, where China is intensifying its military activities.
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12/18/2022
On December 16, a video showing a Ukrainian MiG-29 jet launching two AGM-88 HARMs surfaced online, indicating that these missiles still play an important role in striking Russian defenses. AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) is a tactical air-to-surface anti-radiation missile targeted at high-frequency radars to locate and strike the target.
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12/18/2022
The Sukhoi Su-24M supersonic bomber that was shot down and crashed practically on top of Ukrainian positions outside Bakhmut on Dec. 2 was flown by a pair of veteran aviators on contract with The Wagner Group, Russia’s notorious and mysterious mercenary firm. The Su-24 is at least the third Wagner-flown warplane the Ukrainians have shot down since Russia widened its war on Ukraine starting in February. Wagner also has lost a pair of Sukhoi Su-25 attack jets.
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12/18/2022
Turkey has produced the mission computer of its fifth-generation fighter jet. This is clear from a post on Twitter by the account International Defense Analysis. In the post announcing the development and delivery of the mission computer for the aircraft, photos of the finished integrated circuits of the computer were shared.
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12/17/2022
The governments of France, Germany, and Spain have awarded a contract to industry to develop flying demonstrators for a Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which will eventually include a manned New Generation Fighter (NGF) aircraft. The contract — worth 3.2 billion Euros, or around $3.4 billion at the current exchange rate — comes a week to the day after the United Kingdom, Japan, and Italy announced they would team up to jointly develop a new fighter jet, under the Global Combat Air Program.
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12/17/2022
Brazil is set to officially add the Saab Gripen NG, locally designated as F-39, to the combat fleet of its air force on Dec. 19. The first of five F-39s, delivered from Sweden between December 2021 and April 2022, are now at Anapolis Air Base near the federal capital Brasilia. They were initially used for testing and training flying from Sao Paulo and other places.
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12/16/2022
U.S. Air Force aerial warfare experts are ordering additional modern active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for F-16 jet fighter aircraft under terms of an $99.4 million order last month. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Fighter Bomber Directorate, F-16 Division, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Northrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems segment in Linthicum Heights, Md., for 42 production radars and spare parts.
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12/16/2022
The German parliament has given the green light for the acquisition of 35 F-35A fighters for a total of €10 billion. The first six aircraft are expected in 2026. The order was confirmed by both the Bundeswehr (the German military) and the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin. “At its meeting on December 14[, 2022], the budget committee of the German Bundestag approved the funds for the procurement of the stealth multipurpose combat aircraft,” the Bundeswehr announced in a statement.
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12/16/2022
The UK and Italy’s groundbreaking partnership with Japan to build a new combat jet could open up export markets in Asia that have historically proved difficult to penetrate, according to the chief executives of two of the industrial groups involved.
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12/16/2022
A pilot ejected from a military fighter jet, making a crash landing on a runway Thursday morning in Fort Worth. Video shows a pilot in the sky with a parachute after ejecting from an aircraft that had been hovering above the ground moments earlier.
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12/15/2022
An Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon (F-2000 in accordance to Italy’s MOD Mission Design Series), assigned to the 37° Stormo (Wing), crashed around 18:30LT on Dec. 13, 2022, approximately five miles to the southeast of Trapani Air Base, Italy. According to the official information, the aircraft, flying along with another F-2000, was on approach to the airfield, when the incident occurred.
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12/15/2022
Germany is set to receive the first batch of its F-35 fighter jets in 2026, though the initial eight units will remain stationed in the U.S. for training purposes, creating a tight schedule to build up more advanced air-defense capabilities before the aging Tornado models are retired in 2030.
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12/15/2022
Shockwaves swept the Washington security establishment this fall upon hearing the U.S. Air Force is going to retire F-15C/Ds based at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, without a direct replacement, instead reverting to a rotational presence. Members of Congress even threatened legislation to block the move. Bottom line: This development should not surprise anyone.
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12/14/2022
On Dec. 2, a C-17 Globemaster III refueled a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber on the ground for the first time — the latest test of the cargo jet’s versatility. The experiment was a milestone for the bomber as well, expanding its ability to hopscotch around the globe.
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12/14/2022
Ukraine has pleaded with NATO countries on several occasions to arm it with advanced fighter jets to establish air superiority against the Russian Aerospace forces. While a transfer of western fighter jets is considered a red line that could provoke Russia, NATO could soon be supplying the MiG-29s to Ukraine. According to recent media reports, NATO member Slovakia is considering sending MiG-29 jets to Ukraine.
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12/14/2022
Swedish SAAB JAS-39 Gripen has been projected as the most suitable option for Ukraine to take on the advanced Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). However, in what could come as a disappointment to Kyiv, the Nordic country has reportedly fallen short of conceding to the demand for its newly announced military aid.
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12/14/2022
Argentina’s president has ruled out the possibility of procuring supersonic fighter jets for the country’s Air Force in the short term. In an interview with the Financial Times’s “Global Boardroom” program last week, Alberto Fernandez was asked about the aircraft program, saying “there are other priorities before buying weapons, definitely.” “There are no war problems, peace is the common denominator between us,” he added, referring to South American nations.
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12/14/2022
In engineering slang, Project Tempest is a ‘pipe-cleaner’. The UK hasn’t built a supersonic combat jet since the EAP of the 1980s, and the early joint Typhoon development was years ago. Everyone who was worked on those projects has either retired or is about to. So Project Tempest was a dusting-off, assessment and cleaning up of Britain’s ability to create new advanced combat aircraft.
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12/12/2022
On 8 December 2022, the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force) ended the operations with the Pilatus PC-9, when C-412 was taking off from Emmen air base for its last flight to RUAG at Lodrino. The Pilatus PC-9 two-seater turboprop trainer and successor to the Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer, was primarily used by the Swiss Air Force as a target towing aircraft for Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) training.
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12/12/2022
Mr. Roman Skomorokhov, an author on the Russian-language online portal TopWar published an article on the state of the Russian Air Force. He does not spare his criticism of the leadership of the Russian Aerospace Forces [VKS], as well as the Kremlin, making nostalgic comparisons with the era of the Soviet Union and today’s Russia.
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12/12/2022
The announcement appears to have put a full stop to a fighter aircraft tender that pitted the Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder against the India-built HAL Tejas. The Argentine President announced during an interview with Financial Times. Later, Fernandez’s Twitter account retweeted the excerpt that contained the quote.
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12/11/2022
Sukhoi claims Su-57 having an RCS goal between 0.1 to 1 m^2 (-10 to 1 dBsm). For comparison the F-117 had an RCS around -25 dBsm while the F-22 and F-35 has an RCS better than -40 dBsm – which is at least 1,000 to 10,000 times smaller than Su-57. The configuration of the Sukhoi Su-57 Felon is an evolution of the Su-27’s shape adapted for the requirements of low visibility and supersonic speed and agility.
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12/11/2022
According to the officials, Iranian pilots received Sukhoi Su-35 training in Russia in the spring, indicating Iran may start acquiring the aircraft within the following year. The information was disclosed on December 9 by senior officials of President Joe Biden’s administration. This training is part of what the US has described as an “unprecedented” level of military and other technology support pouring from Moscow to Tehran.
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12/11/2022
The combat air arm of Russia’s Central Military District (TsVO), stationed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, recently received two upgraded MiG-31BM fighter interceptors, according to the press release issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) on December 9.
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12/10/2022
Known by his callsign Karaya, Maj. Vadym Voroshylov already was the most famous MiG-29 Fulcrum of the Ukrainian Air Force. On his Instagram account, followed by 130K users, he regularly posts photographs as well as footage shot with GoPro-cameras, that provide a pretty unique view of the air war fought by the Ukrainian fighter pilots against the Russian Aerospace Forces assets over Ukraine.
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12/10/2022
Congress has finally agreed to bid adieu to nearly two dozen A-10 Warthogs, after lawmakers fervently defended the aging aircraft and stopped the Air Force from retiring the aircraft. It marks the first time in decades that lawmakers have agreed to put A-10s out to pasture.
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12/10/2022
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 24 Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships around Taiwan from 6 a.m. on Thursday (Dec. 8) to 6 a.m. Friday (Dec. 9). Of the 24 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 16 were tracked in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. Two Shenyang J-11 fighter jets and one BZK-005 reconnaissance drone crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the northeast sector of the ADIZ.
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12/10/2022
The Russian Air Force has redeployed and dispersed strategic long-range aircraft following the explosions at Russian airfields on 5 December. Source: Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, during the 24/7 national joint newscast on 8 and 9 December
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12/09/2022
Known by his callsign Karaya, Maj. Vadym Voroshylov already was the most famous MiG-29 Fulcrum of the Ukrainian Air Force. On his Instagram account, followed by 130K users, he regularly posts photographs as well as footage shot with GoPro-cameras, that provide a pretty unique view of the air war fought by the Ukrainian fighter pilots against the Russian Aerospace Forces assets over Ukraine.
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12/09/2022
After years of fighting back, Congress is allowing the Air Force to part ways with a portion of its A-10 Warthog fleet, approving the service’s plans to retire 21 A-10s in fiscal 2023. While it’s unclear whether this means the Air Force will be successful in future attempts to send the A-10 to the boneyard, the retirement of even a portion of the Warthog fleet — in this case, the squadrons from Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base in Indiana, which will get F-16s — is a massive step forward for th
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12/09/2022
Leonardo introduced its Smart Chair simulation-based pilot training technology at I/ITSEC 2022 in Orlando. Aeronautics industry communications spokesperson for Leonardo Ignazio Castrogiovanni told Shephard the company’s M-346 jet training system continues to move ahead and that the new Smart Chair is capable of ‘reproducing a possible cockpit for a sixth-generation fighter, in which the only physical elements are the stick and the throttle'.
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12/09/2022
Egypt’s Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) has entered a cooperation agreement with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to localize the manufacturing technology of T-50/FA-50 Golden Eagle advanced trainer jet and light combat aircraft. KAI pushes to sell its FA-50/T-50 Golden Eagle jet to the North African nation, while Egypt plans on exporting the aircraft to third parties.
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12/09/2022
Rishi Sunak is set to announce a collaboration between the UK, Italy and Japan to develop a new fighter jet that uses artificial intelligence. The prime minister says the joint venture aims to create thousands of UK jobs and strengthen security ties. The nations will develop a next generation fighter - due to enter service in the mid-2030s - that will eventually replace the Typhoon jet. It is hoped the new Tempest jet will carry the latest weapons.
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12/07/2022
The US Air Force’s 2nd Bomb Wing is based at Barksdale Air Force Base in northwestern Louisiana. The service said the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, is anticipated to be prepared for deployment as early as the fall of 2023. The Lockheed Martin AGM-183A ARRW is a long-range hypersonic missile developed for the United States Air Force.
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12/07/2022
At around 13:00 local time (12:00 UTC) on Dec. 5, 2022, a flight of five MiG-21s of the Croatian Air Force took off for routine military activity (training flights) from Pleso (Zagreb Airport), where all the Fishbed assigned to the 91st Air Force Base are based. The aircraft had planned a sortie inside LDTR1 and LDTR2, two training areas usually used for the MiG-21 training activities.
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12/07/2022
The Royal Australian Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II made its debut in Singapore, visiting Paya Lebar Air Base late last month. Personnel from 75 Squadron trained alongside their Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) counterparts in the air and on the ground, further enhancing the bilateral relationship while integrating 4th- and 5th-generation fighter aircraft.
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12/07/2022
Turkish technology company SDT Space and Defense Technologies Inc. will continue to contribute to South Korea's domestically developed fighter jet during the mass production process after already providing a simulation link system to the project during the prototype stage.
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12/07/2022
After two false alarms in as many weeks, Dassault Aviation and Airbus have finally reached an industrial agreement for the study phase of the Future Combat Aircraft System (SCAF), removing the blockage that brought the program to a standstill in summer 2021.
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12/06/2022
Egypt’s Arab Organisation for Industrialisation (AOI) and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) have signed a cooperation and partnership agreement as KAI pushes to sell its FA-50/T-50 Golden Eagle jet to the North African nation. The agreement, signed last week, covers the localisation of technology should Egypt acquire the Golden Eagle. Egypt is understood to be looking to replace its ageing Alpha Jet and K-8 jet trainers with 100 new jets, of which 70 will be manufactured locally.
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12/06/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that in recent months, the number of sorties conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine has reduced significantly. Russian aircraft now probably conducts tens of missions per day, compared to a high of up to 300 per day in March 2022. Russia has now lost over 60 fixed-wing aircraft in the conflict, likely including an additional Su-24M FENCER fighter-bomber and a Su-25 FROGFOOT ground attack aircraft last week.
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12/06/2022
Reports of significant attacks against two Russian air bases are a new and dangerous twist in the Ukraine war. One of the explosions was at the Engels-1 air base in the Saratov region, the other at Dyagilevo in the Ryazan area — both hundreds of miles inside the Russia-Ukraine border. Several Russians were reportedly killed or wounded, and at least two aircraft damaged. Moscow immediately blamed Ukraine for the strikes, which appear to have been conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles.
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12/06/2022
Myanmar’s military regime has taken delivery of six FTC-2000G fighter jets purchased from China, according to Myanmar-based observers monitoring the regime’s air force. The six fighter jets arrived in November and are currently being checked over at Meiktila airbase in Mandalay Region before their deployment to Namhsan airbase in southern Shan State, according to regime air force sources.
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12/05/2022
Twenty-five Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships were detected around Taiwan from 6am Saturday to 6am yesterday, including eight airplanes that had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and another two that entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ were a Y-8 anti-submarine plane and a BZK-005 uncrewed aerial vehicle, the Ministry of National Defense said.
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12/05/2022
On 25 November 2022, the Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (AAE, French Air and Space Force) 30e escadre de chasse (EC-30, 30th fighter wing) from Base Aérienne 118 Mont-de-Marsan air base started its deployment of four Dassault Rafale F3R fighter aircraft and around one hundred personnel to Šiauliai air base (Lithuania) for a period of four months as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission.
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12/05/2022
Recently, from 10 October to 25 November 2022, a large TLP-like exercise (Tactical Leadership Programme) took place at Al Dhafra Air Base, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The so called Advanced Tactical Leadership Course (ATLC) No.32 UAE was hosted by the Air Warfare and Missile Air Defence Centre on the air base. The ATLC exercises are organised in the UAE since 2004, under the framework of a Military Cooperation Programme with international collaborations of the Armed Forces.
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12/05/2022
Germany's defence ministry has raised serious concerns about the planned purchase of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, part of the country's military modernisation drive, according to documents seen by AFP. Berlin announced in March it would buy 35 of the warplanes made by Lockheed Martin to replace its aging Tornado fleet, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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12/05/2022
Close on the heels of US Air For (USAF) F-15C/D fighters being withdrawn from Kadena Air Force Base (AFB) in Japan’s Okinawa, the experimental Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie has been suggested as the next credible alternative as a part of an effort to introduce drone swarms to overwhelm China.
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12/04/2022
So the widely advertised Russian MiG-35 fighter is not exactly generation 4++. The Michigan-based writer Mr. Peter Suciu explains why the MiG-35 is primarily a 4th generation fighter and a Kremlin publicity stunt. The MiG-35 Fulcrum-F is a project of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, a subsidiary of the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation [UAC]. The Russians tout it as a capable light highly maneuverable fighter capable of engaging moving and stationary targets, day and night, in all weather condi
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12/04/2022
B-2 Spirit technology consists of more than its unique shape. There are underlying software and hardware advancements that enable long-range low-observable penetrating nuclear capability delivery around the world. The B-2 system continues to improve and modernize as international threats advance.
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12/04/2022
The Turkish pioneering drone maker has announced Saturday its unmanned fighter jet would soon perform its maiden flight as it edged closer to the landmark with a successful takeoff test where it lifted off the ground for a short duration of time. Named Kizilelma, the National Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle System (MIUS) had completed its first runway run and autonomous taxiing test last month at an air base in northwestern Tekirdag province.
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12/03/2022
On December 2 Northrop Grumman unveiled the first prototype of the B-21 Raider intercontinental range strategic bomber, an aircraft which is expected to replace the U.S. Air Force’s fleets of B-1B and B-2 aircraft and potentially form entirely new bomber units. The bomber is the first to be unveiled in the United States or any Western country since 1988 when the B-2, also developed by Northrop Grumman, was first shown publicly at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
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12/03/2022
The Hungarian Air Force has officially handed over the responsibility of NATO ’s Baltic Air Policing (BAP ) mission to the Polish and French air forces. This was announced by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (MND ). After the takeover, Poland and France will now carry out the policing mission to safeguard the Lithuanian airspace.
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12/03/2022
What Are Russian Aircraft Losses During The Invasion Of Ukraine in 2022? Before the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, most military analysts predicted Russia’s massive fleet of fighter jets and attack helicopters would blast its opponents out of the skies and quickly take control of Ukraine’s air space. Nine months on, and still more of the Kremlin’s war chickens have come home to roost.
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12/02/2022
The Su-57 is a multirole fighter developed for taking on land, maritime, and airborne targets. It features stealth technology and is currently one of the few fifth-generation fighter jets operational in the world. According to reports, the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (Istrebitelnyi Aviatsionnyi Polk, IAP) based at Dzyomgi near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s Far East will be the first operational unit within the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) to receive the new fighters.
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12/02/2022
The J-15 is China's first locally made carrier-borne aircraft. Manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the J-15 is nicknamed the "Flying Shark." The fighter jet first entered service in 2014, and per the latest reports, there are about 50 units currently in operation, Business Insider stated.
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12/01/2022
For months now, the Air Force has been openly discussing plans to retire its most potent air superiority fighter, the F-22 Raptor, in favor of its next fighter in development. And while the exact timeline remains somewhat murky, the fact of the matter remains: The reign of the Raptor is coming to an end.
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12/01/2022
Along with the technological prowess of the Rafale fighter jets, France would like India to take into consideration the factor of it being the most dependable Western ally while choosing the fighter aircraft for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers.
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12/01/2022
Master Sgt. Leah Curtin had four years of experience fixing F-15 fighter jets when she showed up to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona in 2014 to learn how to fix the much newer F-35 Lightning II. Despite her experience on the older jet, Curtin and her fellow maintainers soon realized that the F-35 is a different sort of beast.
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12/01/2022
South Korea scrambled its jet fighters on Wednesday after Chinese and Russian strategic bombers flew a joint patrol in its air defense zone in the western Pacific without warning early Wednesday. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the jets were deployed after two Chinese and six Russian planes breached South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ), the Yonhap News Agency reported.
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11/30/2022
In a 1941 speech on a Royal Navy ship, Winston Churchill directed his final comments to the US: “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” After a significant victory in Kherson, and standing at the gates of Crimea facing a Russian army desperately trying to shore up its ramshackle defences, Ukraine has the troops and morale to defend what it has.
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11/30/2022
The latest delivery was completed under a contract made by the Ministry of Defense. Rostec, on November 28, also said in a statement that it is stepping up the production of these aircraft for the Russian defense department. The Director General of the United Aircraft Corporation, Yuri Slyusar, said, “The delivery of new transport planes is our contribution to meeting the requirements for military transport aircraft and strengthening the country’s defense capability.
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11/30/2022
A mysterious aircraft that flew from an unknown destination dropped bombs this week near a base housing Russia-linked Wagner Group mercenaries in the Central African Republic, who responded with bursts of weapons fire that scared local residents.
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11/30/2022
China is building more modern surface combatants and expanding its aircraft carrier and logistics force to grow its naval influence further from shore, according to the Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military power. By 2025, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is expected to grow to 400 hulls, up from its fleet of 340, according to the Pentagon’s annual China military report estimates released on Tuesday.
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11/30/2022
A member of the Swedish parliament has said the country should agree to sell Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. MP Magnus Jacobsson expressed his position in an interview with Ukrainian news website Guildhall, arguing that the sale should take place despite Sweden’s law banning the sale of armaments to a state involved in a war.
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11/29/2022
As Vladimir Putin’s military’s fortunes wax and wane, China has emerged as Russia’s key supporter. The existence of a Sino-Russian axis was evident as early as the Putin-Xi summit in the lead-up to the 2022 Winter Olympics, after which the leaders issued a joint declaration underscoring their countries’ opposition to further NATO enlargement.
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11/29/2022
The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with GLSDBs an exclusive Reuters report unveiled on Nov. 28, 2022. The GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring 2023 and would allow Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines, using Ukrainian MLRS and HIMARS launchers.
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11/29/2022
Pictures of the burned-out Russian combat aircraft began circulating on social media earlier today. According to OSINT experts, it was the wreckage of a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber, with the serial number RF-95005 and bort number Red 22, that was shot down earlier in the conflict near the city of Kupiansk.
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11/29/2022
The RAAF’s research and development unit (ARDU) celebrated an important milestone in allied cooperation while taking part in the Aerospace Valley Air Show at Edwards Air Base, California.
The ARDU testing team were recently at the US base to complete the B-2A, B-52H and A-10C aircraft testing programs. They were joined by a KC-30A multi-role tanker transport aircraft and crew from RAAF Base Amberley – now capable of refuelling most United States Air Force (USAF) combat aircraft.
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11/29/2022
The 943rd Rescue Group designed a concept to mount four additional M240 machine guns onto the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter to provide more firepower to the 920th Rescue Wing’s personnel recovery task force in contested environments. The wing searched for an innovative way to bring more firepower to the fight and with the HH-60G scheduled to be retired, it had to be cost effective and easily transferred to the new HH-60W Jolly Green II because of the similar design structures.
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11/29/2022
China appears to be fitting indigenous engines on its Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark, a carrier-borne fighter jet. Footage shown Nov. 17 on state-owned broadcaster CCTV showed a People’s Liberation Army Navy J-15 with the afterburner nozzles of the WS-10 Taihang turbofans undergoing calibration in preparation for a test flight at the facilities of manufacturer Shenyang Aircraft Corp.
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11/29/2022
News from Ukraine provides signs for hope with Ukrainian forces reoccupying Kherson, and Russians surrendering to drones. However, this conflict is still far from over and much remains on the line, both for the people of Ukraine and for security implications around the globe. The longer the conflict extends, the greater the costs on the Ukrainian people and the coalition supporting them.
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11/28/2022
Riho Terras is an Estonian politician and former high-ranking military officer who has served as a member of the European Parliament since February 1, 2020. He was the commander of the Estonian Defense Forces from 2011 to 2018. In a wide-ranging interview with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Terras, 55, discussed an incident earlier this month when a missile hit Poland, calls for more military support for Ukraine, and the likelihood of Russian President Vladimir Putin attacking NATO and widening the
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11/28/2022
Spokesperson of the Egyptian Armed Forces Gharib Abdel Hafez announced that a fighter jet crashed during training on Sunday because of a technical error, and that the pilot and co-pilot survived. Similar incidents occurred in June, December 2019, and November 2018 where the pilots managed to eject. The cause of the crashes was also technical problems that were not detailed, and they all happened during training.
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11/28/2022
A top delegation of the Argentine Air Force is reportedly in Denmark to evaluate second-hand F-16 fighter jets. The South American nation appears to have postponed the technical evaluation of India’s Tejas Light combat aircraft. Along with the Danish alternative, Argentina is also considering the Chinese-built JF-17 Thunder and India’s Hindustan Aeronautic Limited Tejas aircraft. The service has been attempting to examine the different aspects of fighter jets before making the final decision.
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11/27/2022
As voters in Taiwan prepared to go to the polls Saturday (Nov. 26) to select new city and county leaders, the Ministry of National Defense said it had spotted 11 aircraft and four ships from China’s military in areas surrounding the country by 6 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 26). Of the 11 aircraft tracked during the 24-hour period leading up to 6 a.m. on Saturday, one unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) and four bombers entered the southwest sector of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ
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11/27/2022
The Air Force said that the United States-manufactured plane assigned to the Pingtung airbase was returning from a training flight when the incident occurred around 11:08 a.m. The incident didn’t result in any casualties. The pilot was apparently forced to perform a belly landing at the military airfield because the landing gear did not deploy. The military said a special task force had been established to investigate the malfunction’s root cause.
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11/27/2022
The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) Commander-in-Chief ACM Alongkorn Vannarot said that the service has decided to acquire two F-35A fighter jets from the United States despite resistance from the opposition parties, Thai PBS World reported.
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11/26/2022
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked six Chinese military aircraft and four naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 24) and 6 a.m. Friday (Nov. 25). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, naval ships, and used land-based missile systems to monitor the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and vessels, according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during this time.
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11/26/2022
The Taliban interim administration repaired 70 damaged military planes and helicopters that were damaged by US soldiers before they left Afghanistan after 20 years in August last year. The Afghan Air Force has repaired 70 damaged military planes and helicopters given to the previous government of President Ashraf Ghani by the US and its allied forces, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Inayatullah Khawarizmi told Anadolu Agency in Kabul.
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11/26/2022
The US Air National Guard (ANG) has issued a ‘fielding recommendation’ for Leonardo’s BriteCloud 218 expendable active decoy, after testing on F-16 aircraft. According to the company, this means the service, which has conducted testing and live trials with BriteCloud since 2019, is confident that the decoy meets operational requirements, delivering an increased protection capability to fourth-generation fighter aircraft.
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11/25/2022
China has recruited more than 30 former British military pilots including those who have flown sophisticated fighter jets. UK's Defence Ministry said that they are being recruited to train pilots of the Chinese Army. Chinese plans to counter the West and in the worst-case scenario, of a conflict, say over Taiwan, will then have prior knowledge of Western tactics as far as the air war is concerned, reported The HK Post.
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11/25/2022
Most of the newly acquired Chinese and Pakistan-made JF-17 fighter jets that the Myanmar regime has taken delivery of have been grounded due to technical malfunctions, according to analysts and former Myanmar Air Force pilots who monitor the junta’s air capabilities. The JF-17 fighters—lightweight multi-role combat aircraft jointly manufactured by China and Pakistan—that the Myanmar Air Force has added to its fleet have structural cracks and other technical issues, they told The Irrawaddy.
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11/24/2022
Deployed in Romania since May 2022, the MAMBA has been augmenting NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) system. Allied fighters including F-16s from Türkiye, Spanish Eurofighters - currently deployed in Bulgaria on a NATO mission -, US E/A 18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft and French Navy Rafale fighters flying from the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle participated in the routine test of the system.
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11/24/2022
The P-8A maritime patrol aircraft of the US Navy can now carry the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability or HAAWC. The manufacturer of the aircraft Boeing announced in a press release on November 21 that the US Navy has officially announced Initial operational capability, or IOC, with HAAWC.
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11/24/2022
The first F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft has rolled off the new production line in Greenville, South Carolina, Lockheed Martin announced on 21 November. In a message posted from its official Twitter account titled, ‘Guess who's back‘, Lockheed Martin heralded, “a new era of Falcon is about to take flight”, with a video showing the first Block 70 aircraft for Bahrain being rolled out of the facility.
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11/23/2022
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has deployed its personnel and aircraft to participate in a multinational air warfare exercise in the UAE. Also referred to as the Advanced Tactical Leadership Course (ATLC), the training drills are being held at the Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi.
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11/23/2022
US Pease Air National Guard’s (ANG) 157th Air Refueling Wing has successfully completed a 36-hour long non-stop endurance mission on KC-46A Pegasus aircraft. This marks the US Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) longest endurance mission so far, which showcased the total force integration concept. It saw the participation of both active duty and ANG airmen from Pease.
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11/23/2022
Legacy aircraft converted into drones (J-6, J-7, J-8) have been concluded to be pressed in as a part of the initial wave of attacks to soften Taiwanese air defenses. These highly developed and defended airfields with hardened airfields can then be taken over by People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Su-30MKK, J-16, or J-10 fighters for sustained operations against Taiwan.
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11/23/2022
The Bulgarian government looks to be edging closer to reaching an agreement for an interim fighter aircraft after holding talks with Sweden and France, while the southeastern European nation awaits American F-16s. The potential acquisition of the jets was prompted by Lockheed Martin when it delayed delivery of F-16 Block 70 aircraft to Sofia from 2023 to 2025, following COVID-19 supplier issues, meaning they wouldn’t go operational until 2028 or so.
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11/22/2022
A recent think tank report suggests that the US Air Force needs to substantially upgrade its force structure in Guam and Okinawa, while another warns about the danger posed by hardened Chinese air bases near Taiwan. A new report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments calls for increased intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in both Guam and Okinawa, as well as sufficient combat assets to conduct retaliatory strikes .
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11/22/2022
The Zhuhai Air Show in Guangdong China is the largest aviation and military trade expo in all of China. The event ran from November 7-13 and provided an unusually large glimpse into the developmental gains in military technology in a wide array of categories. Everything from small arms to commercial shipping technology had a presence at the show, but the real gains were shown in missile, radar, unmanned systems, and fighter technology.
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11/22/2022
Turkey’s Baykar company has begun ground tests of its Bayraktar Kizilelma drone, described as the country’s first unmanned fighter aircraft. Accompanying imagery of the tests, at the Akinci Flight Training and Test Center in the northwestern province of Tekirdag, which included taxi runs ahead of its first flight, provide us with our best look so far at this unique uncrewed air vehicle.
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11/21/2022
Taiwan tracked 15 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around Taiwan between Thursday and Friday, its Defence Ministry has said. “10 PLA aircraft and 3 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a Twitter post.
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11/21/2022
As we already reported, F-35s from Italy, United States and the Netherlands are training together at Amendola Air Base, in southern Italy, during the exercise “Falcon Strike 2022”, which runs from November 15 to 28, 2022. The exercise is focused on the integration between fifth and fourth-generation aircraft and between different F-35 operators.
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11/21/2022
About 28 Turkish defense manufacturers participated in Pakistan’s biennial event IDEAS 2022. Turkey, alongside China, is believed to have the most prominent presence at the expo. Turkish media has also reported that their pavilion attracted hundreds of visitors, including Pakistani officials.
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11/20/2022
Turkish military planes have hit targets in northern Syria and Iraq, bombing bases Turkey’s defence ministry claimed were used by those behind an explosion in central Istanbul last weekend that killed six people and wounded more than 80. The Turkish defence ministry announced the launch of the raids in a statement on Twitter on Sunday.
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11/20/2022
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced that the NASAMS sent to Ukraine were fully operational, and their performance was very impressive. Shortly after, the internet was abuzz with reports about the NASAMS shooting down Russia’s ‘most powerful’ Su-35 fighters.
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11/20/2022
From November 15 to 28, 2022, F-35s from Italy, United States and the Netherlands are training together at Amendola Air Base, in southeastern Italy. The exercise, currently in full swing, is focused on the integration between fifth and fourth-generation aircraft and integration between different allied F-35 operators which, as you may already know, are two increasingly recurring topics since the entry into service of the Lightning II.
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11/20/2022
NATO navies are holding manoeuvres in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea throughout November, bringing together five aircraft carriers, numerous warships and thousands of sailors. Carrier activities will include anti-submarine and air warfare drills, deck-to-deck aircraft transfers and at-sea resupplying.
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11/19/2022
Japan has entered the final stages of talks with the U.K. and Italy to jointly develop and build a next-generation fighter jet, marking a turning point as Japan looks beyond the U.S. for defense cooperation. Tokyo will also consider revising its export rules to allow for defense equipment sales abroad, hoping to reduce development costs for the new plane and boost the domestic defense industry.
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11/19/2022
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 15 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 17) and 6 a.m. Friday (Nov. 18). Of the 15 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, seven were monitored in the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), including four Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, and one Guizhou BZK-007 reconnaissance drone.
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11/19/2022
The proposal was made by Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, during a meeting with South Korean Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang in Seoul. Both sides are also exploring ways to strengthen collaboration in aviation, space, and other mobility industries. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy of South Korea stated on November 16 that Airbus proposed a “win-win strategy” that would involve exporting South Korean aircraft to Western European nations.
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11/19/2022
An Air Force test and evaluation squadron hopes a football-sized device mounted in an F-35 fighter's weapons bay might revolutionize how it collects in-flight data on operational fighter jets. Air Combat Command’s 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada earlier this year started adding these devices, dubbed the Quick Reaction Instrumentation Package, or QRIP, to operational F-35s.
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11/18/2022
Leonardo is bolstering the credentials of its M-346 thanks to an international school established with the Italian air force – and the airframer is hoping that further sales of the type will follow soon.
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11/18/2022
U.S. Navy air combat experts are asking electro-optics engineers at the Boeing Co. to procure 19 airborne infrared search and track (IRST) systems to help Navy combat jets detect enemy aircraft without using radar.
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11/18/2022
A photo of a pilot wearing an advanced Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), claimed to be from inside a JF-17C (or Block III), went around on social media. Also, another report about the jet being further upgraded also interested observers. Reported to share some of the technology from China’s J-20 ‘Mighty Dragon’ stealth fighter, the JF-17 is expected to replace the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) aging fleet of Chengdu F-7 and Dassault Mirage-III/V.
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11/17/2022
The 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade’s staff sergeant shared pictures of Ukrainian soldiers on his Facebook page as Russian forces were routed in the Kherson region. The photo that caught the most attention was of the Su-24M Flanker.
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11/17/2022
A new federal watchdog report has flagged a troubling trend among U.S. military aircraft: More than two dozen fleets haven’t met their annual combat-readiness goals in at least a decade. The Government Accountability Office studied 49 types of airframes across the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for its Nov. 10 report. Those platforms make up the bulk of American military airpower.
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11/16/2022
Airmen are gearing up for what could be the most consequential move in military pilot training since the Air Force was created in 1947: teaching students to fly without stepping foot in a real airplane. The new program, known as “Air Mobility Fundamentals-Simulator,” is the Air Force’s next step in a yearslong attempt to modernize pilot training without sacrificing quality. It’s also an opportunity for the service to embrace more cost-effective technology and retire its 30-year-old fleet of T-1A
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11/16/2022
After almost nine months of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has burned through, and seen destroyed, enormous stocks of arms and munitions. It cannot fully replace them. Faced with an acute loss of advanced components and industrial equipment as a result of Western sanctions, the Russian defense industry will simply be unable to compensate for its losses in the foreseeable future.
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11/16/2022
For the first time, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has provided valuable air-to-air refuelling support in South Korea during Exercise Vigilant Storm 23. A RAAF KC-30A multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) and aviators from 33 Squadron deployed to the exercise from October 28 to November 5. Exercise Vigilant Storm is one of several exercises routinely held by the United States and South Korea, and is intended to enhance combined defence posture and strengthen combined air operations.
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11/16/2022
In a period of global competition and conflict, the liberal democracies need to accelerate their capabilities to defend themselves and to find ways to enhance their deterrent capabilities not just for the long haul but in the short to mid-term.
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11/15/2022
14th November, 2022) Poland will carry out maintenance and repair works on US-made F-16 fighter jets, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday.
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11/15/2022
Citing the “Belarusian Hajun Project” Telegram channel, the report stated that a MiG-31 with the number RF-92339 was flying over Belarus and carrying a hypersonic missile. A photograph was subsequently released as evidence of the aircraft over Minsk. While the MiG-31s armed with Kinzhal missiles remain reportedly deployed in Belarus, Russia’s Defense Ministry has meanwhile ordered an additional batch of Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic missiles, as reported by the state news agency TASS.
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11/15/2022
The F-35 fighter is the most advanced tactical aircraft currently in production anywhere. Its low-observable (“stealth”) features give the plane a radar signature similar to that of a steel golf ball, and its onboard sensor fusion gives the pilot unprecedented situational awareness.
Designed to perform a diverse array of missions, from air-to-air combat to precision bombing to radar jamming to intelligence gathering, the F-35 is so capable that 16 countries have signed up to buy it—and more wil
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11/14/2022
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has left no stone unturned to close the Royal Malaysian Air Force deal for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A. Amidst the changing political landscape in that country, it is said that South Korea is on the brink of closing the deal.
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11/14/2022
According to a Chinese media report, the J-10 project was greatly aided by a five-person team of Chinese test pilots trained to fly US warplanes aircraft in the UK. This also paved the way for creating the technologically sophisticated J-20 fifth-generation aircraft. The SCMP report claimed that Lei Qiang, the son of a Korean war pilot and a member of the five-person team, was chosen to fly the first flight of the J-10 on March 23, 1998.
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11/14/2022
In a major development, China has again sent its military fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan, resulting in the Island responding with aircraft in CAP, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems. According to the Taiwan defence ministry, at least 36 fighter jets and three People's Liberation Army (PLA) vessels were detected near the median line in the Taiwan Strait on November 13.
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11/13/2022
Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets performed breathtaking aerial feats at the Bahrain International Airshow, demonstrating the combat capabilities of Pakistan’s premier multi-role aircraft to thousands of spectators.
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11/13/2022
South Korea's KF-21 Boramae fighter jet's second prototype conducted its first flight. The fighter jet took its first flight out of Korean Aerospace Industries near Sacheon airport, South Korea. It is to be noted that the first prototype of the aircraft took flight four months ago. Reportedly, the aircraft stayed airborne for around 35 minutes, based on the information provided by Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the South Korean procurement agency.
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11/13/2022
Images of a destroyed Russian UAV resembling Turkish-made Bayraktar drones have surfaced online. The Russian drone is a rare UAV called the ‘Corsair’ or ‘Korsar,’ not to be confused with the Ukrainian Korsar Infantry Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs).
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11/12/2022
Before Russia decided to begin its “special operation” against Ukraine, the Su-30 was one of the most widely used and widely sold military aircraft in the world; it was a true ‘contract’ machine. However, as of the end of February 2022, there has been complete silence at Sukhoi, and especially at its parent corporation UAC, regarding anything and everything that is connected to the Su-30 Flanker-C. Instead, Russia focuses on the Flanker-E variant of the Su-35.
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11/12/2022
The recovery of a Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile after a recent North Korean launch shows the age of the nuclear-armed country's air defences - systems and aircraft Pyongyang has been working to modernize alongside the rest of its arsenal. Although North Korea’s ballistic missiles get most of the attention, the country has been quietly pouring resources into trying to find ways to counter stealth fighters, analysts say.
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11/12/2022
Nearly all advanced fighter jets in Russia’s arsenal are pressed into service in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. While Moscow has not been able to achieve complete air superiority owing to Ukraine’s air defense, it has given the Ukrainian Air Force a hard time.
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11/12/2022
Turkey has unveiled its indigenously developed AESA radar that will be integrated into the F-16 fighter jets, among other manned and unmanned aircraft in the Turkish Air Force.
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11/11/2022
The Pentagon has quietly cut procurement of its new AC-130J Ghostrider special operations gunships, downsizing the fleet from 37 to 30. U.S. Special Operations Command originally planned to buy nearly 40 Ghostriders to replace three older gunships: the AC-130H Spectre, AC-130W Stinger II and AC-130U Spooky. Each of those 37 aircraft are now retired.
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11/11/2022
Pakistan brought three of its JF-17 fighter jets to showcase at the Bahrain International Airshow on Thursday. The JF-17s took part in a flying display at the 9-11 November event at which companies from several countries including Israel are participating.
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11/11/2022
The Tunisian Air Force (TAF) took delivery of the first of eight Beechcraft T-6C trainer planes from Textron Aviation, the firm announced here at the Manama Air Power Symposium 2022.“The aircraft was delivered at Wichita to the TAF and will arrive [in] Tunisia by the end of first quarter of 2023,” Fouad Kasri, director of sales & strategy for Africa and the Middle East at Textron Aviation Defense, told Breaking Defense.
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11/11/2022
U.S. Navy combat aircraft experts needed logistics and mission-planning computer hardware for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. They found their solution from Lockheed Martin Corp. Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., have announced a $152.3 million contract to provide F-35 logistics information systems to include Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS).
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11/11/2022
America's top general estimated on Wednesday that Russia's military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, and added Kyiv's armed forces "probably" suffered a similar level of casualties in the war. The estimates could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.
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11/10/2022
Israeli F-35 fighter jets carried out a series of airstrikes on an Iranian convoy that night. The convoy traveled from Iraq to Syria. The Syrian government claims the convoy was only transporting fuel. However, Iraqi sources claim that in addition to fuel, there were containers of weapons.
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11/10/2022
An Air Force jet is a complicated machine that takes an entire symphony of specialists working in concert to keep it ready for a mission. With regards to combat aircraft, one group of airmen puts their blood, sweat, and tears into making sure that when an aircrew member presses the pickle button, the right weapon comes off the rails in the nick of time.
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11/10/2022
China’s aerospace industry is known to be pursuing a sixth-generation fighter jet program. In September, the chief of the US Air Combat Command (ACC), General Mark Kelly, said that China is “on track” to produce a sixth-generation fighter while asserting the need for the US to field its next-generation fighter before China does.
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11/10/2022
A ‘whole of nation’ vision and approach will be required. Spelling out clear end-states, timelines and regular path-line reviews would be important. The time to act is now, lest it is too late.
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11/09/2022
The Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) has dispatched six pilots to France to attend training sessions to man the 4.5-generation Dassault Rafale fighter jets purchased by Indonesia. "We have dispatched six pilots and eight engineers to France to attend the training sessions," TNI AU Chief of Staff Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo stated on the sidelines of an Air Force seminar here, Tuesday.
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11/09/2022
Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm over the Pentagon’s plan to pull dozens of U.S. F-15 Eagle jet fighters out of Japan while Tokyo looks to beef up its defense forces and expand coordination with the U.S. in the face of rising North Korean provocations and China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Pentagon officials say the U.S. will maintain a “steady presence” of fighter jets at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa through rotational deployments of other aircraft, including F-22s currently
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11/09/2022
U.S. Navy carrier aviation experts are ordering unmanned aerial tankers from the Boeing Co. in preparation for future larger orders and eventual carrier deployment of these unmanned tanker aircraft. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced an $47.5 million order to the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis in late September for MQ-25 Stingray low-rate initial production lot 1 for the U.S. Navy.
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11/08/2022
North Korea said on Monday that its recent missile launches were simulated strikes on South Korea and the United States as the two countries held a "dangerous war drill", while the South said it had recovered parts of a North Korean missile near its coast. Last week, North Korea test-fired multiple missiles, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and hundreds of artillery shells into the sea, as South Korea and the United States carried out six-day air drills that
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11/08/2022
While Russia's air force far outweighs Ukraine's, both in size and sophistication, Russia has resorted to firing long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, recently augmented by cheap, mass-produced Iranian Shahed-136 explosive-laden drones. Ukraine has had some success in shooting many of these down, but those that do get through have severely damaged Ukraine's power and water infrastructure, just as winter is setting in.
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11/08/2022
The C-17 Globemaster is one of the workhorses of the U.S. Air Force’s mobility fleet, transporting everything from heavy weaponry, like tanks, to hundreds of passengers. But the Air Force has another mission in mind for the massive aircraft: carrying pallets of standoff cruise missiles.
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11/08/2022
Organized by the NATO Deployable Air Command and Control Centre (DACC), based at Poggio Renatico in northern Italy, between Nov. 2 – 10, 2022, Poggio Dart 2022 (PODA-22) is an exercise that sees the involvement of four NATO nations (Greece, Italy, Turkey and U.S.), and about 30 aircraft, including F-35s, F-16s, F-4s, Eurofighter Typhoons and Tornado ECRs, with the foreign assets deployed to Aviano AB, Italy.
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11/07/2022
South Korea’s military said it scrambled fighter jets after detecting about 180 North Korean military flights north of the two countries’ border over four hours on Friday. The North Korean aircraft flew north of the so-called tactical action line, north of the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas, South Korea’s military said in a statement. The virtual line is used as a basis for South Korean air defence operations, a South Korean official said.
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11/07/2022
Five members of the Venezuelan military died Sunday when their plane crashed during a training mission, authorities in the South American country said. The C-208B aircraft “fell to the ground” 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the Jose Antonio Paez air base, in Venezuela’s southern Amazonas state, Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino Lopez said in a statement. “So far, four lifeless bodies have been rescued and the search continues for the fifth,” he added.
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11/07/2022
The Russian Defense Ministry says two fighter jets shot down a Ukrainian warplane. The online information portal Izvestia quoted the ministry as saying that the two Russian fighters that took part in the battle were Su-35 and Su-30. Neither the Defense Ministry nor the reports said when the air battle took place and over which area in Ukraine.
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11/06/2022
The U.S. military's X-37B robotic space plane just passed 900 days in orbit on its latest hush-hush mission, adding to the program's flight-duration record. The current mission is the sixth for the X-37B program and is therefore known as OTV-6 ("Orbital Test Vehicle 6"). It launched on May 17, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and it's unclear when it will end.
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11/06/2022
North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a dueling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a North Korean western coastal area around noon flew about 130 kilometers (80 miles) toward the country’s western sea.
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11/06/2022
The Ministry of National Defense said it had spotted nine aircraft and two ships from China’s military in areas surrounding Taiwan by 5 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 5). Only one plane, a Xi’an H-6 bomber, entered the southwest sector of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the military tweeted. The aircraft was spotted close to the Taiwan-held island of Dongsha, one of many disputed islands in the South China Sea.
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11/06/2022
The little-known ENAER (Empresa Nacional de Aeronáutica), from Chile, officially launched at the end of October in partnership with the Chilean Air Force (FACh) the program for the development and production of the new Pillán II trainer aircraft, under a contract of $ 142 millions. FACh plans to acquire 33 Pillán II aircraft for primary training missions. The aircraft is an evolution of the T-35 Pillán, which was ENAER’s first product and also the first aircraft designed and mass-produced in Chi
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11/06/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that Russia is probably struggling to provide military training for its current mobilisation drive and its annual autumn conscription intake. The Russian Armed Forces were already stretched providing training for the approximate 300,000 troops required for its 'partial mobilisation', announced on 21 September 2022. These issues will be compounded by the additional regular autumn annual conscription cycle, announced on 30 September 2022.
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11/05/2022
The H-6K carried one such missile on each wing, reported Global Times, citing the video report by China Central Television (CCTV). While Chinese officials did not specify the weapon’s exact type, one of the missiles was seen with “2PZD-21” scrawled on its body. Chinese media reports stated that it appeared to be some air-to-ground missile with a shape very similar to a ballistic missile.
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11/05/2022
The Ministry of National Defense said it tracked 27 aircraft and four ships from China’s military around the country before 5 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 4). Of the 27 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft, 12 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and three intruded into the southwest sector of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the military tweeted.
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11/05/2022
Bulgarian lawmakers have voted to approve the purchase of eight F-16C/D Block 70 fighter jets for the country’s Air Force. The forthcoming acquisition is to be worth close to $1.3 billion. The National Assembly, the country’s unicameral parliament, approved the planned purchase by a majority of 162 votes, with 49 members voting against, and 11 abstentions.
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11/05/2022
South Korea mobilized dozens of combat aircraft Friday after identifying a large deployment of North Korean aircraft, which in the last two days has launched some 30 missiles to respond to large air maneuvers of Seoul and Washington. “Our military took action after identifying some 180 North Korean military aircraft between 11 am and 3 pm (2 am-6 am GMT) Friday, November 4,” the South Korean defense ministry said in a statement.
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11/05/2022
A squadron of Rafale fighters will be sent to perform air policing missions in the Romanian airspace, French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu said during a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
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11/04/2022
The U.S. and South Korea announced Thursday they will extend joint military drills in the wake of North Korea’s saber-rattling this week, which included an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. North Korea fired at least six missiles into the sea on Thursday and more than 20 missiles a day earlier, prompting condemnation from Seoul and Washington ? including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a prescheduled Pentagon meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup.
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11/04/2022
Iran stands accused by Western powers of supplying drones to Russia for its war against Ukraine, with analysts saying such military cooperation is of immense interest for Tehran at a delicate moment for its theocratic leadership. The United States has denounced as "appalling" Russia's use of Iranian drones after residents of Kyiv and other cites were shaken by a spate of recent attacks.
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11/04/2022
Rare footage has emerged of Russian Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ launching rockets directly into Ukrainian positions to the west of Donetsk. The video was filmed somewhere over Maryinka, a small city located in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region, according to OSINT analysts.
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11/04/2022
Air Force Special Operations Command received its 31st and final AC-130J Ghostrider, completing the command’s transition from the legacy AC-130W, AC-130U and AC-130H fleets.
Following a commemoration ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Gunship Modification Facility in Crestview Nov. 2, the final AC-130J was delivered to the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.
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11/04/2022
Investigators believe that during the rendezvous, the two aircraft were traveling at such different speeds that the refueling boom forcibly broke away from the fighter jet and slammed back into the KC-46, the official said. The Pegasus safely continued on to New Jersey after the mishap.
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11/03/2022
Norway’s reassurance policy towards Russia has for the most followed a practice that allied intelligence missions to airspace outside the Kola Peninsula should not take off, land, or fly over Norwegian airspace. On Wednesday, a U.S. Air Force plane was indeed inside Norwegian airspace, both before and after the flight aimed to monitor Russia's military forces from above the eastern Barents Sea.
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11/03/2022
It is hardly news that for the last decade the Pentagon has fallen short of its strategic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Still, it is quite conspicuous when evidence of that “say-do gap” emerges within 24 hours of the publication of the Pentagon’s most important strategic document.
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11/03/2022
Lockheed Martin released new renderings showing a manned sixth-generation fighter aircraft as a notional stand-in design for the U.S. Air Force Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD. The images were included in a media briefing about the company’s proposal for the KC-Y competition, the Airbus A330 MRTT-derived LMXT tanker. Interestingly, the images were released only to the media attending the briefing, but not on the company’s website or social medias.
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11/02/2022
Ukrainian commandoes blew up three helicopter gunships at a Russian military airfield close to the Latvian border, in one of the most spectacular behind-the-lines raids launched by either side since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, multiple sources confirmed on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
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11/02/2022
PLAAF researchers want to replicate the functioning of a Formula 1 racing team’s pit crew for military purposes to further refine the logistical and maintenance processes of aircraft – a critical factor in any fight against a near-peer adversary.
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11/02/2022
For supporters of Ukraine’s war-weary air force, it was a beautiful sight: four of the air force’s swing-wing Su-24 bombers flying in formation over Ukraine on or around Oct. 30. It was the biggest formation of the two-seat, supersonic bombers that anyone had seen in Ukraine in many years—and certainly the biggest to appear over Ukraine since Russia widened its war on the country starting in late February.
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11/02/2022
According to a recent report by SCMP, the twin-seater model might be used as a tactical electronic jammer and an advanced early warning aircraft in the future battlefield. The J-20 has been developed with improved stealth and mobility in mind, and it has the potential to provide access to a range of previously unavailable air warfare options.
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11/02/2022
The Speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat, recently announced that the Ukrainian Air Force had chosen a cadre of pilots who would eventually be trained to fly Western combat jets. He was speaking at the UA Together marathon.
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10/31/2022
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked eight Chinese military aircraft and three naval ships around Taiwan as of 5 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 30). Of the eight People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the northeast sector of the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.
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10/31/2022
“Grand Navigator” Xi Jinping has vowed to bring the 24 million people of democratic Taiwan under Beijing’s control — by force if necessary. Under the 10 years of his increasingly authoritarian rule, he’s been working hard to do so. He repeated that vow as he brushed aside Communist China’s age-limit rule to cement his position as leader for life.
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10/31/2022
A dozen of pilots have already been selected by Ukraine’s Air Force for training on Western fighter jets. That’s according to the spokesman for the Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, Ukrinform reports with reference to ArmyInform. These are young pilots with knowledge of the English language and powerful combat experience, the report reads.
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10/31/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that, on 27 October 2022, Russian mogul Yevgeny Prigozhin posted online, apparently admitting allegations that his private military company, the Wagner Group, had altered its standards & was recruiting Russian convicts suffering from serious diseases including HIV & Hepatitis C.
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10/30/2022
On October 26, an undisclosed number of F-22 fighter jets flew over Cyprus, according to Greek media, which claimed that Ankara was not pleased with the detour the F-22s made over the north of the island. The fighter jets are said to have flown over Famagusta, part of Turkish-occupied Cyprus. The mission over Cyprus was carried out by F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft from the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron.
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10/30/2022
French military pilots are facing an alarming training deficit, according to a recent report by a French lawmaker on behalf of the National Defense and Armed Forces Committee that discussed the challenges the French Air Force pilots will face in 2023.
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10/30/2022
The Nigerian Air Force is set to receive 55 brand new aircraft of varying types from manufacturers across the world, as part of efforts towards strengthening Nigeria’s security posture. Deliveries for these aircraft will begin in December 2022, and continue into the next year, which represents one of Nigeria’s largest acquisition haul in over several decades. The new aircraft will add to those already delivered since 2015.
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10/29/2022
India's Tata group is set to begin making military aircraft in the country in the first such project by a local private company. Tata and Airbus will make C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force, the government announced on Thursday. The project, valued at 219bn rupees ($2bn; £1.7bn), will be based in the western state of Gujarat.
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10/29/2022
The bombing of a concert in Kachin state last weekend that killed more than 60 people showed the brutal advantage the Myanmar military retains in its struggling campaign for control of the country: its air power. Junta forces have faced a number of setbacks since ousting the democratically elected government in a coup 20 months ago. Between 12,000 and 15,000 of its soldiers may have been killed, according to a Stimson Center report.
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10/29/2022
A group of A-10C Thunderbolt II attack planes are deployed to Guam for training amid tensions between the U.S. and its regional rivals, China and North Korea, the Air Force said Wednesday.
The A-10s, also known as “Warthogs,” belong to the 23rd Air Expeditionary Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The jets arrived at the U.S. territory on Oct. 23.
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10/29/2022
In the initial phases of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, aerial warfare was rapidly overlooked. The Ukrainian Air Force did not have the capacity to pose a threat to Russia’s advance. And since it failed to completely neutralize Ukraine’s air defense systems and establish air supremacy, the Russian Air Force has persisted in using its combat aircraft the way its strategy and doctrine prescribe: as airborne artillery.
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10/28/2022
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 20 Chinese military aircraft and two naval vessels around the country, including nine warplanes that intruded on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) with many crossing the median line Thursday (Oct. 27). The MND said that 20 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and two People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels had been tracked around Taiwan as of 5 p.m. that evening.
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10/28/2022
The Su-33 could be Russia’s most dangerous carrier fighter. But the airplane’s footprint is somewhat larger—and on Russia’s only aircraft carrier, available real estate is at a premium. The Su-33 is closely associated with Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetzov. And since the Su-33 is a carrier-capable fighter, it is a familiar sight on the carrier’s uniquely sloped ski-jump flight deck, although it typically lands less often.
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10/28/2022
The only overseas U.S. Air Force F-15C/D Eagle units, at Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, are to be withdrawn next year, according to a report today in the Financial Times. The move would see the current permanent units under the 18th Wing replaced by rotational fighter detachments. Not surprisingly, the news has already attracted criticism as a retrograde measure at a time when Chinese military power and political ambitions are expanding in the region.
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10/28/2022
In the video footage, Ukrainian troops seem to be on patrol when the super maneuverable Flanker emerges out of a sudden, flies at ultra-low altitude, and drops three bombs that explode in the following seconds. In the meantime, a Ukrainian soldier tries to bring down the Russian jet by firing an anti-aircraft missile from a MANPADS. Still, the missile does not appear to have reached the fighter jet, and the fighter disappears from the sky.
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10/26/2022
A spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department of Australia informed Reuters that a person was detained on October 21 in response to a request from the US government. Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, was detained by the Australian Federal Police on Friday in Orange, a small town in New South Wales. Court records, two law enforcement sources, and his attorney confirmed that he appeared before a judge on the same day, Reuters reported.
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10/26/2022
As F-35 crashes mount, rare crash recovery training has been launched by USAF. The US Air Combat Command recently announced that the 388th Maintenance Group held a unique F-35 crash recovery course using a recently decommissioned, now-reassembled F-35A Lightning II.
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10/26/2022
As Germany’s inflation rate hit double digits last month among escalating energy and food prices, concerns have risen over the country’s ability to pay for its planned multibillion-euro military spending run. The air force’s most critical fighter procurement program, however, is expected to weather inflation-related cost increases intact, according to the service’s chief of staff.
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10/26/2022
Escorted by two F-16s, the first KC-390 Millennium cargo aircraft for the Portuguese Air Force landed at Beja air base on Oct. 16, 2022. This is the first of five aircraft acquired by Portugal in 2019, which will soon become the first European operator of the Brazilian aircraft made by Embraer. The aircraft took off from Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, on Oct. 15 and, after two fuel stops, it finally arrived at its new home.
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10/26/2022
Czech aircraft company Aero Vodochody has conducted the first flight test of its L-159 T2X combat trainer aircraft prototype. The demonstration was conducted recently at Vodochody’s airport in the Czech Republic. The latest milestone comes after four years of intensive work performed by the company to modernise and upgrade the L-159 aircraft to fulfil the emerging needs of fifth-generation fighter pilot training programmes.
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10/24/2022
Ben Wallace has refuted Russian claims that the West was conspiring with Ukraine to stage an attack involving a 'dirty bomb'. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister, told his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu that the war was rapidly deteriorating and "trending towards further uncontrolled escalation".
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10/24/2022
The U.S. Air Force confirmed on Oct. 20 that it plans to reveal the B-21 Raider stealth bomber aircraft Dec. 2 during an unveiling ceremony hosted and sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Corporation at its production facilities in Palmdale, California. The B-21 is a long-range, highly survivable, penetrating strike stealth bomber that will incrementally replace the B-1 and B-2 bombers, becoming the backbone of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet.
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10/24/2022
A crazy footage has started doing the rounds on social networks: posted by the popular Russian Fighterbomber Telegram channel (and then made available on their Youtube channel), the video shows the ejection of a Russian pilot from a Su-25SM involved in a mission over Ukraine.
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10/24/2022
A Russian warplane has crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing both crew members – the second such fatal incident in a Russian residential area in six days involving a Sukhoi fighter plane. The crashes appear to reflect the growing strain that the fighting in Ukraine has put on the Russian air force. The Irkutsk governor, Igor Kobzev, said the Su-30 fighter jet came down on a private, two-storey building housing two families. There were no casualties on the g
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10/23/2022
The video shows two Su-30SM fighters taxiing out and then taking off in swing-role configuration carrying wingtip mounted electronic warfare (EW) pods, two RVV-MD close combat missiles, two RVV-SD medium-range missiles, and two Kh-29 air-to-surface missiles.
n swing role configuration, a fighter has the weapons and the software to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks during the same mission.
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10/23/2022
As the military pilots on board one of NATO's airborne warning and command planes skirt just inside Poland's border with Ukraine, the real action is happening metres behind them. Surveillance operators and weapons controllers crowd around one of the multitude of radar screens peering deep inside wartime Ukraine.
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10/23/2022
A small cell of the highest confidence of the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, has already finalised negotiations with the US Department of Defence and the Lockheed Martin industrial corporation for the purchase of the F-35, the fifth-generation stealth fighter of which more than 840 aircraft are already flying in the air forces of 17 nations.
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10/22/2022
A high level team from Argentina is arriving soon in India and will visit state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to look at the helicopters which are being manufactured in Bengaluru. The team will be looking at Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Prachand and the HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).
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10/22/2022
Spain will send eight Eurofighter fighter jets to Bulgaria in November to help the country monitor Baltic airspace as part of NATO’s mission to protect its eastern flank in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defence. The department headed by Margarita Robles also announced the dispatch of aircraft to Romania in December, without specifying the number or type of aircraft.
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10/22/2022
Flight tracker data shows that four B-1 bombers recently deployed to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam following a series of ballistic missile launches by North Korea, including one that flew over Japan earlier this month. “In response to your inquiry concerning the B-1B Lancers in Guam, Bomber Task Force activities are routine and are not tied to any one country or threat,” a US Air Force spokesperson said.
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10/22/2022
As the United States Air Force continues celebrating its 75th anniversary, we reflect on our shared heritage and how Airmen are using the lessons from the past to shape our future. The Air Force is transitioning from focusing for two decades on countering violent extremists to strategic competition with peer adversaries.
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10/21/2022
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday backed a decision by his predecessor to cancel a deal to buy 16 Russian military heavy-lift helicopters and said his administration has "secured an alternative supply from the United States." Marcos Jr. said at a news conference that the Philippine government will negotiate to get back part of the down payment it made to the Russian aircraft manufacturer.
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10/21/2022
Led by Lieutenant General Juan Martin Paleo, Joint Chief of Staff of the Argentine Armed Forces, the touring party visited the Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) stall at Asia’s largest defence event. HAL Director (Operations) E P Jayadeva and D K Sunil, Director (Engg and R&D) briefed Paleo and other senior officials about the various futuristic defence products on display.
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10/21/2022
Poland on Wednesday accepted the first batch of its new South Korean-made tanks and howitzers at a ceremony in Seoul, while signing yet another weapons deal with local industry — after key Polish officials were blocked from attending due to what seems to be a power play by China.
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10/21/2022
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s aerospace leadership had planned to market the next generation heavy fighter bomber, the Su-57, and its highly touted derivative the Su-75 to several foreign military buyers. These plans now appear to be in ruins. The Su-57 suffers from a low production rate. Export models are unlikely to be available until the end of the decade. As for the medium-weight Su-75, the so-called “Checkmate” aircraft, it has been only realized in models and computer graphics.
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10/20/2022
Bulgaria is looking for fighter jets for hire to take over combat duty in the coming years. The reason: MiG-29s can no longer be repaired, because of the situation in Ukraine and because of the fighters’ long-exceeded life cycle. F-16 fighters are the preferred option.
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10/20/2022
Ukrainian aircraft have carried out 15 strikes in Ukraine’s south near Russian strong points and areas where their troops and equipment were concentrated. "The enemy is actively conducting aerial reconnaissance in order to ascertain the positions of our troops and adjust artillery fire. The Russians shelled the recently liberated settlements of Petropavlivka and Tryfonivka in Beryslav district twice, using Grad and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems. There are no casualties."
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10/20/2022
It's not uncommon to hear people citing China's theft of American F-22 and F-35 plans as inspiration for its J-20 stealth fighter, but Russia has also raised suspicions about China borrowing heavily from one of its own defunct fighter efforts. The Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon is China's first fifth-generation fighter, with roots dating back to the nation's J-XX program that began in the late 1990s.
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10/20/2022
A F-35 combat aircraft crashed at the Hill Air Force Base south of Ogden, Utah, Wednesday, according to a tweet from 388th Fighter Wing. “A F-35 from the 388th crashed at the north end of the runway @HAFB. Pilot ejected. Emergency crews are responding,” the tweet read. No further details were available on the pilot’s condition, or if anyone else was involved in the crash.
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10/19/2022
China hired thirty former United Kingdom military pilots to provide training to the People’s Liberation Army of China. The armed forces will be trained and taught how to fight Western fighter jets and helicopters, British government officials have revealed. In this way, China wants to gain a strategic advantage over the West in the event of war.
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10/19/2022
China is looking to speed up its timeline for taking control of Taiwan to 2027, raising concerns with one member of Congress that the Pentagon is modernizing too slowly. U.S. Navy officials have pointed to 2027 as the year when China wants to have the capability to take over Taiwan. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), a retired Marine who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, pointed to that timeline on Tuesday as a reason why the Pentagon needs to modernize faster and prepare for a conflict.
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10/19/2022
South Korea and the United States will publicly stage large-scale aerial drills, involving their F-35 stealth fighters, to enhance combat readiness and train for wartime contingencies amid mounting threats from North Korea. Unlike previous years when the allies sought to keep a low profile, the publicized air combat exercise would be an apparent warning message to North Korea.
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10/19/2022
The Myanmar Air Force has ordered several FTC-2000G midrange fighter jets from China, a major arms supplier to the Southeast Asian nation. The Irrawaddy has learned that a group of approximately eight Air Force pilots, eight technicians and at least two armaments officers traveled to China via Kunming in June.
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10/18/2022
NATO today began military drills practising the use of Europe's nuclear bombs after Vladimir Putin threatened to use any means necessary to defend Russian territory in the face of setbacks in Ukraine. US B-52 long-range bombers and up to 60 aircraft will take part in training flights over Belgium, the UK and the North Sea today as part of NATO's annual nuclear exercise 'Steadfast Noon'.
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10/18/2022
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday that the funding request the company had made to the Pentagon to start picking up the bill for satellite internet services for Ukraine has been withdrawn.
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10/18/2022
South Korea and the United States will conduct joint air drills on the Korean peninsula at the end of this month with 250 military aircraft. What is notable is that an F-35B stealth fighter from MCAS Iwakuni, a United States Marine Corps air station, will join the drill on the peninsula in four years and ten months. The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF), too, will use F-35A fighters.
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10/18/2022
South American nation Argentina stands out among the countries expressing their interest in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Mired in a fierce diplomatic struggle against the United Kingdom (UK), Argentina has been unable to modernise its defence forces. While the US has offered them second-hand F-16s with modest modernisation, it is keen to equip itself with more formidable combat aircraft for starters. And aircraft might be the start.
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10/17/2022
Unconfirmed footage of the aftermath of the incident showed a huge fireball engulfing a tower block. Russia's Defence Ministry said the plane, a Su-34 bomber, was on a training flight when one of its engines caught fire. There is no word yet of casualties, but ambulances and fire engines were seen at the scene.
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10/17/2022
The Italian multinational defense company Leonardo is testing the new high-tech European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk2 at its World War 2 (WW2) era facility in the UK as part of a $2.8 billion (£2.35) upgrade program for British Eurofighter Typhoons.
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10/17/2022
Beijing’s rush to build military supremacy over Washington is experiencing an unexpected pause. No new aircraft carrier is being assembled on its slipways. Is there a problem? Or a policy change? China’s shipyards are mass-producing new cruisers, destroyers and assault ships at a rate not seen since World War II. And its new-found naval strength is already being applied to the waters around Japan and Taiwan.
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10/17/2022
This was stated by Vice Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Paulius Saudargas, who made a comment to Guildhall, Ukrinform reports. “The recent attacks on innocent people and ordinary cities in Ukraine have once again confirmed that, without any shadow of doubt, Russia is a terrorist state. This is the assessment of the democratic world,” the parliamentarian said.
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10/16/2022
The Ukrainian military repelled Russian attacks on the Kramatorsk, Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts on Saturday. Summary by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 18:00. "Units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine repelled enemy attacks in the districts of the settlements of Novosadove on the Kramatorsk front, Yakovlivka, Berestove, Bakhmut, Bakhmutske and Opytne on the Bakhmut front, Krasnohorivka, Nevelske, Pervomaiske, Mariinka and Pobeda on the Avdiivka front.
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10/16/2022
The Ministry of National Defense said it had tracked 11 aircraft and four ships from China’s military around the country by 5 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 15), the day before the opening of the 20th Communist Party Congress. Of the 11 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft, two Shenyang J-11 fighters jet entered the southwest sector of the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the military tweeted.
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10/16/2022
From a young age, Wang You-cheng and his friends debated what seemed like a theoretical question: If China were to attack, would they be willing to fight to protect their home? Growing up in Hualien, where half a dozen military installations guard Taiwan's east coast, the boys became accustomed to the sounds and sights of preparation for a war that seemed like it would never come. Airtight windows at schools blocked out the boom of F-16 fighter jets; military trucks mixed with mopeds in traffic.
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10/16/2022
Defeat of Russian air power in Ukraine raises hard questions for IAF. In the 1st of a 3-part series, ThePrint investigates lessons from Ukraine war for IAF’s equipment & doctrines.
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10/16/2022
Ukraine should receive Western warplanes and other necessary means to counter Russian cruise missiles and forestall further Russian attacks. This was stated in a comment by Guildhall by the Member of the European Parliament from Poland, a member of the Development Committee, Beata Kempa, Ukrinform reports.
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10/15/2022
A US Air Force F-22 Raptor has successfully loaded and fired a record-high 28 air-to-air missiles during a weapon system evaluation at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The service’s 94th Fighter Squadron and 94th Fighter Generation Squadron initiated the live-fire test, employing more than $14 million of missiles. According to the Air Combat Command, the squadrons demonstrated a “high-level of proficiency” while firing the weapons from the stealth tactical fighter aircraft.
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10/15/2022
Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat confirmed to journalists the loss of the military aircraft. One crew member has died and one has sustained injuries after the jet crashed. “After completing the combat mission, the invaders hit the plane with a missile. The crew tried to return the aircraft to the home airbase, but the plane did not fly and crashed in the Poltava region,” Ignat said.
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10/15/2022
For the last few weeks, as the war in Ukraine rages and Russia’s relations with the United States (US) and Europe go from bad to worse, Russian fighter jets have repeatedly flown over the Baltic Sea. With just eight ‘Alpha Scrambles’ (alert departures) in the week before October 10 and a total of 16 in the last two months, Italian Air Force (ItAF) Eurofighter Typhoons have intercepted and escorted Russian Air Forces (RuAF) Sukhoi Su-30, Su-27, Su-24M and even Illyusin Il-20 spy planes.
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10/15/2022
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed in a Facebook post that a fighter jet of one of the tactical aviation brigades crashed near Vinnytsia while carrying out a combat mission to destroy enemy kamikaze drones, ‘Shahed-136.’ The Air Force said that the fighter jet crashed because of an unspecified technical malfunction that led the pilot to lose control of the aircraft. Nevertheless, the pilot managed to eject and is currently hospitalized.
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10/14/2022
Ukraine’s military claimed the national air defense system had a record day of successes, shooting down six Russian Federation (RF) attack helicopters and 19 Iran-made kamikaze drones, an Army General Staff (AGS) statement released on Thursday, Oct. 13, said.
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10/14/2022
The Air Force is all-in on the concept of drone wingmen teamed up with human piloted fighters as the future of air combat. But how exactly will the human pilots inside F-35s or the Next Generation Air Dominance platform work with and guide collaborative combat aircraft? And will these drone wingmen be ready to fight under their human pilots’ instructions in a future war?
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10/13/2022
Russian troops continue offensive operations on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts, and the conscripts go to war armed with Soviet-style protective wear and AK-12 assault rifles, which have proven themselves ineffective on the battlefield in Ukraine.
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10/13/2022
A MiG-29K trainer crashed off Goa today after developing a technical malfunction. A MiG 29K was on a routine sortie over the sea off Goa and developed a technical malfunction while returning to base.“The Pilot ejected safely & has been recovered in a swift SAR op; the Pilot was reported to be in stable condition. BoI ordered to investigate the cause of the incident,” said Indian Navy.
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10/13/2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a wave of insecurity running through Europe. As a result, various European nations have expressed interest in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter, with the landlocked country of Austria becoming the latest to join the bandwagon.
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10/12/2022
The Air Force expects to complete its two-year transition to the new undergraduate pilot training curriculum by the end of October, the head of Air Education and Training Command recently told reporters. Service officials contend that “Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5,” a software-heavy, self-paced version of the course, is producing better-prepared pilots faster than before.
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10/12/2022
Tanker aircraft spending is expected to see an upswing in over the next few years, with procurement rising from today’s value of $4.5bn up to peaks of $6.6bn in 2024, according to GlobalData. As various nations alter their armed forces to become more ‘expeditionary’ and mobile in posture, demand for aerial refuelling capabilities will rise to support this increased mobility, predicts Tristan Sauer, defence analyst at GlobalData.
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10/12/2022
With its MiG-29s (pictured) nearing the end of their service lives and the newly acquired F-16 Block 70s not set to arrive for a few years, Bulgaria is planning to field interim fighter aircraft from 2023 to the end of the decade to bridge the capability gap. (Bulgarian Air Force) Bulgaria has begun to receive offers for the supply of interim combat aircraft as it struggles to maintain the airworthiness of its MiG-29s at the same time as managing a delay to the arrival of its Lockheed Martin F-1
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10/11/2022
Tobias Ellwood, Chair of the Defence Committee, asked: “To ask the Secretary of State Defence, how long it takes on average to train (a) fast jet, (b) heavy lift and (c) rotary pilots.” James Heappey, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, responded: “The average time for trainee pilots completing flying training in the current Financial Year, to the point of joining an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) is 4.8 years for Fast Jet; 5.4 years for Multi Engine (heavy lift) and; 6.9 years for
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10/11/2022
The Russian army is trying to keep captured territories under their control and conduct attacks on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts; however, the Russians have suffered additional losses on the Kherson front.
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10/11/2022
In an unprecedented attack that exposed Moscow’s weak military defenses, a mammoth explosion severely damaged Russia’s multi-billion Kerch Bridge. Incidentally, Russia had been trying to defend this bridge from Ukraine for months.
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10/11/2022
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense has requested fighter jet lease offers from four countries, as the nation scrambles to secure its air-combat capabilities until the first eight American F-16s become operational in 2027 or 2028. The development comes shortly after the country’s caretaker government decided to ask the parliament to approve a second F-16 order for a further eight jets, valued at about $1.3 billion.
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10/11/2022
The Italian Eurofighters deployed to Poland have carried out 16 alert scrambles to intercept 19 Russian combat aircraft in the last few weeks. An “impressive number” according to the commander of the Italian Task Force.
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10/11/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that people were killed and injured in multiple missile strikes across Ukraine, including the first bombardment of the capital, Kyiv, in months. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata said the strikes, which could signal a major escalation in the eight-month-old war, appeared to be entirely punitive — retaliation meant to terrorize Ukrainian civilians in densely-populated urban neighborhoods, close to government buildings.
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10/10/2022
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday officially introduced a domestically developed light-combat helicopter into the Indian Air Force, hailing the aircraft’s addition as a big step for India’s self-reliance in the defense sector. “For a long time, India has had to be dependent on foreign attack helicopters,” said Mr. Singh, speaking at an Air Force base in the western desert state of Rajasthan. “This is an important milestone in India’s defense production.”
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10/10/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported early on 08 October 2022, an explosion damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge, the road and rail crossing which links Russian-occupied Crimea and the Krasnodar region of Russia. Two of the four carriageways of the roadway have collapsed in several places over a length of approximately 250m. It is almost certain that some vehicle transits via the other two carriageways have resumed, but capacity will be seriously degraded.
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10/10/2022
The Su-75 "Checkmate" is Russia's attempt at an export fifth-generation fighter. Billed as a cheaper F-35 with better specs than the JAS-39 Gripen, Russia designed the Su-75 specifically to sell to countries with no homegrown aeronautical industry. Originally revealed at the MAKS Airshow last year, the Su-75 was hailed as a solid move by Russia's United Aerospace Corporation, building off the Su-57 platform — Russia's first fifth-generation fighter.
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10/09/2022
Turkey has intensified the search for another option after the cancellation of the deal for F-16 fighter jets with America. Turkish media have reported that if the F-16 plan fails, the Eurofighter Typhoon may be considered for purchase from Europe. The Eurofighter Typhoon has been jointly developed by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo together manufacture this fighter aircraft.
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10/09/2022
In light of North Korea's ongoing missile launches, the United States and Japan are conducting a combined military exercise with the American aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan in the vicinity of Japan, the Japanese defence ministry announced on Saturday.
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10/09/2022
The Russian armed forces are not on the verge of collapse. And No! The Su-35 doesn’t lack the capability associated with it. And certainly not! Russian fighter pilots are not a bunch of kick-the-tire and light-the-jocks! The apparent regression in employed tactics likely has an excellent reason. Russian forces appear to be adapting to the realities of a protracted conflict against an adversary drawing on an unending supply of troops, equipment, and ammunition from the West.
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10/09/2022
An explosion caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia on Saturday, damaging a key supply artery for the Kremlin's faltering war effort in southern Ukraine. Russian authorities said a truck bomb caused the blast and that three people were killed.
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10/08/2022
With a flying radius of 1500 km without mid-air refuelling and a 450-km Extended Range variant of the BrahMos missile system, the IAF believes that the combination would be a deadly weapon package with strategic reach to hit targets at sea and land.
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10/08/2022
The Indian Air Force has initiated a project to carry out life extension studies on its Su-30 MKI frontline fighter aircraft to determine the feasibility of enhancing its calendar life by at least 10 years from 25 years to 35 years.
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10/08/2022
When the House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, it included a section requiring the Navy to maintain “a minimum quantity of high-demand, low-density EA-18G aircraft capabilities.”
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10/07/2022
The U.S. Air Force deployed four B-52H Stratofortress aircraft to the U.S. European Command theater August 18-September 21, 2022 to conduct Bomber Task Force missions with key allies and partners. The strategic bombers are assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base), North Dakota. The aircraft operated out of Royal Air Force Fairford, England, which marks the second time this year B-52s from Minot have flown to RAF Fairford for a bomber task force mission.
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10/07/2022
According to Pozdnyakov, the tests would comprise climatic and resource tests and examine ‘mechanical impacts.’ This implies checking whether the structural integrity is maintained and if the system can withstand the extreme pressures on the seat while being ejected by rocket boosters mid-flight. In July 2021, Pozdnyakov said that the deliveries of the seats to the Tupolev Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) should begin by 2023.
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10/07/2022
The Bangladesh Army Aviation Group has received its second C295W tactical military transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space. The new medium utility military aircraft officially joined the Bangladeshi Fleet on September 25 after a six-day journey from the company’s factory in Spain. The army stated that the aircraft will enhance the South Asian nation’s combat capabilities.
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10/07/2022
For the uninitiated, Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick provided a sneak peek into the world of fighter aircraft and aerial combat. In the 2022 sequel to the popular 1986 film Top Gun, Cruise pointedly tells his US Navy (USN) teammates about the advantage that the enemy state had over them with its advanced fifth-generation fighter jets during a special mission that they were set to embark upon with their slightly inferior jets.
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10/07/2022
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by work, chores, family, or just bad news on social media, you actually have more in common with young fighter pilots than you might think. “The single hardest thing about flying the F-16 is handling the bewildering onslaught of information,” wrote historian Peter Aleshire in his 2004 book Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot. “The [Heads-Up Display] displays 20 different key bits of information about the airplane, from headings to weapons locks.
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10/06/2022
With no end in sight for the grounding of virtually the entire fleet of older C-130H Hercules, the Air Force is turning to other aircraft and trying to find other workarounds to keep its mobility missions moving. But the Air Force can’t say how long it will be before most or all of the grounded C-130Hs will be back in the air. Replacement parts to end the groundings are in short supply.
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10/06/2022
Former Afghan Air Force (AAF) Maj. Samimullah Samim, one of the thousands of Afghans who ran the gantlet of Taliban checkpoints and the deadly chaos at the Kabul airport gates to escape to the U.S. in late August 2021, is still in the fight. But rather than bombing and strafing Taliban positions as he did in the AAF, he's targeting fires in the Pacific Northwest, using his piloting skills to combat a pressing threat in his adopted country.
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10/06/2022
The US Air Force is set to begin flight experiments with Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a combat drone developed for the Australian air force that may help its American counterpart learn how to operate unmanned aircraft alongside fighter jets. Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote, who leads Air Force Futures, told Breaking Defense in a September 20 interview that the service is “getting ready to take delivery” of a drone prototype through the Pentagon’s research and engineering office, also known as OSD (R&E).
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10/05/2022
apanese and US military planes carried out a joint drill Tuesday in response to a North Korean ballistic missile launch, Japanese officials said. Japan’s Joint Staff said eight Japanese and four US fighter jets took part in the drill in airspace west of the country’s Kyushu region.
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10/05/2022
China is seeking to "normalise" its military activities close to Taiwan, including crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which poses a challenge like none seen before, the Taiwanese defence ministry said on Tuesday. China, which views the democratically-governed island as its own territory, carried out war games including firing missiles over Taipei in early August in response to a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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10/05/2022
With Russian airpower still very much embroiled in the war in Ukraine, the country’s little-known aggressor squadron recently took delivery of its first Su-35S Flanker-Ms — the most advanced fighter jets in frontline service with the Russian Aerospace Forces, or VKS. Experiences from the current conflict in Ukraine suggest that overhauling the air combat training capabilities of the VKS is badly needed, and the Su-35S might now be expected to help achieve that goal.
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10/05/2022
The U.S. will soon deliver to Ukraine four more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain momentum in its war with Russia. The High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, will be part of a new $625 million package of aid expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to U.S. officials.
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10/04/2022
Ukraine’s military is on the offensive against Russian forces and asking for more powerful weapons to press its advantage, but so far there is no sign that allies will step up their commitments. Instead, President Vladimir Putin dramatically raised the stakes in a Sept. 21 speech, threatening nuclear war and launching sham votes aimed at expanding Russia’s borders into occupied Ukraine.
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10/04/2022
Bangladesh Air Force on Monday had to postpone its air-to-air live shell and missile firing exercise, slated for October 2-6, due to inclement weather. The firing exercise planned at Kutubdia firing range VGD-2 and VGD-43 by different combat aircraft of BAF was postponed due to bad weather, the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) Directorate said on Monday.
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10/04/2022
The Finnish Air Force's main exercise of the year began on Monday. Around 3,700 personnel in various parts of Finland will take part, including some 2,400 reservists. The annual six-day exercise is dubbed Ruska, referring to autumn foliage. All units of the Finnish Air Force are involved in the manoeuvres, flying about 50 aircraft, mostly US-built F-18 Hornet multirole combat aircraft.
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10/04/2022
Chinese aircraft incursions have been a persistent source of conflict with its neighbors, including Taiwan and Japan. In the last few years, these incursions have grown in frequency and ferocity, with the majority of the incursions serving as evidence of the “new normal.” Furthermore, dozens of Chinese and Russian aircraft flew into Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) in 2021, according to the latest data from the Korean Defense Ministry.
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10/03/2022
The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) - KC-135 Test Detachment, working with the 151st Air Refueling Wing, Salt Lake City, Utah, continues its transformation and modernization efforts on the KC-135R Stratotanker by testing the MICRO Forward Area Refueling Equipment (FARE) Kit on the 65-year-old aircraft, ensuring it has the best warfighting capabilities.
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10/03/2022
The Ukrainian army liberates Lyman. Ukrainian troops are continuing to conduct counteroffensive operations in Kherson Oblast and setting conditions for future advances. Russian forces conducted ground attacks in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas of Donetsk Oblast. The Russian army launched 4 missiles, 16 air strikes, carried out more than 75 rounds of anti-aircraft fire at military and civilian objects on the territory of Ukraine and used the Iranian-made “Shahid-136” UAV.
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10/03/2022
India has four squadrons of Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 supersonic jet fighters. The four MiG-21 squadrons of the Indian Air Force are called Bison. New Delhi has already decided that the four MiG-21 Bison squadrons will be equipped with MiG-29s, thereby consigning the famous MiG-21s to history.
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10/03/2022
China’s flashy displays of combat aircraft and warships circling Taiwan are more about propaganda than practicality. But the quiet practicality of preparing civilian car ferries for war shows Beijing is getting serious about invading. For months, international military analysts have been connecting the dots.
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10/02/2022
All the military component commanders of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stress the need for partnership in the immense region of the world. Reporters traveling with Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III interviewed with the component commanders: Air Force Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, the commander of Pacific Air Forces; Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, and Army Maj. Gen. Peter N. Benchoff, the chief of staff of U.S. Army Pacific.
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10/02/2022
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Saturday, hours before South Korea staged a large military show, displaying stealth fighters and its own missiles. Pyongyang’s fourth launch in a week comes amid a flurry of military muscle-flexing by countries in the region, including joint anti-submarine exercises on Friday by the navies of South Korea, the United States and Japan.
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10/02/2022
The expectations after February 24 were as follows – that Russia would disable Ukraine’s air defense systems in a short time. It kind of worked, but today we count the completion of that mission as a failure. Ukraine had and received from partner countries the Soviet S-300s. The US supplied [and continues to supply] low-altitude handheld systems such as the Stinger.
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10/02/2022
After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled troops out Saturday from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest victory for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has humiliated and angered the Kremlin.
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10/01/2022
France’s Ministry of Defense has revealed a 2023 budget worth billions more than the previous year to start a new “war economy,” driven by a directive to make significant investments in its defense industrial base. The €43.9 billion ($42.8 billion) projected for the French military is an increase of 36% over the 2017 budget and 7.4% over 2022 finances.
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10/01/2022
The US, along with five allied and partner nations participated in a week-long event to discuss the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft’s maintenance and operations. The five participant nations included Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Portugal and Romania. The multilateral event, known as European Partnership Flight (EPF), was held in Bucharest, Romania, on 19 September.
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10/01/2022
It was during a routine inspection in April that an Air Force technician found a single faulty Cartridge Actuated Device in the ejection seat of an F-35 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The device — known colloquially as CAD — contained no magnesium powder, a necessary material for generating the explosive charge that allows a pilot to begin ejecting from an aircraft.
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10/01/2022
The Kuwait Air Force has taken delivery of another two Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, bringing the total in the country to six. The delivery is part of a larger order for 28 fighters to boost the country’s military capabilities. The arrival of two new Kuwaiti Eurofighters was made possible with the support of the Italian Air Force, which provided air-to-air refueling through a KC-767A tanker aircraft.
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10/01/2022
Indonesia has reiterated its commitment to the KF-21 Boramae fighter under co-developed by South Korea and Indonesia. Indonesia’s deputy defense Muhammad Herindra visited Sacheon Air Base in South Korea on September 28. He met Korea’s defense minister Lee Jong-Sup as well as Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Eom Dong Hwan. The successful flight testing of the KF-21 is a tangible manifestation of the successful development of this fighter and is a long-awaited progress
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09/30/2022
For two days, two dozen aircraft and ground forces jointly trained for air defense operations in the Baltic. This exercise is part of NATO's recently adopted defense and deterrence policy. It is also taking place not far from the Kaliningrad exclave, whose Russian military potential is constantly monitored by numerous reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft.
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09/30/2022
The Ukrainian armed forces’ aggressive counterattacks in the south and east starting in late August have chewed up several of the Russian military’s most important formations. The elite 1st Guards Tanks Army and its supporting 144th Guards Motor Rifle Division, to name two. Also, the essential 3rd Army Corps—the Kremlin’s main reserve formation for the Ukraine war.
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09/30/2022
Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 12 conducted an AIM-9X missile live fire from the southern coast of Japan to exercise their air-to-air warfare capabilities. Fourth generation F/A-18 Hornets and 5th generation F-35B Lightning II aircraft from the group’s fighter squadrons, Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA(AW)) 533, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, and VMFA-242 respectively, participated in the exercise.
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09/30/2022
On September 29, 1990, a unique aircraft took off for the first time in Palmdale, California. During its 18-minute flight, it reached a speed of about 290 mph and a height of 12,500 feet before landing at Edwards Air Force Base. The aircraft was the YF-22, the test demonstrator for what would become the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
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09/29/2022
Following Kyiv’s successful counteroffensive against Russia’s invading forces, U.S. defense officials say Ukrainians have found new ways to use a patchwork of donated weaponry more effectively. The war has edged closer to a stalemate as it passes the seven-month mark. Faced with recent battlefield setbacks for his forces in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to raise the stakes by threatening to use the nuclear arsenal and calling up military reservists.
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09/29/2022
Egypt has topped the list of arms importers from France in 2021 thanks to an order of 30 Rafale fighter jets, making the Middle East the largest arms buyer from France last year, according to an annual parliamentary report published yesterday. In 2021, Egypt requested the purchase of French weapons worth €4.5 billion, ($4.5 billion) followed by Greece (€2 billion), Croatia (€971 million), India (€492 million) and Saudi Arabia (€381 million), according to the report published by Challenges magazi
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09/29/2022
As Japan’s defense industry struggles, South Korea’s is thriving, driven not only by the need to counter Pyongyang’s growing military threats but also by Seoul’s ambition to make the country one of the world’s top defense exporters. Just how determined the government is to help the industry expand was highlighted in recent statements made by President Yoon Suk-yeol, who last month expressed his intention to make his country one of the world’s top four weapons suppliers.
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09/29/2022
The commander of U.S. 4th Fleet has ordered all ships and aircraft to make preparations for Hurricane Ian’s expected arrival. Ships began departures from Naval Station Mayport today (Sept. 27, 2022) and will complete heavy weather mooring if required to stay in port. Aircraft will initiate evacuations from area airfields or be secured in hangars rated to withstand hurricane force winds. Four ships and multiple rotary and fixed-wing aircraft are expected to relocate and remain out of the local
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09/28/2022
The Air Force’s sixth generation fighter program hasn’t produced a single operational aircraft yet, but the Defense Department inspector general is already looking into whether the service is moving too fast with untested tech.
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09/28/2022
Speaking to the local NTV news channel on September 23, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, confirmed the previously reported plan, saying, “We have negotiations with Europe regarding Eurofighter; Turkey will never be without alternatives.” In October 2021, Turkey asked the US for 40 F-16 jets and almost 80 modernization kits for its existing fleet of Fighting Falcons. With 270 F-16 C/Ds in service, the F-16 has been the mainstay of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for the past 35 y
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09/28/2022
In 2012, as Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Frank Kendall described initiating F-35 production years before the first test flight as “acquisition malpractice.” He cited “optimistic predictions” that resulted in a program that is far more expensive than anticipated. Kendall’s remarks also apply to many other U.S. Air Force acquisition programs over the past 20-years.
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09/27/2022
As tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defence reported that nearly 15 military aircraft from China as well as four ships breached the Taiwan Strait's median line on Sunday at around 5 p.m. (local time). Taking to Twitter, the ministry said that two Shenyang J-16 fighter planes were located near the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) out of the 15 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft
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09/27/2022
Aerospace and defense giant Boeing secured a contract to produce 96 Apache helicopters for the Polish Armed Forces as the company scales up its manufacturing capabilities in Mesa, Arizona. Mariusz Blaszczak, Poland’s Minister of Defense, announced September 8th that the Central European nation had selected Boeing Defense, Space & Security to be its partner for the KRUK Attack Helicopter Program, an initiative started to replace the currently “outdated, Soviet-designed Mil Mi-24 fleet.”
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09/27/2022
Ukraine’s military is on the offensive against Russian forces and asking for more powerful weapons to press its advantage, but so far there is no sign that allies will step up their commitments. Instead, President Vladimir Putin dramatically raised the stakes in a Sept. 21 speech, threatening nuclear war and launching sham votes aimed at expanding Russia’s borders into occupied Ukraine.
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09/27/2022
U.S. Air Force guided missile experts are asking a team of Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop one of the first hypersonic cruise missiles to be in the U.S. inventory. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Armament Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced a $985.3 million task order Thursday to the Raytheon Missiles & Defense segment in Tucson, Ariz., to design and develop the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).
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09/27/2022
Walking into the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber this year, conference goers were immediately greeted with a large display from Google Cloud—a contender for the Pentagon’s major tactical cloud program and one of the conference’s major sponsors. On the floor, SAIC’s tower was right behind the Air Force Research Laboratory's booth, like a beacon of would-be connectivity.
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09/26/2022
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
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09/26/2022
Slightly after dusk on Sep. 22, Ukrainian air defense operators near Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine detected a swam of Russian drones volleying over the front lines. Coming at themwere some of Moscow’s newest weapons – Iranian–made Shaheed-136s. Russian President Vladimir Putin had trumpeted the purchase of these “suicide drones” after his July visit to Iran, placing great store in both their precision strike capabilities and reputed stealth. But Moscow and Tehran were both in for a shock.
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09/26/2022
China's military has suggested its advanced J-20 twin-seat fighter jets might be used in conjunction with drones to increase firepower. The twin-seat J-20s can carry out coordinated reconnaissance, coordinated strikes, and coordinated command missions when coupled with drones, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Sunday, quoting a Chinese military magazine.
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09/25/2022
The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a firm-fixed price contract to produce an additional 12 Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin company) MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Procured via the US Government’s Foreign Military Sales agreement, the new aircraft will add a third ‘Romeo’ squadron of unparalleled capability to the RAN’s Fleet Air Arm.
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09/25/2022
The Russian air force reportedly has had a very bad day. The Ukrainian defense ministry on Saturday claimed its forces shot down four Russian warplanes in 24 hours. An Su-34, two Su-30s and an Su-25. Videos circulating online seem to confirm at least two of the shoot-downs. “Today is a good day,” the Ukrainian defense ministry tweeted.
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09/25/2022
The Russian Air and Space Forces [VKS] have tested and continue to test their new Tu-214R reconnaissance aircraft. These claims were published in several Russian media, including RIA Novosti. According to Russian military analysts, the Tu-214R was sent over to Ukraine to detect military targets. Other experts claim that the Tu-214R was used to map the current situation and detect future military structures.
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09/25/2022
North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday, Seoul’s military said, just days after a United States aircraft carrier arrived for joint drills with the South in a show of force against Pyongyang. South Korea had earlier detected signs the North was preparing to fire a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the president’s office said on Saturday – a weapon Pyongyang last tested in May.
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09/25/2022
The Philippine Air Force [PAF] is experiencing problems after having to ground half of its equipment. There is a shortage of spare parts for the FA-50PH light attack aircraft. Only three of these light fighter jets are operational, and the remaining nine aircraft are grounded. The PAF confirmed that they were experiencing problems, but they said the situation was not stressful.
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09/24/2022
The losses of the Russian occupiers for the day amounted to 550 people of military personnel, 18 tanks, 20 combat vehicles, 14 artillery systems, one aircraft and one helicopter. In total, since February 24, the enemy has lost 56,060 people, according to the General Staff of Ukraine.
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09/24/2022
On September 26 and 27, Allies Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Türkije, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Partner Finland will conduct the third Ramstein Alloy exercise in 2022 with a focus on NATO’s Deter and Defend concept.
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09/24/2022
Bulgaria's caretaker government decided to propose to parliament to purchase a second batch of eight F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft from the U.S. for a total of $1.296 billion (1.32 billion euro), the defence ministry said. The caretaker government also decided to finance 13 priority projects worth a total of 6.6 billion levs ($3.3 billion/3.37 billion euro) to meet some of the requirements for improving Bulgaria's defence capabilities to safeguard national security,.
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09/24/2022
The U.S. Air Force is building manned variants of the emerging sixth-generation fighter jet as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says that the family of systems will likely control as many as five drones at one time, a development that will introduce new tactics, expand the mission scope of a stealth fighter jet, and enable dispersed yet networked weapons and surveillance nodes to increase attack and reconnaissance options.
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09/24/2022
The Air Force’s array of 48 fighter squadrons and nine attack squadrons are today being asked to do the work of 60 squadrons, the head of Air Combat Command said Wednesday. This is stretching the fighter fleet thin, ACC head Gen. Mark Kelly said in a keynote address at the Air Force Association’s Air Space Cyber conference here — and, in a major war, will become unsustainable.
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09/23/2022
Don't get your hopes up. But it looks as though Selfridge Air National Guard Base (SANG) is once again in the running to become a training center for the F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. The Department of the Air Force (DAF) issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Tuesday for the beddown of a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Pilot Training Center (PTC) at Ebbing Air National Guard Base (ANGB) in Arkansas, or SANG in Harrison Township, according to Tuesday's news release.
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09/23/2022
The Air Force awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense a $985,348,124 contract to develop and demonstrate Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile prototypes, underscoring the U.S. Air Force’s focus on increasing interoperability with allies and partners to stay ahead of strategic competitors. HACM is an air-launched, scramjet-powered hypersonic weapon designed to hold high-value targets at risk in contested environments from standoff distances.
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09/22/2022
Iran's military moves in recent weeks have captured worldwide attention, stoking concern among rivals in the US and across the Middle East. On September 1, Iran's navy briefly seized two US Navy unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea, succeeding on its second attempt capture a US drone within a week.
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09/22/2022
Swedish aerospace giant Saab has been awarded a contract to provide maintenance support for the South African Air Force’s Gripen fighter aircraft. The agreement covers component repairs and minor updates to ensure that the Gripens can continue supporting various missions. According to company business unit head Åsa Schöllin, the contract reflects South Africa’s trust in Saab’s ability to support global customers’ operational needs.
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09/22/2022
Argentina’s government has told lawmakers that it plans to spend about $684 million to procure new fighter jets and build related infrastructure. The information, provided last week in response to questions from the Defense Committee within the Deputies Chamber, came from the chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Juan Manzur, and the office of Defense Minister Jorge Taiana.
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09/22/2022
With its fighter squadron capacity dwindling since Operation Desert Storm, the Air Force must advance the development of unmanned aircraft that can fill the gap, the head of Air Combat Command said Sept. 21.
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09/21/2022
Russia’s failure to target Ukrainian integrated air defenses at the outset of hostilities in February have cost it at least 55 fixed-wing combat aircraft, while about 80 percent of Ukraine’s Air Force remains intact according to a senior U.S. Air Force general. Most if not all of those shootdowns were caused by Ukrainian surface-to-air missile (SAM) attacks on Russian aircraft, according to Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
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09/21/2022
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Tuesday announced that two of its FA-50PH light combat fighters have escorted and secured President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s flight up to 200 nautical miles as it departed for New York last Sept. 18. This is for the Chief Executive's participation to the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
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09/21/2022
In this Q&A with Ed Topps, senior vice president of the Strategic Aircraft Systems group for Sierra Nevada Corporation’s ISR, Aviation & Security (IAS) business area, Topps discusses: Foreign Military Sales for the A-29 Super Tucano; how SNC modifies the A-29 from Brazil’s Embraer; and the improved A-29C for Special Operations.
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09/21/2022
Saab has secured a contract to provide service, maintenance and repair support for Gripen C/D fighter aircraft operated by the South African Air Force (SAAF). The estimated value of this contract is approximately $30.70m (Skr333m). It is valid from 2022 to 2025.
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09/21/2022
Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, approved the KC-46A Pegasus for worldwide deployments to meet combatant command taskings effective Sept. 14. “We are ready to use this aircraft globally in any fight, without hesitation,” Minihan said. The KC-46A recently completed an employment concept exercise in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, during which it was evaluated while filling real-world taskings in support of combat operations, supplementing other tankers.
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09/20/2022
“National Armaments Director Martin Sonderegger and the Swiss F-35A Program Manager Darko Savic signed the procurement contract on 19 September 2022 at armasuisse in Bern,” said armasuisse, the country’s arms procurement agency. “With this, the procurement of 36 F-35A is contractually agreed,” it added.
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09/20/2022
L3Harris Technologies has entered an agreement with Brazil’s Embraer to convert KC-390 cargo planes into aerial tankers that can refuel U.S. combat planes in flight. The goal is to create a tactical tanker that can fly closer to the front lines in a war with a peer competitor and refuel all types of U.S. military planes , according to L3Harris Chairman and CEO Chris Kubasik.
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09/20/2022
The J-10C, also known as the J-10CE, is currently the PAF’s most sophisticated platform and is seen as a rival to India’s Dassault Rafale. The Pakistani Air Force refers to the Chinese-built aircraft as “Dragon from the East” and hails them as essential tools for maintaining the ‘security balance’ in the region.
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09/20/2022
The U.S. is negotiating with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to trade nearly 50 military aircraft flown across the border as the Afghan government collapsed last summer for help hunting terrorists in Afghanistan, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
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09/20/2022
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has reactivated the process to acquire new fighter jets to replace the country’s aging Kfir fleet. Petro’s decision may come as a surprise given his stance earlier this year on the campaign trail, when he said the purchase of combat aircraft or other military hardware would not be a priority during his time in office, if elected.
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09/19/2022
The Ukrainian military have launched a precision strike on a bus terminal in the Luhansk region’s Svatove, where Russian occupiers were based. The relevant statement was made by Luhansk Regional Military Administration Head Serhii Haidai on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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09/19/2022
Airmen from the 193rd Special Operations Wing here, who operate the only flying military radio and TV broadcast platform in the U.S. military, transmitted their final broadcast today to spectators at the Community Days Air Show at Lancaster Airport, Lititz, Pa., bringing to close a 54-year chapter in unit history.
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09/19/2022
Viewed purely in terms of the size of their formations and equipment, Russian ground forces in Ukraine still pose a serious threat on a number of axes. In practice, however, it is highly unlikely the Russian military can recover from its increasingly terminal trajectory on the battlefield, though its defeat will take time and bitter fighting. To understand why, it is necessary to examine the force beyond its equipment and personnel.
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09/19/2022
In the run up to the Russian invasion in February airpower analysts, including this author, were gloomy about Ukraine’s ability to defend its airspace. Even the more optimistic assessments assumed that Russia would mount a significant air campaign to destroy the Ukrainian Air Force on its airbases, coupled with large-scale strikes with stand-off cruise and ballistic missiles to blind Ukrainian long range early warning and surface-to-air missile (SAM) system radars.
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09/18/2022
In an estimated $6 billion agreement, Turkey asked for 40 F-16 fighter jets and almost 80 modification kits in October 2021 to upgrade its aging fleet. Turkey, which has made clear that it is firmly opposed to any restrictions on the sale of the Lockheed Martin-produced F-16s, currently faces a new obstacle due to a bill recently approved by American senators.
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09/18/2022
For 24 years the F-15 Eagle has roared over the city of Klamath Falls, flying countless training missions and supplying air superiority pilots to the U.S. Air Force. This aircraft is special with an outstanding combat record and a service life dating back 50 years — a remarkable lifespan for a fighter aircraft. Those days are nearing their end as the retirement of the aircraft is fast approaching..
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09/17/2022
The Polish Ministry of National Defence has sent a letter of request to the US government to buy 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the nation’s armed forces, Defense News reports. The planned purchase was unveiled on Sep. 8, 2022 by Deputy Prime Minister and Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak following a meeting with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which took place in Ramstein, Germany.
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09/17/2022
On September 15, a video of an unidentified flying object that crashed in Stavropol, Russia, around 350 kilometers (220 miles) from the Ukrainian border, went viral on the internet. The Russian media reports initially led people to believe it was a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Later, Twitter users noted similarities between the wreckage and the Russian Kinzhal missile.
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09/17/2022
“France is a reliable and trustworthy military power, able to deploy whenever it is required,” says French air force Major General Stephane Groen, chief of staff for Air Defence and Operations Command. “And France is a nation of the Pacific through New Caledonia – we are very much engaged in the security of the region.”
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09/17/2022
With an old family photograph of a man he never met, Brig. Gen. Gent Welsh Jr. can trace the footprints of his military career back to his grandfather, William Gent Welsh. His impression of a determined B-25 pilot flying combat missions in China during World War II set in motion the restless curiosity of the younger Welsh. Soon after completing high school, the Vale, Oregon teenager enlisted in the Air Force, launching his own military journey in 1988.
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09/16/2022
Ukrainian combat aircraft carried out 33 strikes on amassments of Russian troops and their strong points on 9 September, in order to support the actions of ground forces.
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09/16/2022
Approximately 100 Airmen and four KC-46A Pegasus aircraft conducted 24-hour operations during Air Mobility Command’s multi-week Employment Concept Exercise 22-08 at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, from August 27 through mid-September, 2022. Airmen from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and 931st Air Refueling Wing participated in the ECE, working in two teams to operate around-the-clock, testing the KC-46A’s ability to support real-world missions and assess its capabilities.
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09/16/2022
The acquisition of the 36 F-35A combat aircraft was fiercely debated in the National Council, especially with regard to the passage providing for the signing of the purchase contract no later than the end of March 2023 (expiry date of the validity offers). The National Council’s Security Policy Commission here supports the Council of States’ proposal. Concretely, this means that the Federal Council must sign the contracts before the popular initiative “Stop F-35!”, launched on August 31, 2021 an
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09/16/2022
Japan and the U.K. have decided to collaborate on next-generation fighter jets, pooling their technology and resources to get the greatest bang for their money. Japan's F-X program and the United Kingdom's Tempest, both of which are scheduled to fly in the early 2030s, will be the world's first sixth-generation fighters. So far that co-development includes jet engines and sensors for next-generation fighters.
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09/16/2022
On a battlefield a decade or so in the future, a C-130 drops a pallet loaded with small, expendable drones, which break off and immediately begin flying toward a formation of F-35s.
As the F-35 pilots fly toward an enemy surface-to-air missile site, they issue commands to the drones under their control: “Collect data,” “go forward and draw fire,” or “find this target.” Based on data gathered by some of the drones, the pilots are alerted to a probable threat, and an alternate route is suggested
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09/15/2022
After Ukraine’s stunning successes in recapturing Russian-occupied territory in northeast and southern Ukraine over the last week, the pressure is now on Kyiv to maintain the momentum in its counteroffensive. Western governments have hailed Ukraine’s “significant progress” in the war after Kyiv announced it had reclaimed more than 8,000 square kilometers (3,088 square miles) of Russian-occupied territory since the start of September.
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09/15/2022
The Hellenic Air Force took delivery of the first two fully upgraded F-16V Block 72 Viper fighter jets during a ceremony at Tanagra Air Base on Sept. 12, 2022. The aircraft are the first of 83 that will be upgraded from the Block 52+ to the latest standard, with the works being done locally by the Hellenic Aerospace Industries (HAI) at Tanagra, supported by Lockheed Martin.
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09/15/2022
In honor of the Air Force's 75th anniversary on Sept. 18, here are its high-flying craft, from the sound barrier-shattering X-1 to today's cutting-edge F-35 to the upcoming B-21.
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09/15/2022
The Iranian minister of Defense has confirmed that Iran will receive the Sukhoi Su-35SE Flanker-E fighter jet, Scramble Magazine reports. The original order of 24 Su-35SE for the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) will now be diverted to the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).
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09/15/2022
Defense News attended the multinational air combat exercise Pitch Black, which took part in Australia from Aug. 19 to Sept. 8. Our Asia correspondent, Mike Yeo, was onboard an Australian KC-30 tanker, during which he was able to take some of these photos. He took other shots from a control tower at RAAF Base Darwin or on the ground during the exercise.
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09/14/2022
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
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09/14/2022
At the multinational air combat exercise Pitch Black in northern Australia that recently concluded on Thursday (Sep 8), the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was able to engage the stealthy F-35B fighter jet in the skies. The head of the RSAF Next-Generation Fighter Project Office Major Zhang Jian Wei said, during a media session, that the F-35B’s ability to take off on short runways and land vertically was a key capability.
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09/14/2022
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) recently informed Congress of the decision to permit the potential sale of the F-16 Case for Sustainment and associated equipment to Pakistan for an estimated price of US$450 million. The DSCA also notified that the planned transaction would not change the regional military balance and does not involve any new capabilities, weapons, or munitions.
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09/14/2022
U.S. Air Force aerial surveillance experts are asking the Raytheon Co. to build super-high-resolution imaging radar for long-range target detection, radar mapping, and bomb damage assessment. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced a $184 million five-year contract Friday to the Raytheon Intelligence & Space segment in El Segundo, Calif., for the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2 -- better-known as ASARS-2.
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09/14/2022
For 24 years the F-15 Eagle has roared over the city of Klamath Falls, Ore., flying countless training missions and supplying air superiority pilots to the U.S. Air Force. This aircraft is special in its own right boasting an undefeated record in combat and a service life reaching back 50 years—a remarkable lifespan for a fighter aircraft.
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09/13/2022
Yuriy is flying sorties against what was initially viewed as overwhelming odds, with Russia said to have vast numerical and technological superiority. The Su-27 pilot, who has lost friends and mentors during the conflict, spoke as Ukrainian forces made some of the war’s most significant gains.
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09/13/2022
Top Aces Corp. (Top Aces), the world's only commercial owner/operator of F-16 fighter aircraft, today announced that it was selected under the US Air Force (USAF) Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support program to provide advanced adversary air training to pilots at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida and Luke AFB in Arizona.
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09/13/2022
The F-16 Fighting Falcon was the backbone of allied air power in Europe for a generation. Three squadrons on the continent fought over Serbia during the Kosovo War in the late 1990s, repeatedly deployed to the Middle East and Afghanistan during the last two decades, and served as a deterrent to keep Russia from making moves in Eastern Europe.
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09/13/2022
Military avionics experts from the Boeing Co. have begun installing an advanced electronic warfare (EW) system on the U.S. Air Force fleet of F-15E jet fighter-bomber aircraft. The Air Force supervised the first installations of the F-15 Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) on operational F-15E aircraft in July at the Boeing facility in San Antonio.
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09/12/2022
The Ukrainian military stated that they shot down Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft. The statement did not specify whether the crew had survived or if they had been captured after the plane was shot down. Open-source-intelligence analysts conclude the aircraft is Su-34 bort number of Red 20, RF-95004, a modern Russian strike aircraft presumably of the 47th Bomber Aviation Regiment.
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09/12/2022
The 123rd Airlift Wing welcomed its eighth C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to the Kentucky Air National Guard Base here Aug. 25, completing the unit’s transition from legacy C-130H transports. The wing had been flying H models since 1992. It said farewell to the last of those on Sept. 24, 2021, and began receiving new J models from Lockheed-Martin Corp. on Nov. 6.
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09/12/2022
On the 21st anniversary of the tragic and world-altering events of 9/11, we look to two unique perspectives, separated by thousands of miles, of those who were in the air in the aftermath of the terror attacks. Simon Radley had only been a member of the Royal Air Force’s E-3D Sentry force for four months when the events of September 11 began to unfold. A Communications Operator, Simon worked alongside a Communications Technician to process all messages coming to and going from the rotating-radar
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09/11/2022
Russian forces are withdrawing from Kharkiv Oblast and elsewhere en masse with Ukrainian forces retaking territory across the eastern frontline. Ukrainian troops have raised the flag over critical cities of Izyum, Lyman, and Kupiansk after nearly a week of gains with a mix of mechanized, special forces, and motorized troops punching through and overrunning Russian positions.
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09/11/2022
An alert mission means that aircraft assigned to this activity must respond to a threat at any time. I.e. it is a network of aircraft loaded and ready for combat upon arrival at a moment’s notice. The news is significant as it means that communication alignment has been achieved between the Spanish and German fighters. Upon receiving a moment’s notice, they will be able to act together in mixed crews.
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09/11/2022
The decision of the Joe Biden administration to give $450 million worth “sustainment” and “related equipment” for F-16 fighter jets that Pakistan has been maintaining since the 1980s is being seen as a recognition of Pakistan Army’s effort to help the Biden administration in generating crucial domestic goodwill by way of helping them eliminate Al-Qaeda chief Ayaman Al Zawahiri.
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09/10/2022
Boise-based pilots of the 190th Fighter Squadron at Gowen Field are some of the nation’s best to fly the A-10 fighter jet — and they proved as much during this year’s Hawgsmoke competition Thursday. The A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the “Warthog” fighter jet, has played a pivotal role for the Idaho National Air Guard since the late 1990s.
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09/10/2022
A recent image suggests that the Ukrainian Air Force has also now provided its Su-27 Flanker fighter jets with U.S.-made AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, or HARMs. This would make the Su-27 the second Ukrainian combat aircraft (that we know about) to get the missiles, after the MiG-29 Fulcrum. An official video showing Ukrainian MiG-29s firing HARMs appeared last week, and you can read more about it here.
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09/10/2022
The Indian Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh, and the country’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar, met with the Minister of Defense of Japan, Hamada Yasukazu, and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Hayashi Yoshimasa, in Tokyo on September 8, 2022. In a joint statement following the ‘2+2’ meeting, the ministers from both countries noted that the air services of the two countries are working closely for the early conduct of the inaugural India-Japan fighter exercise.
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09/09/2022
Today’s surprise announcement that Poland would purchase 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters headlined the 30th annual International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) here, but it was far from the only deal announced during the conference. All told, Warsaw — already in the midst of a massive military modernization push — dropped $1.4 billion in contract announcements, even without a final, likely hefty price available on the Apache deal.
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09/09/2022
The Armed Forces of Ukraine killed 640 Russian military personnel and shot down two aircraft and two helicopters on Wednesday, 7 September. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military invasion, Ukrainian forces have killed a total of 51,250 Russian soldiers. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook
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09/09/2022
This year’s multinational air combat exercise Pitch Black hosted the largest number of tankers than previous iterations of the drill. The three-week exercise, which took place Aug. 19-Sept. 8 in northern Australia, saw the aerial refueling platforms act as vital force multipliers to keep combat aircraft in the air longer.
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09/09/2022
Although the United States’ sixth-generation fighter jet is not yet in service, it is clear that the drones it will fly with will be just as important as the jet itself. However, what remains to be seen is how the development processes for the drones will unfold.
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09/08/2022
More than six months have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced on February 24. With no end to the war in sight, Ukrainian forces do appear to be slowly gaining the upper hand in the conflict. On August 29, the Ukrainian military announced the beginning of its much-anticipated counteroffensive with the aim of recapturing territory in the country’s south.
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09/08/2022
The U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) program achieved a major milestone on July 19, 2022, when Boeing began installing the Electronic Warfare (EW) system on operational F-15E aircraft at its San Antonio facility. Boeing previously installed EPAWSS hardware on eight developmental test F-15 aircraft and is currently installing the system on the new F-15EX aircraft at its production facility in St. Louis, Mo.
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09/08/2022
UN Secretary General António Guterres has called on Russia and Ukraine to agree on a combat-free zone around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. "The current situation is untenable and the best action to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities and its people would be for this armed conflict to end now," Guterres told the UN Security Council in New York.
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09/08/2022
India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will develop an indigenous active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the air force’s Su-30 MKI aircraft, Delhi Defence Review revealed, citing sources. The state-run DRDO Electronics and Radar Development Establishment will develop a scaled-up version of the Uttam radar for the Russian-origin fighter in three to four years, the outlet wrote, adding that flight testing will begin in two years.
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09/07/2022
Singapore is considering buying another F-35 variant despite already selecting and receiving U.S. approval for the “B” version, which can take off from short runways and land vertically, according to a top official with the procurement effort. Speaking to media during a multinational air combat exercise in northern Australia, Major Zhang Jian Wei, who leads his country’s office in charge of the next-generation fighter project, left open the possibility that the nation may choose another variant.
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09/07/2022
U.S. and British personnel joined a Royal Australian Air Force crew to train on the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft as part of a multinational air combat exercise here in northern Australia.
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09/07/2022
Taiwan said its forces flew combat air patrols and readied surface-to-air missiles on Monday in response to approaching Chinese aircraft including a military drone, a sign that Beijing's frequent operations around the island are becoming increasingly complex. At least nine People's Liberation Army aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on that day, the Taiwanese defense ministry said.
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09/07/2022
Japan and South Korea have both sent combat aircraft to Australia for the first time to take part in a large multinational air combat exercise. The South Korean Air Force sent six upgraded F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighters to northern Australia for the Pitch Black exercise, while the Japan Air Self-Defense Force deployed its F-2A jets.
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09/07/2022
Over the past year, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has made it clear that “Loyal Wingman”-style combat drones, partnered with stealth fighters like the F-35 or its yet-to-be-revealed sixth-generation fighter, will be a key element of the service’s future tactical aircraft inventory.
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09/06/2022
According to the German daily Bild, the plane reported an issue with cabin pressurization immediately after takeoff. Later, officials lost radio communication with the plane, and fighter jets from Germany, Denmark, and Sweden scrambled to intercept it.
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09/06/2022
Russia is about to fail the most advanced fighter in its fleet. The MiG-35 Fulcrum-F was designed for air superiority, but six prototypes and eight production aircraft have been produced to date. The MiG-35 Fulcrum-F is no ordinary fighter. Little attention is paid to it, both apparently by the Russian government and the Russian media. However, there are no orders. First, it was Egypt, which became interested in this combat aircraft, but subsequently purchased the MiG-29M.
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09/06/2022
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the most sustained air-to-air combat in decades, pitting the Ukrainian Air Force's prewar fleet of roughly 110 operational Soviet-era warplanes (not one purchased after the collapse of the Soviet Union) vs. roughly 1,200 fixed-wing Russian Aerospace Force (VKS) combat aircraft, many relatively new and the rest extensively modernized.
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09/05/2022
U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge is taking part in international training in the Baltic Sea amid Russia's war in Ukraine and tensions in the region. The Kearsarge is the first ship of the Wasp class to take part in international training in the Baltic in at least two decades. Associated Press journalists visited the ship last week.
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09/05/2022
In July 2022, the Department of State and the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) approved the sale of F-35A Lightning II multirole combat aircraft to Germany. This came as a climax of quite a protracted and a rather tragicomic story of Germany’s Luftwaffe purchasing a new carrier of nuclear weapons to carry out “NATO nuclear sharing.”
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09/05/2022
The past four years have proved fruitful for Lockheed Martin in Europe, as six nations have hitched their wagons to the American company’s fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet. Despite calls from French leaders for its neighbors to “buy European,” the F-35 has consistently beat out homegrown candidates in the most recent fighter jet competitions, including the Dassault Rafale, Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter Typhoon developed by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
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09/05/2022
The commander of the Iranian Air Force, Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi, says Iran does not refuse to buy Su-35 fighters from Russia. The deal is on the table, but the final decision has not been made yet. Speaking to Barna news agency, he said that Iran is not thinking about buying Su-30SM fighters from Russia, as had been said many times before. Instead, the priority is to buy Su-35 fighters, which can be used for multiple roles.
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09/04/2022
After the US approved USD 1.1 billion arms package to Taiwan, four aircraft and five ships from China`s military crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The Ministry of National Defence said it had tracked four aircraft and five ships from China`s military around the country by 5 pm Saturday (September 3), reported Taiwan News.
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09/04/2022
The Czech Armed Forces are hosting the multinational exercise Ample Strike II/Resilient Sky 2022 across the southern parts of the Czech Republic offering theatre-realistic Air-Land Integration (ALI) training. More than 700 participants from the Czech Armed Forces will host approximately 200 international participants from Estonia, Germany, Latvia Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States of America.
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09/04/2022
Iran has equipped 51 of its cities with civil defense systems and boosted readiness at air defenses to thwart any possible foreign attack, military officials said on Saturday, amid an escalation of tensions with Israel and the United States. The civil defense equipment will enable Iran to “identify and monitor threats by using round-the-clock software according to the type of the threat and risk,” Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
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09/04/2022
Germany will expand its military presence in the Indo-Pacific by sending more warships and joining drills with allies as it keeps an eye on the "enormous" build-up of China's armed forces, the German defence chief told Reuters. Germany is joining other Western nations in showing more muscle in the region amid growing alarm over Beijing's territorial ambitions.
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09/04/2022
Making the claim, Bandarban Superintendent of Police (SP) Tariqul Islam, said that the incident occurred around 9:20am in the district's Ghumdhum area today (3 September). "Eight to 10 rounds were fired from one of the aircraft. Whereas another aircraft shot 30-35 times.
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09/04/2022
This is stated in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 06:00, September 3, published on Facebook. "The enemy continues to focus its efforts on establishing full control over the territory of Donetsk region, maintaining the captured districts of Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions. Over the past day, the enemy launched six missile and more than 20 airstrikes on military and civilian objects in the territory of our country.
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09/03/2022
After four years of wait the biennial exercise Pitch Blank is back with its largest edition ever. The Australian multi-national large force exercise is now underway, spanning from Aug. 19 to Sept. 8, 2022, and sees over 100 aircraft and 2,500 personnel from 16 countries around the world training together with Australian forces to enhance interoperability and develop strong relationships between participating military forces.
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09/03/2022
An Su-25 ground attack aircraft belonging to the Russian forces, which struck Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in Kherson Oblast has been shot down. "The Su-25 aircraft that was damaged yesterday near Sukhyi Stavok, is confirmed to have been decommissioned from the enemy forces."
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09/03/2022
Of the 19 aerial refuelers, the USAF has ordered 15 under a $2.2 billion production contract. The remaining four will be delivered to Israel, for which the cost must not exceed $927 million. The work on the KC-46A production will take place in Boeing’s Seattle facility and is expected to be completed by November 30, 2025.
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09/03/2022
Early morning, April 18, 1943. A formation of 16 P-38 Lightning aircraft cruises 50 feet above the Solomon Sea en route to a fixed point 400 miles northwest of Guadalcanal. Secrecy and detection avoidance demand complete radio silence and a roundabout route that adds 200 miles to the trip. Operation Vengeance is underway. Its target: Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Imperial Japanese Combined Fleet.
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09/02/2022
The Meteor missile was launched from Gripen E at an altitude of approximately 16500 ft above the Vidsel test range in northern Sweden. “It feels very good that we have now completed the first test firing with Meteor from Gripen E. It is a very important milestone both for the program and for Saab. It shows that the weapon capability of Gripen is at the absolute forefront,” says Mikael Olsson, Head of Flight Test & Verification, Saab.
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09/02/2022
The Air Force announced huge cuts to the F-15EX and HH-60W Jolly Green II programs this year, but neither of those efforts is headed for a “critical” cost overrun that would trigger the programs to be rebaselined or canceled, the service confirmed to Breaking Defense.
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09/02/2022
On the first day of the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff exercises, fighter aircraft from the Eastern Military District went on combat alert at operational airfields, TASS reported, citing the ministry of defense. Russia’s top-tier Su-35S, Su-30SM, and MiG-31 fighters from the Eastern Military District participated in the mission.
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09/02/2022
The rapid pace of development across China’s military aircraft scene has been well documented, with Western observers keenly awaiting new designs and variants of existing ones, while manufacturing plants keep up a seemingly relentless pace of deliveries. What’s been less well covered, however, is the domestic production of air-launched weapons to arm these aircraft. For many years, Chinese progress in air-to-air missiles, or AAMs, in particular, was overlooked or achievements downplayed.
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09/01/2022
Argentina’s Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Juan Martin Paleo, recently visited Pakistan to inspect PAF’s JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, which Argentina will procure in the coming months. During his visit, General Juan toured Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra where he was briefed about the capabilities of JF-17 Thunder Block III 4+ generation multirole fighter aircraft.
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09/01/2022
China has been trying since a long time to emerge as a major defence exporter to India's neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan etc. The F-7 BGI is a multi-role capable aircraft manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, China. It was specially designed to meet the requirements of Bangladesh Air Force for cost-effective multi-role fighter aircraft. It is said to be the most advanced version of the F-7 fighter aircraft ever.
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09/01/2022
The Ukraine Air Force only has access to the Soviet-era MiG aircraft in its defense against Russian aggression. However, a recent video shared by the military outfit shows the MiG-29s firing U.S. supplied anti-radar missiles. Six months into the ongoing conflict, Ukraine has held its ground against the mighty Russian onslaught. We have previously reported how Ukrainian drones have troubled Russian supply lines and how munitions supplied by Ukraine's Western allies have been helpful.
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09/01/2022
In the face of the pacing challenge from China and threats from Russia, Iran, North Korea and extremist groups, the Defense Department must transition from experimentation and prototyping to fielding capabilities much more quickly, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks said.?
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09/01/2022
Members of the Air Combat Command Federal Laboratory, test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, and software developers from the 309th Software Engineering Group achieved several milestones on an in-flight F-22 Raptor, Aug. 24. The achievement is the first instance of third-party software running on a fifth-generation fighter and the first in-flight use of open-source container orchestration software on any fighter aircraft.
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08/29/2022
Two US warships yesterday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the US Navy said, the first such transit since China staged unprecedented military drills around Taiwan, which the Ministry of National Defense said are still ongoing. In a statement, the US Navy said the transit “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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08/29/2022
The first cargo of 24 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft has arrived in Qatar from the United Kingdom, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA). At the Dukhan/Tamim Airbase on Saturday, Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani greeted the arrival of the fighter planes. The Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft would be deployed as part of a squadron with F15-QA and Rafale planes to provide security during the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year, according to QNA.
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08/29/2022
The Ukrainian military renewed its requests to allies for the donation of advanced jet fighters, with a special focus on the American-made General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, in a series of social media posts on Ukraine's Aviation Day on Saturday.
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08/28/2022
A total of 21 Chinese military aircraft and five naval ships were detected in areas around Taiwan on Saturday, including 13 warplanes that flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), the 13 Chinese planes that entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ consisted of seven Shenyang J-16 and two Chengdu J-10 fighter jets as well as four H-6 bombers.
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08/28/2022
Russia’s importance as an arms supplier to Asian states is likely to decline in the short term due to export constraints resulting from the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Russia’s need to use more of its own armaments in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union, and the perceived poor performance of Russian arms in the conflict itself may provide an opening for exports from competing arms suppliers including the United States and China.
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08/28/2022
To face the global geopolitical challenges, India and Argentina on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening and diversifying their bilateral cooperation, in various sectors including nuclear energy, defence, and space. The Argentine side expressed its interest in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft `Tejas’ being manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). If the deal goes through, HAL will have to rework the LCA Tejas as per requirements of the South American nation.
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08/27/2022
According to what the head of the Polish MoD posted via his Twitter channel, it is now clear where the newly acquired aircraft of the Polish Air Force will be stationed. The information has been released on the Polish National Aviation Day. The Minister stated that the newly procured FA-50 advanced fighter trainers will be stationed at Minsk Mazowiecki (ICAO code: EPMM) – currently serving as a base for the upgraded Polish MiG-29 Fulcrums.
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08/27/2022
Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a close ally of Russia in its war in Ukraine, announced today that some of his country’s combat aircraft had been modified to carry nuclear weapons. There are currently reports, including from the Reuters agency, that long-withdrawn Belarusian Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft are involved, although this doesn’t stack up for several reasons.
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08/26/2022
According to information published by Tass on August 18, 2022, Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 multirole fighter may serve as the basis for developing prospective aircraft for new Russian aircraft carriers. The Su-57 is a fifth-generation Russian-made multifunctional fighter designed to destroy all types of air, ground and surface targets. It has supersonic cruising speed, internal armament, radar-absorbing coating, as well as the latest onboard equipment.
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08/26/2022
Fighter jets from Japan and South Korea are making their debut at a large-scale air combat exercise in northern Australia, along with F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters from the host nation and the United States. The aircraft and personnel from the U.S. allies will take part in the biennial Exercise Pitch Black alongside that from 15 other nations, making up a force of over 100 aircraft and 2,500 personnel at what the Royal Australian Air Force or RAAF calls its “premier multinational air co
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08/25/2022
Australia’s new Air Force Chief has said surveillance missions would continue in the South China Sea despite a “recent spate of unsafe incidences” in the contested region. In May, a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane was intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet in international air space claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea region.
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08/25/2022
The Canadian government in March 2022 began the finalization phase of the Future Fighter Capability Program to purchase 88 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets through prime contractor Lockheed Martin and the United States government. The parties will now need months of negotiation on key contractual elements like when and where aircraft are to be delivered, pilot and maintainer training, logistics, and a final price tag – estimated to be worth $19 billion.
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08/25/2022
The 2023 draft budget for the Ministry of Defence’s branch of government is EUR 6.1 billion, representing an increase of EUR 1 billion, or 20%, on the current budget. The figure is explained by general increases in the Defence Forces’ operating expenditure, in defence materiel procurement and in support for the activities of national defence organisations. The increases seek respond to the changes in the Defence Forces’ operating environment.
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08/25/2022
F-16 fighter jets from the 132nd Fleet Weapons and Tactics Command, located at the 3rd Main Jet Base Command in the Turkish Air Force Command, escorted US B-52s as part of the NATO mission. During the operation conducted in Slovakian airspace to protect NATO’s eastern flank, Turkish F-16s were tasked with protecting American B-52s loaded with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile munitions.
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08/24/2022
"Slovakia will send its 30 IFVs to Ukraine & get 15 Leopard2A4 MBT from Germany," Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Jaroslav Nad posted on Twitter. Earlier, Nad stated that the Government of Slovakia would not stop military support to Ukraine despite all the efforts of Russia to influence public opinion in his country on this matter.
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08/24/2022
Aircraft simulators must evolve to meet the adversary threat, leaders from the 53rd Wing told Air Force Magazine. Once mainly used for initial qualification training, the Air Force is moving toward a paradigm of simulator training known as the “common synthetic environment” that will create non-proprietary, interchangeable training devices and environments for aircrews to train, conduct mission rehearsals, and even test new weapons and other capabilities in a virtual environment.
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08/23/2022
An announcement by Russia last week revealing that Turkey is on track to receive another “regiment” of the S-400 missile defense system has left officials in Washington scratching their heads. But the Biden administration suggested that Ankara would not face additional sanctions as it appeared the new batch of Russian weapons is part of the original deal, which forced the Trump administration to penalize Turkey under US law.
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08/23/2022
Nomads with the 33rd Fighter Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, participated in exercise Northern Lightning from Aug. 8-19. Northern Lightning is a joint training exercise that replicates today’s air battle-space and where the Nomad’s worked to enhance Agile Combat Employment and build combat-credible Airmen. The Nomads stayed in Volk for roughly four weeks as they conducted off-site training and participated in the exercise.
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08/23/2022
The Air Force plans to invest billions of dollars to develop new combat fighters—and the military engines to power them—over the next decade. The plan shows Air Force leaders’ desire to keep its three large airplane makers—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman—as well as engine makers General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, viable to build aircraft for years to come.
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08/22/2022
When I worked for Secretary Wynne when he was head of defense acquisition and then Secretary of the USAF, I had a chance to focus on the coming of the F-35 global enterprise. What I argued at the time was that a global force of F-35s would provide a foundation for working defense integration, not just interoperability. For me, the aircraft was not really a fighter understood in classic terms; it was a multi-domain flying combat system.
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08/22/2022
The U.S. Air Force released new photos of the new EC-37B Compass Call as it briefly visited Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on August 17, 2022. The visit gave to the personnel of the 55th Electronic Combat Group the opportunity to see up-close the aircraft that will replace in a few years their ageing EC-130Hs giving in turn better performance and new capabilities over the retiring aircraft. The aircraft, which received all external modification, is still flying with its primer paint and the civili
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08/21/2022
The headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine's occupied Crimea region was hit by a drone attack early on August 20, a Russia-installed administrator reported. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed administrator of the port city of Sevastopol, posted on Telegram that the drone crashed into the roof of the building and that there were no casualties.
A video showing a plume of smoke rising over the building was posted on social media.
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08/21/2022
According to intelligence data, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense and the Russian government have signed urgent contracts for the repair and restoration of aviation equipment. “In particular, employees of the 558th aircraft repair plant (Baranovichi) periodically go on business trips as part of ‘field groups’ to carry out work on the restoration and commissioning of aircraft equipment at the 121st aircraft repair plant (the territory of the Kubinka air base),” reads the report.
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08/20/2022
Iraq’s military is reportedly facing significant difficulties sustaining its fleet of Russian-made military helicopters as an indirect result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The latest quarterly report by the U.S. Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS notes that Russian supply chain issues caused by the Ukraine war, and sanctions against Moscow for perpetrating it, has affected Iraq’s ability to sustain its Russian-built aircraft.
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08/20/2022
China's response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was anything but subtle — dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy, and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby.
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08/20/2022
Recent explosions widely considered to have been a Ukrainian attack at a Russian base in occupied Crimea knocked out over half of the Russian Black Sea fleet's combat jets, Western officials have revealed to the media Friday. Multiple blasts on August 9 at Saki Air Base — situated well-behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine — caused widespread damage, destroying several Russian warplanes and buildings.
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08/19/2022
Jaroslav Nad', Slovakia's defence minister has stated that the Government of Slovakia will not stop providing military support to Ukraine despite all Russia’s efforts to influence public opinion in his country on this matter. According to the minister, a not too high number of Slovaks' support for this government initiative is related to the activity of Russian propaganda in his country which is making significant efforts to block the arms supplies to Ukraine, EuroNews reports.
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08/19/2022
A series of apparent Ukrainian attacks and logistical disasters for Russian forces in the 25th week of the war may indicate that Ukraine’s promised southern counteroffensive is still viable, despite the absence so far of significant territorial gains for Kyiv.
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08/19/2022
The skies over the Top End have filled with aircraft from across the world for the return of Exercise Pitch Black. From today until 8 September, 16 nations will participate alongside Australia in Exercise Pitch Black in an effort to enhance interoperability and develop strong relationships between participating military forces.
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08/19/2022
US Air Force B-52 bombers arrived in Europe for a Bomber Task Force deployment on Thursday after training with Norwegian and Swedish fighter jets before landing at RAF Fairford air base in England. The exercise yielded first-of-their-kind photos of the countries training together, reflecting an already close military relationship that is growing closer as Sweden moves to join NATO and the alliance increases its focus on the high north.
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08/18/2022
BAE Systems officially delivered its first Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF) during a roll-out ceremony at the company’s facility in Warton, UK. The Typhoon aircraft was delivered on schedule and will be transported from the UK to Doha later this month. BAE Systems and the UK see the delivery as a “significant milestone” under Qatar’s 5-billion-euro ($5.08 billion) program to acquire Eurofighter jets and Hawk advanced jet trainers.
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08/18/2022
In the first day since the launch of a collection drive in Latvia for the purchase and donation of the Bayraktar combat drone to Ukraine, over EUR 250,000 has been collection, according to information on the portal Ziedot.lv. The collection driver itself was launched on Tuesday, and already 8,000 persons have donated to the initiative.
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08/18/2022
U.S. Navy airborne electronic warfare (EW) experts needed upgraded power supplies for the AN/ALQ-218 signals intelligence (SIGINT) system aboard the Boeing EA-18G Growler carrier-based aircraft. They found their solution from the Crane Aerospace & Electronics Keltec segment in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
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08/18/2022
Taiwan unveiled its most advanced fighter jet, the missile-equipped F-16V, in a rare nighttime demonstration in the wake of China’s unprecedented military drills around the island. Chinese forces have staged days of air and sea military drills in the Taiwan Strait this month after visits to the self-governed island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation.
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08/16/2022
The Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II aircraft is set to participate in the multinational exercise Pitch Black 2022. This marks the first time RAAF will deploy its F-35As, which will replace the F/A-18A/B Classic Hornet that took part in the last iterations of the exercise. The RAAF’s fifth-generation aircraft from Nos. 3 and 75 Squadron will be deployed to demonstrate their capabilities in a multinational air combat environment.
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08/16/2022
Taiwan’s air force showed off in July its first locally designed and manufactured trainer jet in more than 30 years. The jet trainer is part of the self-governed island’s move to advance its domestic defense industry, Reuters reported.
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08/16/2022
The German Air Force is set to travel to Australia to make its debut in the country’s multi-national Exercise Pitch Black, marking the first time the German and Australian forces have trained together. The Luftwaffe will arrive Down Under in mid-August, with more than 200 personnel, six Eurofighter Typhoons, three A330 multi-role tanker transports and an A400M transport aircraft, the Australian Department of Defence said in a press release on August 15, 2022.
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08/16/2022
On July 27, Poland signed one of its largest arms deals ever for more artillery, tanks, and aircraft to modernize its military amid heightened tensions in Europe. Warsaw's $14.5 billion deal with South Korea — the largest ever for South Korea's defense industry — includes 1,000 K2 Black Panther tanks, nearly 700 K9 self-propelled howitzers, and 48 FA-50 light combat aircraft.
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08/15/2022
The German Air Force will send military aircraft to Indo-Pacific countries including Japan, Australia, South Korea and Singapore for the first time from Monday for joint drills and other activities. Germany hopes to deepen military ties with Asian democracies while stepping up efforts to check China's hegemonic ambitions.
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08/15/2022
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine well into its sixth month, the war has settled into a baffling pattern that defies the expectations of both sides. The most extreme example is the air war over Ukraine, which devolved into a stalemate almost from the beginning. With NATO now open to supplying Ukraine with modern Western fighter planes, the question is, will this change the game or is it already too late?
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08/15/2022
With upgrades, F-16s can serve as a numbers-builder in the combat air forces until the 2040s, and it’s not necessary to launch its successor yet, program officials said at an industry conference. “We anticipate hundreds of F-16s in active service for decades to come,” meaning into the 2040s, Col. Tim Bailey, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s F-16 program manager, said in a press conference at the Life Cycle Industry Days.
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08/14/2022
13 Chinese airforce planes flew on the eastern part of the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, 13 August, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said. Taking to their official Twitter handle, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said that 29 Chinese aircraft and six vessels were detected around their territory. The incursions occurred just three days after days after Beijing ended its military drills around Taiwan.
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08/14/2022
It’s increasingly obvious China is thinking the unthinkable – taking on the United States military, and winning. But is it possible? The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is running war games in Washington. They’re trying to figure out what chance the West has of defending Taiwan.
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08/14/2022
The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday. The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
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08/13/2022
According to Russian sources, Admiral Igor Osipov, the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, has been relieved of his post today, Friday, August 12, by President Vladimir Putin. His position is believed to have been filled by Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov. This action is believed to have been executed as a direct consequence of the Ukrainian sabotage attack on the air base near the village of Novofedorivka in occupied Crimea last Tuesday, August 9.
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08/13/2022
As many as 24 Chinese aircraft and six vessels were detected by the Taiwan Defence Ministry near its territory on Friday, two days after China halted its large-scale military drills near the self-ruled island. "Six PLAN vessels and 24 PLA aircraft around our surrounding region were detected today (August 12, 2022) until 1700(GMT+8). #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded to these activities with aircraft in CAP, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems," Taiwan Defence M
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08/13/2022
This year marks half a century of U.S. Air Force aggressors, and it’s therefore fitting that the 65th Aggressor Squadron has been reactivated at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in one of the most significant milestones ever for the squadrons that play the part of the enemy. The unit flies stealthy F-35A fighter jets, and it will set a new standard for the USAF’s aggressor forces as a whole.
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08/13/2022
The U.S. Air Force is preparing a report to Congress detailing a major cost overrun that resulted from its decision to cut its HH-60W combat rescue helicopter procurement by 38 aircraft. The service planned to buy 113 new helicopters from aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky, owned by Lockheed Martin. However, the fiscal 2023 budget request revealed a plan to cap the fleet at 75 helicopters and study the future of the combat rescue mission.
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08/12/2022
South Korea is seeking a niche market for its semi-stealth fighter jets praised for their high agility and low maintenance costs, which are likely to emerge as a cost-effective alternative to Chinese warplanes, analysts in the country have said. The KF-21 Boramae, meaning "hawk" in Korean, is likely to provide stiff competition for China's J-10 CE and FC-31 fighters in the global market, especially in Africa, the observers said.
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08/12/2022
The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds air demonstration team has been grounded indefinitely because of a runway accident in early August. The RCAF says it will “conduct a deliberate, detailed and broad risk analysis, with the aim of enabling the safe resumption of CT-114 flying operations.” No timeline has been offered to get the aircraft flying again. The team has 10 airshows booked for the balance of the season.
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08/12/2022
U.S. Air Force aerial radar experts are ordering 31 modern active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems for F-16 jet fighters under terms of a $88.2 million order announced in July. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Fighter Bomber Directorate, F-16 Division, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Northrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems segment in Linthicum Heights, Md., to build 31 AN/APG-83 AESA radar systems and spare parts for the F-16.
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08/12/2022
Explosions at a Russian airbase in Crimea that Ukraine says destroyed nine fighter aircraft may indicate new Ukrainian offensive capabilities that complicate Kremlin efforts to support its invading forces, according to European intelligence officials and defense analysts.
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08/12/2022
A congressional push to block the U.S. Air Force’s plan to retire 33 F-22s could have ripple effects for one of the service’s top priority programs, the Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The Air Force’s proposal to cut the F-22s is part of a broader plan to divest 150 aircraft in fiscal 2023 to free funds for higher priorities such as the B-21 bomber, hypersonic weapons programs and Next-Generation Air Dominance systems.
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08/11/2022
The U.S. military says Russian military surveillance aircraft entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on two separate occasions over the past two days. U.S. F-22 fighter jets intercepted the second aircraft upon entering the airspace, a defense official told VOA. Both entries involved the same type of Russian surveillance aircraft, the official added.
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08/11/2022
Mali’s military government has received several fighter jets and helicopters from Russia, which has become a close and controversial ally in its fight against Islamist militants. The aircraft were handed over during a ceremony at Bamako’s airport, with Malian President Assimi Goita and Russian Ambassador Igor Gromyko present.
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08/11/2022
Just over two years ago, the Air Force announced it was buying limited quantities of Textron’s AT-6s and Sierra Nevada Corp.’s A-29s. Now, the service is seemingly set to get rid of the aircraft, most likely in the form of a foreign military sale. Should such a sale occur, it would mark the end of a prolonged back-and-forth. At the moment, Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command operate three A-29s and two AT-6s, respectively.
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08/11/2022
In a first-of-its-kind interaction between their respective Fighter Weapon Schools, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a month-long engagement with the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) at Egyptian Fighter Weapon School, located in Cairo West Air Force Base.
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08/11/2022
Ukraine’s air force said it believed that up to a dozen Russian aircraft were destroyed on the ground following Tuesday’s dramatic explosions at the Saky airbase in Crimea, which Russia said killed one, wounded 13 and damaged dozens of nearby houses. Political sources in Ukraine said the country had carried out the attack – but no public claim of responsibility was made by Kyiv of the incident that one expert believes may have been the product of a daring raid rather than a missile strike.
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08/10/2022
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 39 Chinese military aircraft and 13 warships around the country as of 5 p.m. on Monday (Aug. 8). Of the 39 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 21 entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), with 14 crossing the median line, including eight Sukhoi Su-30 fighter planes and six Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, according to the MND.
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08/10/2022
Korea Aerospace Industries is looking to establish an industrial partnership for the production and marketing of the FA-50 in Africa and the Middle East, and Egypt is a strong candidate. The Black Eagles aerobatic team of the Republic of South Korea Air Force (ROKAF) performed the first aerobatics demonstration during the recent Pyramid Air Show 2022.
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08/10/2022
The number of fighter jets, which are viewed as national defence assets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), needs to be increased. Former RMAF commander, General (R) Tan Sri Rodzali Daud said the country's capability was affected after the F5-E Tiger II and MiG-29 were retired (end of service). According to him, the addition of these assets need to be done immediately because the country is lagging behind in the aspect of owning air defence assets compared to other countries in the Asian r
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08/10/2022
The US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Colin Kahl, said in a press conference on August 8 that the US has sent “a number of anti-radiation missiles that can be fired off of Ukrainian aircraft that can have effects on Russia radars and other things.” Kahl’s remarks came shortly after Russian Telegram channels released the images of what is allegedly the destroyed AGM-88 HARM, and the missile in question was reportedly fired at a Russian position.
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08/10/2022
A report released by GlobalData has revealed growth in the global military fixed-wing market will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.12% between 2022 and 2032, reaching $98.3bn, driven by developments in stealth technologies.
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08/06/2022
India has firmly conveyed its concerns to China over certain instances of Chinese combat jets flying close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, official sources said on Friday. They claimed that on August 2, the concerns were expressed at a special round of military negotiations. The Indian delegation vigorously pushed for both sides to refrain from flying activities within 10 kilometres of the LAC during the discussion that took place at the Chushul-Moldo border crossing.
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08/06/2022
Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 6 team members recently analyzed two of the first developmental and operational test missile shots for the F-15EX Eagle II. Engineers and analysts from the AFOTEC Detachment 6 F-15 division traveled to Eglin Air Force Base and Tyndall AFB, both in Florida, to draw results from the AIM-120D and AIM-120C3 missile shots performed as part of the Weapons System Evaluation Program, or WSEP, conducted by Eglin’s 53rd Wing.
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08/06/2022
The flow of weapons to battle-scarred Ukraine has been “non-stop”, says Rear Admiral Duke Heinz, the European Union’s chief logistician, as the fighting continues uninterruptedly ever since the Russian invasion last February. And US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was quoted as saying: “Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand its barrage and to strike back at the Russians launching these attacks from inside Ukraine’s own territory”.
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08/06/2022
India has offered to sell 18 light-combat aircraft (LCA) "Tejas" to Malaysia, the defence ministry said on Friday, adding that Argentina, Australia, Egypt, the United States, Indonesia, and the Philippines were also interested in the single-engine jet. The Indian government last year gave a $6 billion contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HIAE.NS) for 83 of the locally produced Tejas jets for delivery starting around 2023 - four decades after it was first approved in 1983.
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08/06/2022
Ukraine’s network of surface-to-air missile systems has helped. The Norwegian-built National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), which is also used to protect Washington, D.C., will be an added advantage. But two systems announced by President Joe Biden on July 1 and under contract by the U.S. government for Ukraine are believed to be months away from delivery.
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08/05/2022
Engineers and analysts from the AFOTEC Detachment 6 F-15 division traveled to Eglin Air Force Base and Tyndall AFB, both in Florida, to draw results from the AIM-120D and AIM-120C3 missile shots performed as part of the Weapons System Evaluation Program, or WSEP, conducted by Eglin’s 53rd Wing. These missile shots conducted Jan. 25, showed how the F-15 EX can be employed in theater and provided the context needed for Detachment 6 to verify its combat capability.
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08/05/2022
In the near future, “Top Gun” may get a reboot. Roughly one year from now, fighter pilots will begin flying with helmets outfitted with visors that can augment reality and place digital replicas of enemy fighter jets in their field of vision. For the first time, pilots will get to fly in the air and practice maneuvering against imitations of highly advanced aircraft made by countries like China and Russia.
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08/05/2022
Turkey and Greece, two of NATO's most valuable but least friendly allies, are pursuing new US-made fighter jets, but their diverging relationships with Washington mean they might not both get what they want. In June, Greece submitted a request to the US for the purchase of 20 F-35 stealth fighters with the option for 20 more jets in the future. The request comes as Athens's ties with Washington, especially their defense relationship, grow closer.
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08/04/2022
Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 6 Morale Patch. Detachment 6 team members recently participated in two of the first developmental and operational test missile shots for the F-15EX Eagle II.
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08/04/2022
As tensions soared with the US over Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China commenced joint military exercises surrounding Taiwan, featuring J-20 stealth fighters for the very first time, Chinese media reported. China released a video released showing J-20 stealth fighter jets participating in the military drills. The stealth jets flew from an airfield on Tuesday, with Beijing deploying rockets and missiles to thwart Pelosi’s visit.
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08/04/2022
The operational assessment of the Angry Kitten Combat Pod electronic attack system in April demonstrated rapid reprogramming between flights. This combat pod, an updated version of the Georgia Tech Research Institute Angry Kitten pod, simulates enemy electronic attack signals during Air Force test and training missions.
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08/03/2022
The United States is committed to working alongside our allies and partners to further impose severe consequences on President Putin and his enablers for Russia’s unconscionable war against Ukraine.
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08/03/2022
As had been increasingly expected for days now, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Taiwan along with a Congressional delegation as part of a scheduled trip through Asia. Despite earlier concerns, China's People's Liberation Army does not appear to have tried to directly intervene to block Pelosi's flight. However, Chinese authorities have now announced plans for a series of highly provocative "targeted military operations."
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08/03/2022
On Aug. 1, 2022, four U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C, assigned to the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323) “Death Rattlers”, from MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Miramar, California, landed at Aviano Air Base, Italy.
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08/03/2022
The House committee scrutinising the 2023 budget bill will decide on Wednesday on a request by the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) for a budget to fund its F-35A fighter jet procurement scheme. Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, vice chairman of the committee, said on Tuesday the panel is split over the issue after reviewing the RTAF's appeal and documents, in which the air force insists the budget request is valid but has agreed to have it slashed by 50%.
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08/03/2022
The plans, first reported by The Mail on Sunday, come amid an announcement at Farnborough Airshow that a demonstrator aircraft will fly within the next five years. The defence manufacturer wants to hire an extra 1,000 engineers in the next 12 months in its air division. The new staff will work on the sixth generation fighter as well as the Typhoon and other future programmes. Team Tempest comprises the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, Rolls-Royce and MBDA UK.
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08/03/2022
NATO is building up its defenses in Eastern Europe to fend off Russian aggression in a new effort it calls “air shielding.” The 30-country transatlantic alliance has long flown “air policing” missions that dispatch fighter jets to keep unfriendly aircraft at bay. Air shielding, however, began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a neighbor it shares with NATO nations.
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08/02/2022
Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and big deck amphibious ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7), with Marine F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters embarked, are operating in the vicinity of Taiwan, on the edge of the South China Sea ahead of a Western Pacific visit from U.S. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the region, according to the Aug. 1 edition of the USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker. An earlier version of this post indicated USS America (LHA-6) was underway but it is in port
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08/02/2022
L-39 combat training planes arrived in Kazakhstan after being modernized and repaired at the manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic, Kazinform cites the press service of the Kazakh Defense Ministry. The planes boast new digital avionics, ejection, objective control systems, communication means, and more.
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08/02/2022
The 26 US F-35 fighter jets based in Europe have resumed flying missions after temporary groundings and inspections of their ejector seat parts, according to an Air Force statement. “All subordinate commands hosting F-35A Lightning II throughout the European theater conducted a review” at the direction of Air Force headquarters, US Air Forces-Europe-Africa said in a statement on Monday. The fighter jets “underwent an immediate review” and “both squadrons will continue normal operations,” it said
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08/02/2022
The Indian Navy has accepted delivery of its first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier — a milestone for the country’s defense industry as New Delhi seeks to not only modernize the force, but also counter increased Chinese presence and influence in the Indian Ocean. The future INS Vikrant, also known as the “Indigenous Aircraft Carrier,” was handed over to the navy on Thursday by local shipbuilder Cochin Shipyard following extensive trials.
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08/01/2022
A union representing nearly 2,500 employees at three Boeing defense locations in the St. Louis area said on Saturday they will vote on the company's revised contract offer, canceling a strike that was set to start early Monday. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said an overnight bargaining session had led to the new Boeing offer and workers will vote Wednesday on whether to accept it.
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08/01/2022
China has stepped up efforts to develop its next generation of ship-based warplanes for its new aircraft carriers, with recent photos revealing Beijing's progress in developing early warning aircraft and stealth fighter jets. A video circulating on Chinese social media this week showed the KJ-600 — China's first fixed-wing early-warning plane capable of operating on the carriers — on a test flight over the northwestern city of Xian, where its manufacturer, Xian Aircraft Industrial Corporation, i
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08/01/2022
According to a press release from NATO, seven Air Forces from across the Alliance joined their aircraft and ground systems for a training event in Romanian airspace to conduct coordinated combined air-to-ground drills demonstrating interoperability and preparedness.
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08/01/2022
The engines on the Rafale fighter jet are not the best in the world. Although they’re great, the Typhoon fighter jet’s engines are superior, he said. Até noted that “Rafale fighter jet is an excellent aircraft and that if you understand it perfectly and if you understand your opponents as well, you will know exactly how you want to fight the adversary and you will succeed.
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07/31/2022
For the coming months, four Hungarian JAS-39 fighter aircraft and some eighty personnel will lead the mission out of Šiauliai air base in Lithuania, while four German Eurofighter aircraft will fly out of Ämari in Estonia. They will be joined by Italian Eurofighters based in Malbork, Poland.
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07/31/2022
Ukrainian brigade has said it shot down a Russian combat aircraft in the Donetsk region. The 25th Separate Sichesal Airborne Brigade said its paratroopers had destroyed the Sukhoi-25 fighter using Igla MANPADS, referring to the short range man-portable air-defense system.
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07/30/2022
The U.S. military discovered a problem with the ejection seats used across its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet in April, but waited three months to ground those aircraft flown by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to fully investigate the issue, multiple sources told Air Force Times Friday.
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07/30/2022
While the air picture has remained static in the Russia-Ukraine war, the introduction of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) has allowed Ukraine to strike surface-to-air missile targets behind enemy lines. Now the U.S. is considering future aviation contributions in Ukraine, defense officials confirmed to Air Force Magazine.
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07/30/2022
The Indian Air Force will retire one more squadron of the MiG-21 Bison aircraft by September 30 and phase out the remaining fleet by 2025, as the recent fatal crashes of the Soviet-era fighter jets intensified safety concerns and force authorities to step up the induction of LCA Tejas aircraft.
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07/29/2022
In simulated scenes, a hostile enemy attempts to seize control of a key waterway close to the Taiwanese capital. Attacking from sea and air, the invading forces target the mouth of the Tamsui River on the island's northern coast -- a strategic estuary that provides direct access to the center of Taipei.
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07/29/2022
Iraq is interested in buying 14 French 4.5-generation Dassault Rafale fighter jets. The deal is valued at $240 million. Iraq offers to pay them through oil supplies. The news was first reported by the business magazine Forbes. At the moment, there is no information on exactly what combat aircraft Baghdad wants – brand new or second-hand [already used] aircraft.
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07/29/2022
Organized at the 3rd Main Jet Base Command Konya Air Base, in central Anatolia, south of Ankara, Turkey, Anatolian Eagle is a series of exercises, inspired by the U.S. Red Flag and Maple Flag series, hosted by the Turkish Air Force and attended each year by several foreign air arms. The latter, include NATO allies along with rather exotic services from other countries, that are rarely seen elsewhere in Europe.
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07/29/2022
Thirty-five multicapable Airmen from the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard, deployed from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, to Amari Airbase, Estonia, to exercise Agile Combat Employment July 6-15. ACE is a U.S. Air Force concept that allows decentralized flying operations with a minimal footprint to provide rapid movement on short notice.
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07/28/2022
In the Indo-Pacific region, Chinese aggression demonstrates an effort by Beijing to deconstruct core elements of the international rules-based order and assert greater control over the waterways that connect it with its neighbors, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs said.
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07/28/2022
Six American F-22 Raptor combat jets have been sent to Poland under Nato's Air Shielding programme, the US Air Force's Europe and Africa command announced on Wednesday. The stealth tactical fighter aircraft, made by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, will be based at the Lask air base in central Poland.
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07/28/2022
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has established a new personnel training program, and its first batch of pilots, trained on the J-10 medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft, graduated from the Shijiazhuang Flight Academy, the Chinese state-owned media outlet, Global Times reported on July 24. The Shijiazhuang Flight Academy first received J-10 fighter aircraft in 2020, which are used for this new pilot training program.
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07/28/2022
The Marine Corps has been swapping out traditional tools for what some leaders see as a vastly different form of warfare in the coming decades: the Corps has been shedding tanks, reducing tube artillery, cutting law enforcement while adding rocket artillery and transforming infantry-centered regiments.
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07/27/2022
Textron Aviation Defense announced the Beechcraft AT-6E Wolverine has achieved Military Type Certification (MTC) from the United States Air Force, paving the way for continued global sales of the light attack aircraft. The AT-6E is a multi-mission aircraft system designed to meet a wide variety of warfighter and peacekeeper needs.
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07/27/2022
A House subcommittee scrutinising procurement projects of state agencies decided yesterday (Monday) to cut the 7.4-billion-baht budget for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) to procure two US-made F-35A combat jets, on the grounds that the US Congress has not yet approved the sale of the aircraft to Thailand and the acquisition is not urgent.
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07/27/2022
The decision by the Czech Republic earlier in July to begin negotiations to acquire the fifth-generation F-35 multirole stealth fighter represented another milestone in the platform’s growing presence among Europe’s future combat air fleet, in a move that could checkmate the competition.
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07/27/2022
U.S. Air Force aerial warfare experts are ordering additional modern active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for F-16 jet fighter aircraft under terms of an $88.2 million order announced Friday. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Fighter Bomber Directorate, F-16 Division, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Northrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems segment in Linthicum Heights, Md., for 31 production radars and spare parts.
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07/26/2022
Ukraine shot down a Russian combat helicopter worth $16 million, its defense ministry said on Monday. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that its troops successfully shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter, which is considered to be one of Russia's most powerful helicopters as it provides direct support for troops on the battlefield and is capable of detecting and attacking any targets. Ukraine destroying one of the helicopters is the latest sign of their success amid the Russia-Ukra
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07/26/2022
The Taiwanese military kicked off a five-day annual live-fire exercise on Monday aimed at bolstering the island’s defense capabilities and combat readiness at a time when China and Taiwan’s allies have been facing off in the airspace and seas around the island. The Han Kuang drills will be taking place at a number of locations on the island, with President Tsai Ing-wen observing a large-scale naval exercise from a warship off Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan on Tuesday.
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07/26/2022
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 has become the air force centrepiece for a growing number of Western nations. The interoperability of the aircraft’s operations and sustainment systems is recognised as a force multiplier in the delivery of combat air power, whether deployed to blunt Russian aggression in Europe or challenge China’s rise to dominance in the Indo-Pacific region.
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07/26/2022
The German military has restricted the use of its Eurofighter jets after their manufacturer said a component used in the ejector seats was faulty, a spokesperson told dpa on Friday. An investigation is now under way to test the component, the spokesperson added.
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07/25/2022
Four Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). The MND revealed that the Chinese planes consisted of two J-16 fighter jets, one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, and a Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane.
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07/25/2022
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The US military’s top officer said China had become more a
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07/25/2022
South Korea's share of the global arms exports market has nearly tripled and it is now the world's fastest-growing arms exporter. The country's growth in the arms market has vastly outpaced other major market players in recent years, with the nation's arms exports hitting a record high of more than US$7 billion last year.
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07/24/2022
South Korea will bring back joint military exercises with the U.S. that had been scaled down or halted since about four years ago under former President Donald Trump to facilitate his nuclear negotiations with North Korea.
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07/24/2022
The clearest image to date of China's future carrier-borne stealth fighter known as J-35 surfaced this week on Chinese social media Weibo. The twin engine aircraft will be flown by the People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) from China's future Type-003 Fujian-class aircraft carriers.
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07/24/2022
The President of the Republic and Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces, Pedro Castillo, on Saturday ensured the Government's support for the Peruvian Air Force modernization process.
"My administration supports and will support the process of modernizing the Air Force because we want it to be a solid institution, an efficient and effective institution," Mr. Castillo expressed at the ceremony for the 81st anniversary of Air Force Captain Jose Abelardo Quiñones immolation and Peruvian Air Force Day.
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07/24/2022
Russian missiles hit Ukraine's southern port of Odesa on Saturday, the Ukrainian military said, threatening a deal signed just a day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.
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07/23/2022
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said the B-21 Raider stealth bomber will finally be revealed to the public later this year, unveiling an aircraft that has been shrouded in secrecy since the program began in 2014. Rounds, the only elected official in a classified visit July 15 to the B-21 Raider production facility in Palmdale, California, said the project is also on track for a first flight in 2023.
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07/23/2022
The United States promised more military support for Ukraine, including drones, and is doing preliminary work on whether to send fighter aircraft, as fighting raged on in the east of the country five months into Russia's invasion. Moscow and Kyiv signed a landmark deal on Friday to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports. However, representatives declined to sit at the same table and avoided shaking hands at the agreement ceremony in Istanbul, reflecting wider enmity.
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07/23/2022
Boeing has commenced the integration of new electronic warfare (EW) system onto the US Air Force’s (USAF) first two F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. The new system is being upgraded as part of the F-15 fighter aircraft modernisation programme. Under this modernisation effort, a total of 43 F-15E fighter aircraft will be equipped with the Eagle passive active warning and survivability system (EPAWSS).
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07/23/2022
According to Vice-Prime Minister Blaszczak, negotiations between Poland and South Korea for the purchase of 48 KAI FA-50 light fighters are almost concluded. The Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced in an interview to the weekly «Sieci» that Poland will buy South Korean weapons. These will include 48 FA-50 fighter planes, as well as 180 K2 Black Panter heavy tanks and more than 600 K9 155 mm howitzers.
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07/23/2022
Since March, Ukraine has been pleading for Western fighter jets that could eventually replace the aging, worn-down MiG-29s and Su-27s that have been lost in combat. Now, it finally appears that the US Air Force may be willing to transfer some of its unused jets and begin training Ukrainian pilots.
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07/22/2022
The Gökdogan beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, developed by TÜBITAK SAGE as a part of the GÖKTUG Project, has successfully completed another test-fire. Turkish Defense Industry President Ismail Demir posted footage of the aforementioned test-fire on his social media account.
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07/22/2022
The government of Czech Republic has authorized its defense ministry to facilitate the procurement of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from the U.S. government to support the modernization of the country’s armed forces.
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07/22/2022
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will likely pick the South Korean FA-50 Golden Eagle fighter jet over the Indian Tejas for its light combat aircraft program, Global Business Press revealed, citing sources. RMAF chief Gen. Asghar Khan Goriman Khan has “evinced” interest in the “affordable and efficient supersonic advanced light attack platform” over other aircraft in contention, the Singapore-based outlet wrote, quoting an unnamed official.
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07/22/2022
Ukraine may be given Western fighter jets and pilot training to help its forces fight Russia, according to a senior American military figure. Moscow has air superiority over the Ukrainian air force's assortment of Soviet-era aircraft like MiG-29s and other Cold War-era planes. But the U.S. Air Force chief of staff, General Charles Q. Brown Jr., acknowledged that the U.S. and its allies were considering providing Ukraine with new planes.
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07/21/2022
The Czech Republic could well become the latest operator of the F-35 stealth jet, with the government in Prague declaring that the Lockheed Martin product is its preferred choice as its future fighter. If the proposed purchase goes through, it will continue the Joint Strike Fighter’s formidable sales record in Europe and spell bad news for Sweden, which reportedly offered the Gripens that the Czechs currently lease “almost free of charge.”
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07/21/2022
The Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan think tank that prepares reports for the U.S. Congress, recently released a document describing what the future of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) could be and what role they might play in the future.
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07/21/2022
Boeing’s fighter business has a hot production line with a backlog of orders to churn out, but there is a problem approaching: the original fighter designs are old and production will sunset soon.
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07/21/2022
The United States and allies are starting to examine possible training for Ukrainian pilots as part of a long-term effort to potentially help Kyiv build a future Ukrainian air force, Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles "CQ" Brown told Reuters.
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07/21/2022
During exercise “Northern Agility 22-1” in Northern Michigan June 27-29, 127th Wing A-Staff planners developed numerous military responses to an imaginary attack, on an imaginary island, countering with not-so-imaginary weaponry, tactics and innovative technologies developed to support long range combat missions.
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07/20/2022
Korea Aerospace Industries and the country’s Air Force on Tuesday confirmed the first successful test flight of Seoul’s indigenous 4.5th-generation fighter jet, the KF-21 “Boramae.”
The test puts South Korea on the map as the world’s eighth country to have developed supersonic fighter jets, 20 years after former president Daejung Kim ordered the development of a Korean fighter.
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07/20/2022
A Swedish Air Force chief has revealed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has motivated Sweden to develop a brand new strategy for their next-generation of combat aircraft.
Now a member of NATO, the Swedish government has chosen to boost their 2022 military budget, from 1.5 percent of gross domestic production to 2 percent GDP. This is an increase of about $3 billion krona (the equivalent of $286.6 million). Swedish Air Force Chief Major General Carl-Johan Edstrom comments that the larger b
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07/20/2022
A Chinese fighter plane had an “unsafe” and “unprofessional” encounter with the US-owned special operations aircraft C-130 last June in the South China Sea, a recently revealed intelligence announced.
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07/19/2022
Russian air-defense troops just shot down one of the most sophisticated warplanes involved in Russia’s wider war in Ukraine. One problem. It was a Russian warplane. A brand-new Sukhoi Su-34M fighter-bomber. Russian propagandist Yevgeny Poddubny apparently captured on video the Sunday shoot-down over the city of Alchevsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. “Last night, the air-defense crew of the allied forces destroyed a target in the sky over Alchevsk,” Poddubny wrote Monday.
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07/19/2022
The U.S. Air Force is backing off a plan to pair the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber with a comparably sized unmanned combat drone, the service’s top official reportedly said, citing the issue of value.
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07/18/2022
The Air Force has yet to pick a winner among the companies still vying to build the service’s sixth generation jet, but a final downselect is “not all that far away,” the service’s top leader told Breaking Defense this weekend.
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07/17/2022
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that limits Turkey’s F-16 Block 70 program. The bill in question includes a ban on the sale of the F-16 Block 70 unless Turkey guarantees that Greek airspace will not be violated.
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07/16/2022
Members of Congress took a big step toward granting Ukraine’s wish to defend its territory from Russia with American F-16s when the House passed an amendment to train Ukrainian pilots, but hurdles remain to overcome fears of escalation with Russia, Air Force veteran Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) told Air Force Magazine.
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07/16/2022
Beijing has steadily increased the number of combat aircraft flying into Taiwan's air defence identification zone and farther south in the Bashi Channel, a move analysts described as part of its efforts to expand its reach around the island.
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07/15/2022
The House on Thursday passed the $840 billion National Defense Authorization Act 329-101 after attaching hundreds of amendments, including ones restricting new arms transfers. The legislation includes an approximately 7% increase over this year’s spending levels as well as a pair of amendments that curtail U.S. support and weapons transfers to states and militias implicated in human rights atrocities.
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07/15/2022
U.S. Northern Command’s homeland cruise missile detection and defenses must be upgraded to respond to new threats, experts say, and a major D.C. think tank proposes a multi-layered defense that would require fewer Air Force fighters in the air and use new E-7 Wedgetails, the report’s authors told Air Force Magazine.
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07/14/2022
Chinese and Russian military activity around Japan increased 2.5 times in the four months following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, sparking alarm here over a potential escalation. Releases by Japan's Ministry of Defense show 90 instances of activity by Chinese and Russian military vessels and aircraft near Japan in the four months after the invasion began. There had been 35 in the four months before.
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07/14/2022
As tensions simmer across the Taiwan Strait, China and the United States continue attempts to stamp their authority in the region through a constant military presence, radio exchanges heard by Newsweek suggest.
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07/14/2022
NATO will add missile defense assets along the alliance’s eastern borders to guard against any potential threats that arise from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Air Force and NATO officials said Wednesday. The strategy is called “air shielding,” an expression coined during last month’s meeting of NATO leaders in Madrid, said German Brig. Gen. Christoph Pliet, deputy chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Air Command headquarters at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
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07/13/2022
India has intensified fighter operations in Ladakh, with frontline jets carrying out increased sorties including night operations, as the Chinese air force has embarked on an aggressive defence exercise across the border in Tibet. Sources said fighter aircraft including Rafales and Su 30MKIs have been operating with enhanced frequency from Leh and Thoise air bases for the past few days, even as the People's Liberation Army Air Force has activated its air defence network and is conducting a larg
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07/13/2022
The twin-tailed, delta-winged, “pelicanesque” configuration of the Tempest sixth-generation manned fighter concept has become familiar from numerous CGI artworks and from the presence of a full-scale mockup at various air and trade shows. However, there remains a very real possibility that the actual manned fighter that will form the cornerstone of the Tempest project could look nothing like this.
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07/13/2022
The familiar roar of America’s air power is filling the skies over Las Vegas and the Nevada Test and Training Range to the north, signaling the start of another Red Flag exercise. However, participants of this iteration will find themselves facing some unfamiliar opposition as the first ever dedicated fifth-generation aggressor force takes to the skies for Red Flag-Nellis 22-3.
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07/13/2022
Lockheed Martin has laid out its vision for the future of tactical air combat. The head of the company's legendary Skunk Works advanced project division says its plan, which is centered on a multi-layered "distributed team" of diverse unmanned aircraft working in concert with manned types, presents a far more capable alternative to so-called 'loyal wingman' concepts, which involve air combat drones working 'tethered' to manned platforms in a relatively rigid fashion.
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07/12/2022
Experts believe this is due to massive unreliability with Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation systems, forcing them to rely on US-origin hardware. A Russian language website, identified it as a ‘fishing’ GPS 152 receiver, implying its widespread use by fishing vessels.
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07/12/2022
South Korea is expected to purchase 20 new F-35A Block 4 Lightning II stealth fighters for the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) – raising questions about the future of the South Korean aircraft carrier program. A decision is expected to be announced later this month, according to local media reports, with the aircraft slated to be introduced no earlier than mid-2020s. But these plans indicate a wider shift in the defense posture of South Korea and signals a change in the threat priorities as
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07/12/2022
In the opening days of a future war against China, an F-35 pilot on a mission is tracked and shot down by air defenses. He safely ejects — but is trapped deep inside enemy territory.
Standing between him and his comrades: A bristling array of surface-to-air missiles, radars, enemy fighters and other defenses. If the U.S. Air Force sends a traditional combat search and rescue helicopter into that highly contested airspace, the chances are high it gets shot down.
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07/12/2022
The U.S. Air Force has received a high-energy laser weapon that can be carried by aircraft in podded form. The news came today when Lockheed Martin disclosed that at least one of the weapons, which it developed, has been delivered to the Air Force for test work. This effort falls within the wider framework of still-evolving plans to have laser-armed fighter jets that can engage enemy missiles, and possibly other targets too.
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07/11/2022
On July 8, 2022, an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, embarked aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), blew overboard due to unexpected heavy weather in the Mediterranean Sea. The carrier was conducting a replenishment-at-sea, which was safely terminated through established procedures.
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07/11/2022
China has stepped up its incursions activities into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) by sending its combat planes to the region. According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, the People’s Liberation Army conducted 555 sorties in the first six months of the year, of which 398 involved combat aircraft, compared with 187 in the same period last year.
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07/11/2022
The Royal Air Force has deployed Typhoon FGR4 and F-35B Lightning jets to Finland, and Typhoon FGR4 jets to Sweden, for integrated fighter aircraft training as part of an increased presence in the region.
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07/10/2022
Ukraine will receive Slovakia’s entire air fleet of MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters or 12 combat aircraft, one of which was used as a trainer by the Slovak Air Force. The donation comes thanks to a bilateral agreement between the Czech Republic and Slovakia that the Czech Air Force will protect Slovakia’s airspace until Bratislava receives the 12 F-16 Block 70 units ordered by the US in the coming months. The information comes from the Spanish online portal InfoDifensa.
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07/09/2022
South Korea’s first homegrown KF-21 fighter jet is gearing up for its inaugural flight test scheduled for late July. But a maiden flight is just the beginning of 2200 rounds of planned flight tests that will be continued by 2026. KF-21 Boramae fighter prototypes have been undergoing low, medium and high-speed taxi tests since June 25 and will continue until July 13, Korea Aerospace Industries confirmed to The Korea Herald.
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07/09/2022
Taiwan's defense ministry says Chinese military aircraft entered its airspace, condemning the move as a provocation. The ministry said China's combat aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's airspace on Friday morning. Ministry officials did not specify the number of aircraft, the type or their flight paths. Taiwan's military says it expelled the Chinese aircraft while monitoring the situation with a ground-based air defense missile system.
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07/09/2022
The incident took place at around 4 am on one of the days in the last week of June and after the Chinese fighter aircraft was spotted by men on ground and was also picked up by indigenous radars deployed in the border area.
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07/09/2022
The first four modern F-35 fighter aircraft landed at Volkel Air Base on June 30, 2022, marking the re-establishment of the their 313 Squadron as a fifth-generation fighter unit. At the same time, the Royal Netherlands Air Force stood up a new Air Combat Command (ACC), which is comprised of the two operational fighter bases at Leeuwarden in the north and Volkel in the south and Air Operations Control Station (AOCS) based at Nieuw-Milligen in the centre of the Netherlands.
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07/08/2022
According to the director-general of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation Yuriy Slyusar, the Su-34M has twice the combat capability of the original Su-34, with a dedicated interface for three different types of sensors maximizing situational awareness, including the UKR-RT capsule carrying electronic measures for search, camera UKR-OE and UKR-RL, which integrates a synthetic aperture radar.
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07/07/2022
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Tuesday said it is in the process of choosing between the latest model of the American-made Lockheed Martin F-16s and the Swedish-made Saab JAS-39 for its multi-role fighter (MRF) project. "(The) two last contenders, (for the PAF MRF project are the) F-16V Block 50/52 Variant and the JAS-39 Gripen C/D+ Version," PAF spokesperson, Col. Maynard Mariano, said.
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07/07/2022
A proposal from the US to work with India on the creation of jet engine technology that might be utilized to power India's futuristic Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft has been revived. An offer for the joint development of a 110 kn thrust engine with Indian agencies has been made by General Electric (GE), one of the world's top jet engine manufacturers. Leading military sources have revealed to BW Businessworld that GE is being considered for collaboration on the AMCA engine.
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07/07/2022
In a debate aired on national television, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that the Czech Air Force would soon be carrying out patrol and air policing duties from within Slovakia’s airspace. The proposed partnership between the neighboring NATO countries could kick start the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, which has been in the works since the early days of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
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07/07/2022
Taiwan's air force showed off its new locally designed and made jet trainer on Wednesday, touting the more advanced, combat-capable abilities of the aircraft that will replace aging and accident-prone existing equipment.
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07/06/2022
Between 21 and 23 June, a week after a meeting between the Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria Ricardo Guerrera and the Nigerian Minister of Defence Bashir Magashi, the third edition of the Brazil-Nigeria Aviation, Security & Defence Trade Forum was held in the Brazilian Embassy in Abuja.
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07/06/2022
South Korea’s KF-21 next-generation fighter is preparing for its first flight, with footage of a prototype undertaking ground tests under power having emerged in the last few days. These tests follow recent static engine runs for the twin-engine fighter, the first flight of which is rumored to be planned before the end of this month.
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07/06/2022
While it may not make the rounds in Washington as one of the big geopolitical rivalries of the era, tensions between Morocco and Algeria are real, and have escalated in recent years thanks to a dispute over the Western Sahara, which Morocco claims to be its own territory, while Algeria backs the Tindouf-based Polisario Front rebel group.
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07/05/2022
The Taiwanese military will hold a three-day exercise involving all its helicopters at Pingtung’s Jiupeng military base. Dubbed “Mighty Eagle,” the drill is being held to test the combat readiness of the island nation, especially amid increasing pressure from China. During the exercise, helicopters will fire cannons and Hellfire and Stinger missiles at various naval and aerial targets to test their capabilities with precision weapon systems.
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07/05/2022
Russia delivered the first two of six new Su-30 jet fighters to Myanmar in March, according to several informed sources who formerly served with the Myanmar Air Force. Moscow sent several trainers and technicians to assist the Myanmar Air Force during the warranty period, according to the sources, who are former Myanmar Air Force officers who joined the anti-coup movement last year.
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07/04/2022
North Korea on Sunday slammed the United States, South Korea and Japan for pushing to boost their trilateral military cooperation targeting the North, warning that the move is prompting urgent calls for the country to reinforce its military capability.
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07/04/2022
India's Tejas light combat aircraft has emerged as the top choice for Malaysia as the Southeast Asian nation looks at replacing its ageing fleet of fighter jets and the two sides are holding negotiations to firm up the procurement. Malaysia has narrowed down on the Indian aircraft notwithstanding the stiff competition from China's JF-17 jet, South Korea's FA-50 and Russia's Mig-35 as well as Yak-130, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, R Madhavan, told PTI in an inte
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07/03/2022
Officials identified Chris Darnell, 40, as the victim of a fiery accident at the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival. Around 1:10 p.m., Darnell was driving a Shockwave Jet Truck 300 mph down a runway at the Battle Creek Executive Airport for a performance Saturday, July 2 when the fatal accident occurred, Battle Creek Police said.
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07/02/2022
"On June 30, Su-25 attack aircraft and Su-24m bombers launched up to 10 airstrikes in Luhansk direction, supporting the combat actions of the defenders of Lysychansk. The strikes of our pilots prevented the occupiers from advancing in several important directions. The enemy's logistics centers, fuel supply points, armored combat vehicles, and manpower were hit," the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Telegram.
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07/02/2022
Russian troops were reportedly forced to leave the tiny island after massive artillery strikes by the Ukrainian military in recent weeks. Ukraine’s military said a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes forced the Russians to flee the island in two speedboats and deprived Moscow of a strategic outpost for its air defenses and electronic warfare systems.
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07/02/2022
Active-duty Air Force pilots flew fewer hours in fiscal 2021 than the previous year, giving back gains made the prior year, but Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve pilots gained back some additional training in the same period.
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07/02/2022
The ongoing war in Ukraine has demonstrated the military demands of operating in a contested environment, not least of which involves the air domain. Western countries such as the UK, coming off the back of two decades of permissive air access in counter-insurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, could struggle to sustain themselves in a peer-to-peer conflict.
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07/02/2022
The two-day NATO summit in Madrid, which ended yesterday, was dominated by the military alliance’s preparations for war against the nuclear powers Russia and China. NATO’s new Strategic Concept describes Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.” NATO “cannot consider the Russian Federation to be our partner” and will “significantly strengthen deterrence and defence for all allies.”
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07/02/2022
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out the maiden flight of the autonomous flying wing technology from the Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka's Chitradurga on Friday. DRDO officials said, "In a major success towards developing unmanned combat aircraft, the maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator was carried out successfully from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka today."
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07/01/2022
On 26 May a J-16 fighter aircraft from the Peoples Liberational Army Air Force conducted an ‘unsafe’ interception of an Australian P-8A Poseidon routine surveillance flight above international waters. The Chinese fighter pulled alongside releasing flares, then cut in front of the Royal Australian Air Force aircraft and released ‘chaff’—aluminium fragments to decoy incoming missiles. Chaff is familiar to audiences for its frequent appearance in the movie Top Gun: Maverick.
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07/01/2022
Thai authorities say they scrambled fighter jets after a Myanmar fighter jet entered Thai airspace. The aircraft was said to be attacking an ethnic minority group on the Myanmar side of the border. The Thai Air Force deployed two F-16 jets for combat reconnaissance in the border area, Phob Phra District, Tak Province, after a military aircraft was detected flying over the border, the Royal Thai Airforce reports 30 June.
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07/01/2022
As Finland's and Sweden's accession to NATO moves ahead quickly, the alliance's already tight partnership with the Nordic countries was on display in the skies over Northern Europe in early June. On June 2, the Swedish and Finnish air forces drilled with their British, French, German, Norwegian, and Belgian counterparts along Norway's west coast. Some 45 aircraft participated in the exercise, which was meant to demonstrate the ability to conduct complex air operations over long distances.
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07/01/2022
The two-day NATO summit in Madrid, which ended yesterday, was dominated by the military alliance’s preparations for war against the nuclear powers Russia and China. NATO’s new Strategic Concept describes Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.” NATO “cannot consider the Russian Federation to be our partner” and will “significantly strengthen deterrence and defence for all allies.”
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07/01/2022
kai TV reported that Greece will request the deployment of twenty F-35 aircraft and another twenty on condition. Ankara has been pressuring US Congress for a long time now to approve the purchase of new F-16 fighters and set it as a condition before Turkey green-lights the accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO.
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06/30/2022
The Air Force has pounded another nail into the coffin of a potential bridge tanker competition with the launch of the Advanced Aerial Refueling Family of Systems (AAR FoS) program. In a request for information by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the service informed the aviation industry that it’s seeking significant improvements to existing tankers while looking to define a far more capable future system.
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06/30/2022
As Jordan’s leader publicly raised the idea of a Middle East NATO-like alliance, his Air Force has marked a significant upgrade with the signing of a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for eight F-16 Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The LOA was signed June 17 with a Lockheed spokesperson telling Breaking Defense “We anticipate the production contract for this LOA will be complete in the next year,” with deliveries expected to start in 2027.
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06/30/2022
Approximately 170 Airmen assigned to the 175th Wing, Maryland Air National Guard and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft have returned from Europe, where they supported Exercises Swift Response and Defender Europe 22. The 10 Maryland A-10s, assigned to the 104th Fighter Squadron, flew more than 240 sorties and operated in 10 countries throughout Europe to execute Agile Combat Employment. ACE is the Air Force concept of quickly mobilizing and deploying aircraft, personnel and equipment across a theater
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06/29/2022
A subcommittee of South Korea's state defense procurement committee has endorsed a basic proposal to purchase some 20 F-35A radar-evading fighters, Seoul officials said Wednesday.
The Defense Project Promotion Committee's subcommittee approved it on June 9 in a push for a 3.9 trillion won ($3 billion) project to introduce the fighters, manufactured by the US defense giant Lockheed Martin from 2023 through the mid to late 2020s.
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06/27/2022
The U.S. should permanently station fifth-generation combat jets on Guam to counter China’s increasing military capability, the leader of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Friday. “What we are seeing, from my seat, is the largest military buildup in history since WWII,” Adm. John Aquilino said at a Foundation for Defense of Democracies event Friday.
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06/27/2022
The Russian army has lost about 150 military personnel, 21 tanks, 14 armoured combat vehicles, 2 multiple-launch rocket systems and 4 drones in battles in Ukraine in the previous 24 hours.
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06/27/2022
The Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace bid its farewell to the last Mirage 2000C in service during a ceremony at the Air Base 115 in Orange on June 23, 2022. The aircraft, which entered service in 1984, was the “legacy” version of the Mirage 2000, which was becoming increasingly obsolete after more than 235,000 flight hours and almost 40 years of service.
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06/27/2022
India has offered to set up production facilities for the manufacturing of light combat aircraft (LCA) as well as helicopters in Egypt as it pursues export opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa region.
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06/26/2022
According to Eurofighter Typhoon website news release, the Halcón agreement, announced at the ILA air show in Berlin, will see Spain receive 16 single-seater and 4 twin-seater fighters equipped with electronic (e-scan) radar which will replace part of the legacy F-18 fleet. It will increase the Spanish Eurofighter fleet to 90 aircraft.
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06/26/2022
A United States P-8A military plane flew over the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese Army reported Saturday on its official Weibo social media account. Command spokesman Shi Yi wrote about the army’s “firm opposition” to the Friday flight and said forces in the area “remain on high alert at all times” to defend China’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Shi said the army organized “ground and air forces” to monitor “all operations” of the US aircraft, an anti-submarine maritime patrol plane.
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06/26/2022
As the ravaging war in Eastern Europe entered its 122nd day on Saturday, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed that Russia has incurred heavy casualties over the last four months. In its latest operational update, the ministry claimed that Russia has lost nearly 34,700 soldiers, 3,645 Armored Personnel Vehicles (APV), 1,511 tanks, 764 artillery systems and 241 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), and at least 99 anti-aircraft warfare.
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06/26/2022
The Air Force selected LIFT Airborne Technologies to continue with prototype development of a new helmet for Air Force fixed-wing aircrew. The helmet prototype was chosen after Air Combat Command initiated the search for a next-generation helmet to address issues with long-term neck and back injuries, optimize aircraft technology, improve pilot longevity, and provide better fitment to diverse aircrews.
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06/26/2022
Whether it’s doubles tennis, beach volleyball or two-seat bobsled, some sports are awesome when there are two people working together. The same rings true for flying jets like the Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seat fighter with a pilot sitting in front and a weapon systems officer, a.k.a. ‘wizzo,’ in the back. The ‘wizzos’ are often unsung heroes, but they enjoyed a rare shout-out on Facebook last week, when a lifelong Wizzo broke down their vital role in the air.
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06/25/2022
An uptick in Russian and Chinese warship movements near Japan are a part of an ongoing military demonstration toward Tokyo, Japan’s Defense Minister Nobou Kishi said this week.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy and the Russian Pacific fleet have, since mid-June, sent two separate surface action groups around the Japanese home islands.
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06/25/2022
The recent visit to Pakistan by the head of Argentina’s joint military staff has fed speculation that a JF-17 fighter jet deal is on the horizon following more than a decade of interest by the South American nation. But despite China’s willingness to help fund an acquisition program, its unclear if any major progress was made.
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06/25/2022
Our military-industrial complex recently convinced an aviation expert at The Aviationist to take a swing at the A-10 once again. Instead of relying on that author’s poorly researched piece, let’s take a more thorough look into battlefield realities.
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06/24/2022
The Czech Ministry of Defense is considering the replacement of the 14 JAS-39 Gripen C/D fighters currently on lease from the Swedish manufacturer Saab until 2027 by acquiring at least 24 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters. Following a study carried out to assess the needs of its combat aviation, the Czech Air Force “has already passed on to the ministry its idea of which aircraft should protect the Czech airspace in the coming years,” said the local daily Echo24 on June 20, 2022.
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06/24/2022
Years ago, the U.S. Army’s vision for its fleet of Future Vertical Lift helicopters and aircraft was intended to engineer platforms that could operate in a dangerous threat environment in the 2030s and not focus on the near term when it comes to the development of paradigm-changing new aircraft.
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06/24/2022
Slovakia will transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in exchange for temporary airspace protection from Poland and Czechia, reports suggest. Talks to implement the scheme have been happening in the context of a similar exchange which could see Slovakia receive German-made Leopard 2 tanks in exchange for delivering Soviet-era T-72s to Ukraine, according to a report by Business Insider.
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06/24/2022
Two lawmakers in Washington want to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made military aircraft, signalling at least some members of Congress support the US playing a more-direct role in Ukraine’s air war against Russia. Despite such support, however, the US government has signalled no intention of pursuing such a strategy.
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06/24/2022
The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) has signed a landmark contract for the acquisition of 20 latest-generation Eurofighter jets. Known as the Halcon programme, the order will cover the delivery of a fleet of E-Scan (Electronically Scanned) radar-equipped fighter aircraft consisting of 16 single-seaters and 4 twin-seaters to replace the F-18 fleet operated by the Spanish Air Force on the Canary Islands.
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06/23/2022
A second Australian military aircraft was dispatched over contested waters in the South China Sea last month, just hours after the Chinese air force conducted a "dangerous interception" of another RAAF plane. Defence is refusing to discuss the May 26 incident further, but flight data obtained by the ABC reveals new details of the dramatic flight as well as other recent Defence Force maritime surveillance missions being flown out of the Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
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06/23/2022
Six countries in the NATO alliance recently signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to cooperate on new concepts for a next-generation helicopter. At the June 16 meeting of alliance defense ministers, in Brussels, Italy, France, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have agreed to jointly commit 26.7 million Euro to develop the Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) project. This is equivalent to $28 million.
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06/23/2022
India has emerged as the frontrunner for a Malaysian requirement of light combat aircraft, with a package deal on the table that would include maintenance and spares for the nation's Russian origin Su 30 fighter jets.
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06/22/2022
The new “Splinter” camouflage on aggressor F-35s at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., shouldn’t negate or interfere with their low observability, meaning they can truly play the role of a stealthy sparring partner for USAF fighters, according to a Nellis spokesperson. The first two F-35s to appear in camouflage were revealed June 9 at a Nellis ceremony to reactivate the 65th Aggressor Squadron, wearing a paint scheme reminiscent of both the Russian Su-57 Felon and Chinese J-20 fighters.
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06/22/2022
Instead of the quick Russian victory that Moscow and much of the world expected, the war in Ukraine has dragged on for nearly four months, with both sides losing thousands of troops and hundreds of aircraft and vehicles.
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06/22/2022
The U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force are working on a new generation of training technologies to prepare their fighter aircraft for new Russian and Chinese air threats posed by the Su-57 fighter and J-20 fifth-generation stealth aircraft, respectively.
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06/22/2022
Taiwan scrambled jets on Tuesday to warn away 29 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, including bombers that flew south of the island and into the Pacific, in the latest uptick in tensions and largest incursion since late May.
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06/21/2022
The United States may let Tajikistan hold on to Afghan military aircraft donated by the U.S. that sought shelter in the Central Asian country following the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul last August, a U.S. military commander said. U.S.-trained Afghan pilots flew dozens of military planes and helicopters to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as they fled the Islamist Taliban who took over the country as foreign forces withdrew.
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06/21/2022
The South Korean Air Force on Monday kicked off a large-scale aerial military exercise to enhance combat readiness and prepare for possible “enemy provocations,” including a surprise invasion. The theater-level “Soaring Eagle” combat training exercise is being staged over five days through Friday at the 29th Tactical Fighter Weapons Group located at an air base in the central city of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
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06/21/2022
The Air Force’s plans to divest its oldest 33 F-22 Raptor fighters met with a sharp rebuke from the House Armed Services Committee, which moved instead to mandate the Air Force maintain the full Raptor fleet and upgrade the older planes to the newest configuration in its version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization bill.
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06/21/2022
Russian military pilots are still actively using insecure, non-military navigation equipment due to the low quality of Russian own navigation systems. Ukraine has shared abundant evidence that Russians have added off-the-shelf GPS systems, such as Garmin, to the cockpit of its combat aircraft. During the interrogation of the Russian pilot captured on June 18, it turned out that he had with him a Garmin navigator and a smartphone with the ‘Pronebo’ soft in order to have more accurate navigation.
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06/21/2022
China has launched its third aircraft carrier and the first to feature a catapult aircraft launch system. The ship designed and built in China was christened as “Fujian” named after the Chinese province opposite Taiwan, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. According to Defense News, “Fujian” was launched at the Shanghai shipyard where it had undergone construction since 2018.
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06/21/2022
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has deployed four F-35B Lightning II aircraft to participate in the air combat training exercise, Ocean Hit. The exercise was conducted in the Bay of Biscay, a gulf of the north-east Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. As part of the exercise, the F-35B aircraft trained with Nato and European partner nations in a combat scenario.
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06/20/2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken the foundation of European security to its core and generated a host of sweeping future plans to expand, strengthen, and improve NATO. n close coordination with NATO allies, the Pentagon will pre-position equipment, pursue “scalable” forward formations, streamline multinational command and control, and emphasize rapid deployment ability to respond to future contingencies.
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06/20/2022
Three Chinese military aircraft on Saturday (local time) breached Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Two People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane were tracked in the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), reported Taiwan News.
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06/20/2022
Each Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC) includes a Fighter Combat Instructor (FCI) course, which debuted for the F-35A Lightning II this year. Commanding Officer of No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit, Wing Commander Jordan Sander, spoke to Squadron Leader Eamon Hamilton about bringing a fifth-generation fighter capability into AWIC.
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06/19/2022
Russia has already lost about 33,350 troops in Ukraine (+200 over the past day). The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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06/19/2022
Another country has wanted to acquire the latest version of the 4 ++ generation F-16 Block 70 fighter, and this is the Kingdom of Jordan. The Middle East country has ordered eight fighter jets, but there is a problem: orders from Bahrain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Morocco, and Taiwan are waiting in the production line.
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06/19/2022
Iranian F-14 fighter jet crashed on Saturday, causing injury to one of its crew members, media in I mentioned the Islamic Republic. He added, “The plane experienced a technical malfunction… the pilot and his co-pilot landed with “Umbrellas”, the ministry’s spokesperson said for The military in Isfahan province where crash Event.
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06/18/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently made an emotional pitch begging for military aid that could help strike enemy positions amid relentless Russian shelling on Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region. Reports suggest that a Russian Su-25 fighter jet crashed near the Ukrainian border. A video showed the fighter’s charred wreckage near Russia’s Belgorod region, which shares borders with Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Sumy provinces.
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06/18/2022
Raytheon Technologies’ company Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) has been selected for a $46.2m project-level agreement to modernise the US Air Force’s (USAF) A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. The firm-fixed-price contract falls under the System of Systems Consortium’s (SOSSEC) Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) consortium initiative Other Transaction Authority (OTA).
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06/18/2022
The Air Force selected LIFT Airborne Technologies in April to continue with prototype development of a new helmet for Air Force fixed-wing aircrew. The helmet prototype was chosen after Air Combat Command initiated the search for a next-generation helmet to address issues with long-term neck and back injuries, optimize aircraft technology, improve pilot longevity, and provide better fitment to diverse aircrews.
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06/18/2022
There’s an old sports cliché that offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships — and the U.S. Air Force may learn a thing or two from seeing it play out in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That’s because Ukraine, despite having a smaller, lower-tech air force than Russia, has managed to keep Russian aircraft largely out of the country through the clever use of mobile anti-aircraft missile launchers and their knowledge of the terrain, according to a recently-published essay by airpower e
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06/18/2022
China unveiled its first homegrown aircraft carrier on Friday, a vessel with advanced aircraft launch technology similar to its U.S. counterparts, in an event designed to symbolize the country’s expanding military might. In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, officials unveiled the Type 003 warship, called “Fujian” according to the country’s defense ministry and state media.
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06/17/2022
The Air Force could finally get its chance to start retiring some of its older A-10 Warthog attack planes. The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday announced it had advanced its version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which supports the Air Force’s plans to divest 21 A-10s at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base in Indiana. The Air Force said earlier this year, when it released its proposed fiscal 2023 budget, it would replace those Warthogs with an equal number of F-16s.
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06/17/2022
Airmen from California 144th Fighter Wing continued operational tests of an Agile Combat Employment trailer, June 9, 2022, at the Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. The ACE trailer is a one-of-a-kind operational prototype that enables a small team of Airmen to launch and recover fighter jets from an austere location. It was only the second operational use of the basing trailer thus far to launch and recover fighter jets. The trailer served as the hub for all maintenance operations.
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06/17/2022
Six NATO countries signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly work on concepts for a next-generation helicopter on June 16 at a meeting of alliance defense ministers in Brussels.
France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are committing €26.7 million, or roughly $28 million, for the Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) project, according to a NATO statement. Canada will likely be an observer nation.
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06/17/2022
The U.S. Operational Test Team (UOTT) supported a U.S. Marine Corps F-35 spring test event aboard the USS Tripoli, led by the Navy’s Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR). The mission demonstrated the Lightning carrier concept where several F-35B aircraft rapidly launch from a Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) ship to conduct missions involving large strike packages or hours of defensive counter air.
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06/17/2022
The MiG-35 "Fulcrum-F" is a medium-weight, fourth-generation "++" multirole fighter aircraft produced as a highly upgraded version of the MiG-29K/KUB and MiG-29M/M2. First announced publicly in 2007 at the Aero India air show in Bengaluru, development of the craft has been notably slow, with the earliest production beginning in 2013 or 2014 and the first successful flight not occurring until 2017.
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06/16/2022
Sweden is looking to replace its six old C-130Hs (Tp84 according to the Swedish MoD designation) with four second-hand C-130Js from Italy, as the procurement of the latter has been judged as a better option than an upgrade program. While this has not yet been officially confirmed from the two countries, Air Forces Monthly reported the news after an interview with the Swedish Air Force Chief of Staff.
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06/16/2022
Satellite imagery shows major construction at Tinian International Airport that we can say with near certainty is linked directly to plans to expand the facility's ability to act as a divert airfield for the U.S. military in a crisis. More than a decade in the making, the project is intended to provide a vital alternative operating location to the U.S. Air Force's massive Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam, just to the southwest of Tinian, should that base be put out of action for any
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06/16/2022
The skies over the Top End are once again reverberating to the sound of combat aircraft as Exercise Diamond Storm draws to its conclusion. The exercise, involving multiple fighter aircraft from the RAAF’s Air Combat Group, C-130J Hercules from the Air Mobility Group and a P-8A Poseidon from Surveillance and Response Group, will graduate the latest generation of Air Warfare instructors who will then go on to be subject matter experts back in their parent units.
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06/16/2022
Germany has chosen an installation near the U.S.-operated Spangdahlem Air Base to house the 35 American-made fighter jets it purchased as part of a military overhaul in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The fleet of fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets will be stationed at Buechel Air Base, in the country's Eifel region, German broadcaster SWR reported Saturday, citing an unidentified spokesman in the German armed forces' Federal Infrastructure Office.
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06/15/2022
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is mulling to acquire more advanced versions of South Korea's Mach 1.5 capable FA-50 light combat aircraft. "Yes, it is an option. The FA-50s is a good lead-in trainer fighter aircraft na rin, halos multi-role, pwede siyang mag-air-to-ground (it can be considered almost as a multi-role aircraft as it can do air-to-ground missions) or air-to-air. It provides a good training opportunity for the pilots to step up to higher performance aircraft."
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06/15/2022
The U.S. shouldn’t count on economic sanctions to cripple Russia’s defense industrial base or to prevent Russia from replacing military equipment lost or expended in Ukraine, according to a panel of experts.
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06/14/2022
The relevant statement was made by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “At about 10:00 a.m., June 12, 2022, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit Russia’s Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft near Izium, Kharkiv Region,” the report states.
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06/14/2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder that Europe’s NATO members need to spend more wisely — and not simply spend more — in bolstering their collective defense against unwarranted aggression. Kyiv’s success so far in blunting Moscow’s armed forces provides a pointer as to where at least some of the additional investment and focus should go, not least of all in air and counter-air systems as well as what are sometimes termed combat enablers.
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06/14/2022
The Bundeswehr (the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany) have decided that all the new F-35A stealth jets destined to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) will be stationed at Büchel Air Base.
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06/14/2022
A report by Asian News International (ANI) said that the remaining 18 of 114 aircraft would be purchased from foreign manufacturers selected under the new project. The fighter jets are being acquired under the Government of India’s (GOI) ‘Buy Global and Make in India’ initiative, which allows local companies to collaborate with international vendors.
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06/13/2022
According to recent reports, the Government sources have revealed that the PLA Air Force has around two dozen frontline combat aircraft stationed at its Hotan air base in the Eastern Ladakh sector, including the J-11 and the J-20 stealth fighters jets. “The Chinese earlier used to maintain detachments of MiG-21 class fighters there, but they have now been replaced with more capable and sophisticated aircraft and in larger numbers,” they said.
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06/13/2022
For the first time, a Boeing KC-46A Pegasus of the United States Air Force (USAF) refueled a CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft of the Air Force Special Operations Command. This milestone was announced by the 27th Special Operations Wing of the USAF on June 9, 2022. The mission took place over Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico on June 1, 2022.
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06/13/2022
Korea Aerospace Industries Co., South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Sunday it has signed an agreement with the U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin to boost sales of its advanced trainer jets in the United States. Under the "Teaming Agreement" signed on Thursday (U.S. time), the two sides agreed to set up a steering committee to jointly design, produce and promote an improved model of FA-50 light combat aircraft to try to win U.S. military procurement projects.
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06/12/2022
A Russian signal reconnaissance plane and two Russian fighter planes entered Swedish civilian surveillance airspace north of Visby on Thursday without reporting the approach according to a source speaking to the Swedish press. The breach came as Swedish forces are currently participating in the annual naval exercise Baltops, where, among others, the amphibious ship USS Kearsarge visited Stockholm.
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06/12/2022
Months after the Commander of the Pacific Air Forces of the USAF, General Kenneth Wilsbach revealed that the F-35 had a close encounter with China’s J-20 fighter jet over the East China Sea, the US Air Force is constituting an F-35 aggressor squadron to ‘replicate the threat emerging from China.’
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06/11/2022
The Ukrainian military have repulsed 14 enemy attacks and destroyed four Russian tanks, 11 armored vehicles and other military equipment in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area over the past day. The relevant statement was made by the Joint Forces Task Force on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
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06/11/2022
An ad hoc US Air Force task force known as the “Grey Wolf Team” is advising Ukraine’s air force in its defensive air campaign against Russia’s invasion. We exist because there’s a bunch of motivated people who want to help out. There’s not another team like this in the Air Force that’s doing the same thing,” said an Air Force fighter pilot who has worked extensively on the Grey Wolf Team.
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06/11/2022
Another military aircraft has crashed in the desert around El Centro, California -- the third in the region in seven days. It comes less than 48 hours after an MV-22B Osprey crash killed five Marines in the same area. On Thursday, a Navy MH-60S Seahawk was conducting a routine training flight from Naval Air Facility El Centro when it crashed at around 6 p.m. local time, the service said in a press release. A social media post from the facility said the crash was located about 35 miles north of Y
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06/11/2022
On Jun. 9, 2022, the U.S. Air Force reactivated the 65th Aggressors Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The unit, apreviously flying the F-15C/D, inactivated on Sept. 26, 2014, due to Fiscal Year 2015 budget constraints but a plan to “resurrect” it and move 11 F-35A Lightning IIs from Eglin AFB, Florida, to Nellis, “as part of a larger initiative to improve training for fifth generation fighter aircraft” was announced on May 9, 2019.
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06/11/2022
Airbus and Dassault are struggling to reach a mutual agreement on who should take leadership and intellectual rights of its Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program. In March 2022, Dassault Aviation threatened to pull out of an alliance with Airbus. This was followed by Dassault requesting political intervention to help push the deal forward in July.
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06/10/2022
A Chinese military plane crashed in a residential area in central China on Thursday, killing at least one person, China's state-run national broadcaster CCTV said. The plane, a People's Liberation Army Air Force J-7 aircraft, was on a training mission in Hubei province when it crashed, damaging several houses, CCTV said.
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06/10/2022
The Russian Air Force has reportedly used four of its new Sukhoi Su-57, fifth-generation fighter jets, to carry out attacks against Ukrainian air defense systems. According to RIA Novosti, a source close to the operation reportedly said that four Su-57 fighter jets, working in a network, were used to identify and destroy Ukrainian air defense systems.
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06/09/2022
Ukrainian forces have repulsed seven enemy attacks and destroyed a significant number of military equipment in the area of the Joint Forces Operation in eastern Ukraine in the last 24 hours. The Joint Forces Task Force said this in a Facebook post, Ukrinform reports.
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06/09/2022
ir National Guard Airmen and aircraft from around the country are conducting the first Air National Guard Readiness Exercise Program event, Agile Rage 22. This exercise is hosted by the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, part of the National All-Domain Warfighting Center in Northern Michigan, June 4-18.
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06/09/2022
Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) expects to produce its new-build F-16 fighter jets next year and commence deliveries in 2024, its chief financial officer Jesus Malave said on Wednesday. The company has a list of key U.S. allies including Bahrain, Taiwan, Slovakia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia eager to purchase the jet.
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06/09/2022
An Osprey aircraft carrying five Marines crashed Wednesday in southeastern California just north of the Mexican border, military officials said. There was no immediate information about casualties or damage to property on the ground due to the crash in Imperial County near Glamis, east of Brawley.
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06/09/2022
More than a hundred days into Russia’s wider war on Russia, the tiny, aging Ukrainian air force still is in the fight. It’s a remarkable feat, considering that the Russian air force has 10 times as many fighters—and most of them are much more modern than Ukraine’s 30-year-old planes are. An old aerobatic fighter jet, apparently returned to service with foreign parts, is a symbol of Kyiv’s continuing aerial defiance.
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06/08/2022
On the 104th day of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Russian army is continuing to storm the city of Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian helicopters carried out airstrikes on Russian forces in Kherson Oblast and Ukrainian planes attacked Russian ammunition depots in Mykolaiv Oblast.
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06/08/2022
Ukraine’s successes in resisting and even turning back an invasion by a numerically superior Russian force has raised expectations in East Asia that smaller nations in the region could conceivably fend off an attack from a large military like China’s. Taiwan, of course, has long struggled with executing such a defense strategy, but since its strategic considerations are in many ways unique, other countries nominally threatened by China may not be able to draw as many lessons from Taipei’s experi
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06/08/2022
As an unintended result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden will abandon their historical stance of neutrality and want to join NATO. But what combat power will their Air Forces bring to the table? First, it should be noted that both the Swedish and Finnish armed forces have, over the years, developed great interoperability with their neighboring NATO partners, honed through multiple bilateral and multilateral exercises.
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06/08/2022
The United States and South Korea conducted a joint air power demonstration on Tuesday, Seoul said, flying 20 fighter planes in the allies' latest response to North Korea's ballistic missile launches last weekend. The exercise consisted of four U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets and 16 South Korean combat aircraft, including F-15Ks, KF-16s and F-35A stealth fighters, flown in attack formation over the sea west of Korea.
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06/08/2022
Canadian government sources told a news agency that Chinese fighters have repeatedly intercepted Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) aircraft participating in a U.N.-sanctioned operation in international airspace. The Global News report, quoted in a Newsweek article, said, “Those jets are frequently flying as close as 20 to 100 feet from the Canadian plane,” adding that Canadian pilots “sometimes see them raising their middle fingers.”
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06/07/2022
Ukrainian defenders repelled ten enemy attacks in eastern Ukraine on Monday, June 6, with fighting going on at two locations. The press service of the Joint Forces Task Force said this in a Facebook post, Ukrinform reports. "Ukrainian defenders of the Joint Forces Task Force repelled ten enemy attacks today. Fighting is still ongoing at two locations," the statement said.
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06/07/2022
Egypt is close to finalising a $3bn deal with Italy to acquire combat aircraft, following three years of negotiations, according to an Italian newspaper. Il Fatto Quotidiano quoted an Italian government official as saying that the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is awaiting confirmation from Italian Prime Minister Mario Dargi to finalise the deal, which includes the purchase of 24 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
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06/06/2022
Australia has accused China of conducting a dangerous intercept of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft in late May, with Australia’s Defence Minister subsequently saying that the Chinese jet released decoys that were ingested by the P-8A’s engine.
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06/06/2022
Ukrainian defenders have destroyed four Russian tanks, one attack helicopter and three artillery systems in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area over the past day. The relevant statement was made by the Joint Forces Task Force on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The JFO fighters continue to keep the defense within the designated control area in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions.
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06/06/2022
Despite having a significantly larger air force than Ukraine (15 times larger by some accounts), the Russian military has failed to gain air superiority, and arguably maintains aerial parity. At best Russia has achieved local air superiority in the Donbas region. Gaining control of the skies has been seen as a crucial part of military doctrine since the Second World War, and it is something the United States and its allies had accomplished in the 1991 and 2003 invasions of Iraq.
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06/06/2022
Russia took aim Sunday at Western military supplies for Ukraine, launching airstrikes on Kyiv that it claimed destroyed tanks donated from abroad, as Vladimir Putin warned that any Western deliveries of longer-range rocket systems would prompt Moscow to hit “objects that we haven’t yet struck.”
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06/05/2022
Video of the final moments of a 63-year-old Russian general shot down and killed by Ukrainian forces has emerged today. Major General Kanamat Botashev was part of a two-ship formation flying low over the Donbass region when his £9million aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile, according to a report of his funeral in Russian outlet Kommersant.
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06/05/2022
Ukraine needs simplified and accelerated arms supply procedures, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told a panel on military assistance within the GLOBSEC-2022 International Security Forum in Bratislava. That’s according to the Ministry of Defense press service, Ukrinform reports.
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06/05/2022
A Navy pilot is dead after a fighter jet crashed Friday in the Southern California desert. Navy officials confirmed that on Friday F/A-18E Super Hornet that was based at Naval Air Station Lemoore went down at about 2:30 pm in the area of Trona, an unincorporated Mojave Desert community in San Bernardino County about 236 miles southeast of the air station.
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06/05/2022
After months of speculation, in April the Air Force officially chose the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail to replace its decades-old AWACS planes. But there’s a lag between making the choice and flying the planes — during which Mitchell Institute Executive Director Douglas Birkey says Congress and the Air Force must work together in a hurry to minimize the American military’s vulnerability in the skies.
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06/05/2022
The question was posed in a private briefing to U.S. intelligence officials weeks before Russia launched its invasion in late February: Was Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made in the mold of Britain’s Winston Churchill or Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani? In other words, would Zelenskyy lead a historic resistance or flee while his government collapsed?
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06/04/2022
Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin has fired five generals and a police colonel as his military continued to suffer massive losses, it has been reported. Tens of thousands of Russian troops have been killed and Moscow has failed in its bid to capture Kyiv, instead now focusing on the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.
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06/04/2022
China’s most advanced aircraft carrier to date appears to be nearing completion, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Friday, as experts suggested the vessel could be launched soon. The newly developed Type 003 carrier has been under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard northeast of Shanghai since 2018. Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC on May 31 suggest work on the vessel is close to done.
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06/03/2022
Ten military airplanes will land on an Upper Peninsula highway later this month to practice operating in austere environments, the Michigan National Guard announced. A 9,000-foot section of the four-lane M-28 highway east of Munising in Alger County will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, to accommodate the training exercise known as Northern Agility 22-1. Detours will be posted. Civilian access will not be permitted during the exercise.
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06/03/2022
The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three people familiar with the situation said according to an exclusive Reuters report posted on June 1, 2022.
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06/03/2022
Following years of discussion, Sukhoi and MiG, two of Russia’s most powerful aircraft manufacturers, have finally merged with the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a part of the Rostec state corporation, state media Tass reported. he merger was approved by the UAC Board of Directors in November 2021. The shareholders of all three companies backed this decision in January of this year. “Relevant records were made on June 1 in the United State Register of Legal Entities,” the report said.
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06/02/2022
Senior Canadian government officials are growing increasingly concerned over a dangerous escalation in aggression by Chinese fighter pilots in the skies above the Asia-Pacific region. Multiple sources in the Canadian Forces and the federal government tell Global News that Chinese jets are repeatedly “buzzing” a Canadian surveillance plane that is part of a United Nations mission over international waters.
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06/02/2022
Saab has received an order from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), concerning the development of future fighter aircraft. The contract includes studies on future combat air capabilities. As reported in the company’s press release, the study is preparatory in nature and is intended to expand work on how future combat air capabilities can be developed and realized.
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06/02/2022
Spokesman for the Polish Armament Agency (Polish MoD’s defense procurement organ) stated, via his Twitter account, that Warsaw is considering acquisition of the KAI FA-50 as a potential reinforcement of the Polish Air Force. The news appeared in the Polish public sphere in the wake of the MoD’s representatives’, including the head of the Polish MoD, Mariusz Blaszczak, visit to Korea, where they have been discussing the potential for industrial cooperation between Poland and Korea.
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06/02/2022
The Air Force’s secretive and highly classified Next Generation Air Dominance fighter program has started its crucial engineering and manufacturing development phase, Secretary Frank Kendall said Wednesday. In a discussion at the Heritage Foundation, Kendall said the Air Force began early experimental prototyping on NGAD in 2015, when he was the Pentagon’s top acquisition official.
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06/01/2022
The Michigan Air National Guard 127th Wing made history with the landing of an A-10 Thunderbolt II on M-32 near Alpena in Northern Michigan on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. The exercise, believed to be the first time modern military aircraft have been landed on a U.S. civilian roadway, was part of the annual Northern Strike war-readiness training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard.Provided by the Michigan Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.
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06/01/2022
On 26 May, the US State Department announced preliminary approval of the sale to Egypt of 23 CH-47F Chinook Helicopters for an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. The sale includes related equipment such as engines, GPS, navigation and missile warning systems, software, machine guns and ammunition.
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06/01/2022
On his first trip to Asia as United States President last week, Joe Biden gave his strongest warning yet to Beijing that Washington was committed to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack from China. Biden's comments, which compared a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, appeared to deviate from Washington's decades-old policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the issue and seemingly raised the possibility of a military clash between US and Chinese forces.
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06/01/2022
Turkey is demanding that the US should either change its decision on the F-35 stealth fighter supply program or return the money paid, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. “As for the F-35, Congress needs to reconsider its decision. We say either change the decision or return the money we invested,” Cavusoglu told Turkish news agency Anadolu.
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05/31/2022
Finland will deploy the US-made F-35 fighter jets to its northernmost region, Lapland, to deter the aggression from Russia as it seeks membership in the defensive alliance NATO. Helsinki is expected to receive the first batch of the aircraft in four years’ time, the country’s air force reportedly said in a statement.
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05/31/2022
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is cutting down its largest fighter jet procurement programme by half and has indicated the likelihood of a change in the procurement model to one which is more acceptable to foreign suppliers for compliance to Make in India requirements in view of the reduced numbers.
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05/31/2022
Taiwan on Monday reported the largest incursion since January by China's air force in its air defence zone, with the island's defence ministry saying Taiwanese fighters scrambled to warn away 30 aircraft in the latest uptick in tensions. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years or so of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone.
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05/30/2022
According to reports, at least one surface-to-air missile was launched at F-16 fighters while they were departing after striking Iranian targets near Syria’s northwestern city of Masyaf.
Exactly who operates the S-300 systems in Syria is unclear. However, reports suggest that Russian military personnel oversee operations of the Syrian S-300s, and Damascus needs Moscow’s authorization before it can fire them.
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05/30/2022
The Japanese government is considering choosing British aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems to support prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in developing the F-X next-generation fighter aircraft for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), informed sources said.
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05/30/2022
The announcement to base the first F-35 multirole aircraft up north was made by the Finnish Air Force on Friday. “The Air Force’s F-35 fleet will be commissioned first to the Lapland Air Force in Rovaniemi in 2026,” Air Force Commander Brigadier General Juha-Pekka Keränen said.
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05/30/2022
Ukraine pushes back Russians to previous positions around Sievierodonetsk and a reported small counteroffensive had taken place in Kherson Oblast; meanwhile, Rusia had taken control of Lyman and Svitlodarsk. Ukraine says Russia has lost about 30,000 soldiers since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia continues to construct fortifications in Kherson Oblast.
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05/29/2022
Hundreds of Lithuanian citizens rallied together to raise nearly $5 million to purchase an advanced military drone for Ukraine to use in its ongoing war against Russia. The fundraiser was completed in just three and a half days, and was largely comprised of small donations from ordinary Lithuanian citizens, Reuters reported Saturday, citing Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the effort. The money, a total of $4.7 million, will now be used to purchase a Bayraktar TB2 mili
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05/28/2022
Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, saying the arms would bolster forces fighting Russia's invasion. "The coastal defence of our country will not only be strengthened by Harpoon missiles – they will be used by trained Ukrainian teams," Reznikov wrote on his Facebook page.
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05/28/2022
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law enabling people over 40 to enlist for the armed forces. They are expected to be people of normal working age. Previously the army had age limits of 18-40 years for Russians and 18-30 for foreigners. Russia is presenting it as a move to recruit more technical specialists. The new law says specialists are required to operate high-precision weapons and "experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45".
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05/28/2022
Tensions with Russia have been escalating in the area since Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO on May 18. A Mikoyan MiG-31 'Foxhound' and a Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer' jet were intercepted near Norway’s airspace on Thursday. The jets were observed outside Finnmark, in Norway's far north, but did not enter official Norwegian airspace.
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05/28/2022
The relevant statement was made by the Air Assault Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Today Ukrainian servicemen from the anti-aircraft artillery missile battalion of the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade have shot down another combat helicopter used by Russian occupiers, Ka-52 ‘Alligator’,” the report states.
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05/28/2022
A Swiss alliance seeking to block the purchase of F-35 fighter jets said Friday it had received nearly enough support to put the controversial military contract to a referendum. The left-wing Stop F-35 alliance said it had almost secured the 100,000 signatures required under Switzerland’s direct democracy system to force an issue to a vote. The consortium has said it does not want the jets because they are costly, and because of a number of technical issues reported with the planes.
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05/28/2022
“Today, May 27, around 14.00 o’clock a MiG-29 fighter of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down a Russian fighter Su-35, which posed a threat to Ukrainian aircraft in the sky of Kherson region”. This is the very short text that has been released few hours ago on Telegram and other social networks by the Ukrainian Air Force.
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05/27/2022
The Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated almost 90 Russian invaders, also destroying a helicopter and two enemy mortars in the past day. That’s according to the Operational Command East’s report on Facebook, seen by Ukrinform. It is noted that Ukrainian defenders continue to hold back Russian troops in the east.
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05/27/2022
The commander of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, stated on Monday that he will seek to reduce the number of KC-390 Millennium ordered from Embraer from 22 to 15 units. This is the second time that the FAB intends to reduce the acquisition of the KC-390. Originally 28 units had been ordered from Embraer, but the reduction in the expected Defense budget because of the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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05/27/2022
Ukrainian air defenses have claimed another victim: a top Russian fighter pilot. Kanamat Botashev, a retired major general in the Russian Air Force, was killed when his Su-25 ground attack aircraft was hit by a Stinger missile, according to the BBC’s Russian-language service (English translation here), which contacted three of Botashev’s former subordinates.
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05/27/2022
The U.S. military estimates that Russia has lost nearly 1,000 tanks and “a not insignificant amount” of personnel in its now three-month long attack on Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday. “We believe they’ve lost or rendered inoperable almost 1,000 of their tanks in this fight,” the official told reporters, but noted that “they still have a lot left available to them.”
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05/26/2022
Alert 5 reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin disclosed during a press briefing which the Czech Republic has transferred its attack helicopters to Ukraine. “I’m especially grateful to Denmark, which announced today that it will provide a Harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast. I’d also like to thank the Czech Republic for its substantial support, including a recent donation of attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems.
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05/26/2022
Four Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers conducted joint flights together on Tuesday around Japan and the Republic of Korea, prompting both countries to scramble fighter aircraft to monitor the flights. The joint flights took place the same day U.S. President Joe Biden was meeting his Australian, Indian and Japanese Quad grouping counterparts in Tokyo, though both the Russian and Chinese defense ministries stated that the flights were part of their annual military cooperation plan.
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05/26/2022
A short overview of developments at the front as of the evening of 24 May 2022 according to military expert Roman Ponomarenko: The battle for the Donbas is underway, where Putin has deployed a lot of forces. In Luhansk Oblast alone, the Russians have 25 battalion-tactical groups (20,000 soldiers) and according to President Zelenskyy’s May 23 statement, they have “20 times more equipment” in the Donbas than the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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05/26/2022
It’s a history steeped in remarkable figures: 54 world records, two million flying hours, operated by 26 different entities across 22 nations, and able to be configured for 17 quite different mission objectives. But now Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Hercules has reached another milestone: the delivery of the 500th airlifter in early 2022.
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05/24/2022
Denmark will arm Ukraine with with a modern Harpoon anti-ship launcher and missiles to protect its coasts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after concluding the latest U.S.-led meeting of international defense chiefs to coordinate military aid for Ukraine.
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05/24/2022
With Helsinki and Stockholm now formally requesting membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the world will reach an important juncture. The overwhelming Western anger at Vladimir Putin’s Russia makes ratification by NATO’s 30 legislative branches a strong likelihood in the weeks or months to come. Turkey is objecting now, but some degree of debate, as well as give and take, within the alliance is normal in such matters.
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05/24/2022
Uruguay is negotiating the purchase of six to 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft from Brazil for up to $40 million, defense news site Infodefensa reported. The deal would include parts, tools, and replacement material. “Considering the operational availability of these aircraft and the existence of Uruguayan pilots capable of flying them, it would be a matter of a few months to organize a schedule of deliveries, training of flight and ground personnel, as well as the adequacy of facilities.
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05/24/2022
Throughout my 10-year flying career in the United States Air Force, the A-10C Thunderbolt II, affectionately dubbed the Warthog, has been the subject of divestment. There is a joke amongst the A-10 community that discussions of getting rid of the A-10 started 2.5 minutes after the last one rolled off the Fairchild-Republic assembly line in 1984. Despite such quips, there is one resounding fact that defines our community; the mission comes before the plane.
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05/24/2022
Two Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircraft have arrived in India to showcase their operational capability at a naval facility in Goa as the Indian Navy plans to acquire a fleet of combat jets for its indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant, people familiar with the development said. The demonstration by the aircraft will start this week at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa, the naval air station in Goa, they said.
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05/24/2022
A veteran Russian diplomat in Geneva has resigned over his country’s invasion of Ukraine in a rare political protest from within the Russian foreign policy establishment. Boris Bondarev, a counsellor at the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva, wrote in a public statement: “Never have I been so ashamed of my country.”
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05/23/2022
Technicians linked to the Syrian military’s infamous barrel bombs that have wreaked devastation across much of the country have been deployed to Russia to help potentially prepare for a similar campaign in the Ukraine war, European officials believe. Intelligence officers say more than 50 specialists, all with vast experience in making and delivering the crude explosive, have been in Russia for several weeks working alongside officials from Vladimir Putin’s military.
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05/23/2022
Images of wrecked and abandoned vehicles — casualties in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine — are calling into question the quality and reliability of Russian-made military hardware. A recent report by the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute found that the conflict has damaged the reputation of Russia's defence equipment in Southeast Asia, once a source of considerable revenue for the country.
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05/23/2022
In what was called dubbed a “Special Military Operation,” Ukraine was invaded on Feb. 24, 2022 by a vast Russian army, seeking—in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s own words—to turn Ukraine into a neutral and disarmed state, as well as to “de-Nazify” its government. Russia’s “Special Military Operation” is indistinguishable from a high intensity, full-scale war between unequal contenders: On one side, a nuclear superpower with a vast manpower pool deploying huge stockpiles of modern weapons.
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05/23/2022
The need for speed for military aircraft has long been crucial, especially during the Cold War Era. Whether it’s to outrun the enemies, shorten the aircraft’s exposure to enemy airspace, or prevent the anti-aircraft systems from achieving a full lock and targeting it, speed has long been a reliable form of defense. This had changed in recent years when modern advances focused on stealth and progress in interception methods means the once untargetable and speedy SR-71 was no longer invulnerable.
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05/22/2022
Firefighters were today battling a blaze at a major Russian aerospace institute. The blaze with thick black smoke was at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, a facility involved in research on Russian warplanes. The inferno seen on videos is the latest at strategic Russian sites during the war with Ukraine with suspicions that some may be sabotage.
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05/22/2022
The war in Ukraine has increased Beijing’s sense of urgency to prepare for any change to Taiwan’s status quo, according to analysts, with satellite imagery confirming mainland China has stepped up efforts to get its military shipbuilding schedule back on track. Recent pictures from commercial satellites show construction has resumed at a rapid pace at several shipyards run by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) conglomerate.
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05/22/2022
In the last few years, Beijing has not only increased economic and political pressure on Taiwan but has also flown warplanes across the mutually respected median line. It has become a pattern for the Chinese air force to infiltrate the island’s ADIZ while also deploying its naval forces to conduct drills. The repeated flouting of norms has prompted Taiwan to regularly dispatch its fighter jets to intercept Chinese planes.
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05/22/2022
The report assessed the total combat capabilities of various air services worldwide and rated them accordingly. The Indian Air Force was ranked higher than its regional rival China and placed above the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the Israeli Air Force, and the French Air and Space Force. The WDMMA employs a formula that considers values associated with the total combat strength of various countries’ air forces.
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05/21/2022
China’s dependence on Russian fighter aircraft engines may soon affect the People’s Liberation Army Air Force fleet if Russia can’t service or provide engines or parts for up to 40 percent of the Chinese fighters, experts at the China Aerospace Studies Institute conference said May 17.
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05/21/2022
Seven Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) Thursday, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). The sortie comprised of one Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, one H-6 bomber, four Shenyang J-16 fighter jets and one Sukhoi SU-30 fighter.
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05/21/2022
So, it is reported that along the entire defense line, the Russian invaders use combat aircraft, multiple launch rocket systems, barrel artillery of large calibers, tanks, mortars of various systems, and also launch rocket and bomb attacks on civilian infrastructure, peaceful residential areas.
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05/21/2022
The US Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) in Alaska has completed the task of standing up two F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft squadrons. US Air Force (USAF) 354th Fighter Wing (FW) completed its fleet after receiving the final fifth-generation aircraft. A ceremony was held at Eielson AFB on 13 May to mark the achievement.
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05/20/2022
Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Air Force destroyed 20 units of Russian armored vehicles, as well as shot down a cruise missile and a Su-34 fighter-bomber. This was announced on Facebook by the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Ukrinform reports. "On May 18, Air Force strike aircraft under cover of fighter jets hit the area where enemy equipment had been amassed.
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05/20/2022
Wargames that the U.S. Air Force has conducted itself and in conjunction with independent organizations continue to show the immense value offered by swarms of relatively low-cost networked drones with high degrees of autonomy. In particular, simulations have shown them to be decisive factors in the scenarios regarding the defense of the island of Taiwan against a Chinese invasion.
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05/20/2022
The video that you can find in this post has started doing the rounds in the last couple of days.
According to some sources, it was shot in the Severodonetsk region, in the eastern side of Ukraine, and shows two Ukrainian Air Force Su-25s [the guy who filmed it is allegedly Ukrainian and says "it's ours"], whereas other sources on social media identified the attack aircraft as Russian Aerospace Forces Frogfoot aircraft.
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05/19/2022
China's 'One China' Principle and its policy, 'One Country, Two Systems' are ironic to each other. The principle is a desire of China to occupy the island of Taiwan while its policy is a lullaby to promise that Hong Kong would enjoy the same democratic traditions and institutions that its residents used to enjoy even after it is transferred to Beijing.
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05/19/2022
Today, May 18, in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, Ukrainian defenders repulsed 16 enemy attacks. Fighting continues at two more locations. The press service of the Joint Forces Group has said this in a statement.
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05/19/2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine turned the spotlight on Turkey’s status as a regional power. Sweden and Finland’s expected bid to join NATO could further boost Turkish influence if the concerns raised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who noted his objection to possible Swedish and Finnish membership in the US-led alliance, could be addressed.
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05/18/2022
The Air Force announced Monday it has successfully tested a hypersonic missile off the California coast, marking the latest development in the U.S.' race to catch up to Russia and China in fielding its own weapon on the battlefield. A B-52 Stratofortress bomber out of Edwards Air Force Base released an Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon -- otherwise known as an ARRW -- on Saturday, and the missile reached sound-shattering speed.
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05/18/2022
Eighteen Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwestern and southeastern parts of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday. According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), the Chinese planes came in two sorties. The first group which flew into Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ was made up of one Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft and two KJ-500 third-generation airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) planes.
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05/18/2022
The Ukrainian military repulsed 12 enemy attacks in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) on May 17, and fighting continues at four more locations. According to Ukrinform, the JFO's press service said this on Facebook. As of 21:00 on May 17, the Ukrainian Joint Forces continued to conduct a defensive operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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05/18/2022
On Monday, Greek government sources confirmed that Greece has decided that the fifth generation fighter aircraft of the Air Force will be the US F-35. Speaking to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA) the same sources said that PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed the desire for Greece to join the F-35 program during his meeting with President Biden at the White House.
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05/18/2022
The Russian army has resorted to an increasing reliance on indiscriminate artillery bombardment in Ukraine due to an unwillingness to risk flying combat aircraft. According to Ukrinform, the UK Ministry of Defense said this in its latest intelligence update published on Twitter.
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05/17/2022
China has created mockups of a Taiwanese port and military vessel as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a former Taiwanese Navy officer revealed. Retired lieutenant commander Lu Li-Shih said that the newly-built port appears to be a simulation of the Su’ao naval base in northeastern Taiwan based on satellite images he obtained. He further stated that the nation created a mockup of a Kidd-class destroyer in the desert of China’s Xinjiang province.
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05/17/2022
Sweden and Finland are moving to join NATO, ending decades of neutrality, expanding NATO's border with Russia, and giving the organization a boost in combat power. The move toward the alliance by Sweden and Finland can be seen as a major rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sent troops to Ukraine in February, purportedly in part due to concerns about the expansion of the NATO alliance.
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05/17/2022
Around 80 airmen and seven aircraft from the Finnish Air Force are set to participate in the Swedish Air Force’s exercise, Luftförsvarsövning 22 (LFÖ 22). The exercise will take place in southern and central Sweden from 18 to 25 May. Among the seven Finnish Air Force’s aircraft are six F/A-18 Hornet multi-role combat aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12NG multipurpose liaison aircraft.
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05/17/2022
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said recently that Ukraine's military had shot down its 200th Russian aircraft — a figure few would have believed before the war began. "Russia has not lost so many aircraft in any war in decades," Zelensky said in his nightly video message last Friday.
That number can't be independently verified. Still, it points to one of the most striking facets of the war: instead of dominating the skies as expected, Russian pilots are so vulnerable they're reluctant to enter
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05/16/2022
The Air Force has for now dropped plans to retire most of the A-10 ground-attack jets that form a major mission at Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, after the plan was rebuffed by Congress last year. But the Air Force is again moving to retire some A-10s, and recently revealed documents show more than half of the A-10s in service aren’t deployable overseas because the Air Force is starving the aging fleet of critical maintenance and upgrades.
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05/16/2022
Servicemen of the Ukrainian Joint Forces have destroyed two Russian helicopters, three tanks and six armored fighting vehicles over the past day. The Ukrainian Joint Forces reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. According to the report, Ukrainian fighters continue to conduct a defensive operation in their area of responsibility in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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05/16/2022
After a deal with India for the induction of anti-ship Brahmos missiles, the Philippines government seems interested in upgrading its fleet of military aircraft with help from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
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05/16/2022
Military lessons from the Ukraine war are being absorbed quickly in Asia. The message for democracies arming against the threat from authoritarian regimes is to select weapons that are simple and available rather than small numbers of expensive and complex ships, aircraft and vehicles that may not survive the first hours of conflict.
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05/16/2022
The U.S. Air Force is moving to divest as many as 260 A-10 Warthog aircraft to pursue alternative platforms for Close Air Support (CAS) given that the famous “flying tank” has become unable to maintain its effectiveness in new high-threat environments. However, the A-10 is not disappearing quickly, and debate about its utility to the Air Force continues to surge among lawmakers and other advocates for the combat-tested, highly survivable aircraft known for saving lives in combat.
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05/14/2022
In the night between May 10 and 11, 2022, a U.S. Special Operations aircraft carried out highway operations in western Latvia, marking the first-ever landing of a U.S. military aircraft on a Latvian highway. As part of the annual Trojan Footprint 22 multinational exercise, a U.S. Special Operations Command C-146A Wolfhound, serial #12-3085, landed on the narrow two-lane, A9 highway near Biksti, in western Latvia.
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05/14/2022
Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine failing and its forces are inadequately equipped. That is the assessment of UK defence minister Ben Wallace, who addressed the ongoing war during remarks at the National Army Museum in London on 9 May. Wallace, the Conservative MP for Wyre and Preston North, is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.
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05/14/2022
A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) intelligence ship is currently operating off the north-west shelf of Australia, the Australian Department of Defence said Friday. Australia’s DoD identified the vessel as China’s Dongdiao-class auxiliary intelligence ship Haiwangxing (792) and released imagery and video of the ship.
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05/14/2022
Combat avionics experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will supervise redesign of the panoramic display in the U.S. F-35 joint strike fighter to stave-off the effects of electronics component obsolescence under terms of a $43.6 million order announced Wednesday.
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05/13/2022
The US Air Force (USAF) reservists and F-35A Lightning II fighters from Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Utah, have participated in Exercise Sentry Savannah 2022. This is the first time USAF reservists and active duty from Hill AFB, an all-volunteer combat-ready force, have participated in the two-week exercise.
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05/13/2022
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during a visit to the US in April that India would like to be a "good friend" to Western countries. But she added that India didn't want to be weakened, and needed to ensure its security - taken to mean its long-standing reliance on Russian military equipment - would continue.
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05/13/2022
The activities took place in waters between 160 kilometers southwest of Okinawa Prefecture’s Okidaito Island and 150 kilometers south of its Ishigaki Island, said Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. “The recent activities by the Chinese military may be an attempt to improve their ability to operate aircraft carriers and conduct operations in more distant waters and airspace,” Kishi told a news conference.
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05/13/2022
U.S. Air Force Maj. Josh ‘Cabo’ Gunderson, F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team commander, performs during an air show in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 17, 2020. The F-22’s raw power and thrust vectoring technology gives the aircraft super maneuverability in the air-to-air battlespace.
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05/12/2022
Vladimir Putin's Donbas offensive is faltering due to heavy losses and Ukrainian resistance and may even collapse if Russia is unable to muster up significant new combat power, military expert Justin Bronk writes today. Despite the Russian president refocusing efforts from his failed Kyiv offensive to eastern Ukraine, Russia has so far failed to make significant ground in the Donbas region.
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05/12/2022
The first known photo has surfaced of Australia’s newest intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare aircraft, a highly modified version of the Gulfstream G550 business jet, as is seen at the top of this story. The aircraft, dubbed the MC-55A Peregrine by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), was spotted flying from Gulfstream's plant in Savannah, Georgia.
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05/12/2022
Thales has received an order to supply its Scorpion Helmet Mounted Displays (HMD) for the US Air National Guard’s F-16 Falcon combat aircraft fleet. The initial order has been placed under the Nato Support & Procurement Agency’s Aviation programme. The contract under the programme aims to facilitate the procurement of Scorpion HMD and other associated equipment by Nato nations.
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05/11/2022
China's military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law" on Tuesday, the second such mission in two weeks.
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05/11/2022
Recent satellite imagery shows that China is continuing to actively develop its facilities on the disputed Subi Reef in the South China Sea, two months after a top U.S. commander said Beijing had “fully militarized” it.
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05/11/2022
Dozens of fighter jets from across the country have congregated at a center on Georgia's coast this month for "Sentry Savannah," the Air National Guard's largest air combat training exercise.
At least 48 combat jets have taken over the runways at the Air Dominance Center, located at the Savannah Air National Guard Base, in an example of how planes from the active-duty Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as reserve units, use the space.
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05/11/2022
Unmanned aerial systems have rewritten the rules of war, intelligence-gathering and so much more – and now they’re about to change yet again. That isn’t the result of a new aircraft. It’s coming about as the result of ingenious innovation applied to an existing aircraft, the MQ-9B SeaGuardian, which is gaining the ability to do something no aircraft in its class has ever done before: short takeoff and landing, or STOL.
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05/10/2022
China’s aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning (16) has been launching fighters near Japan since last week all the while being shadowed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer helicopter carrier JS Izumo (DDH-183), according to Japanese forces.Liaoning, together with the Type 055 destroyer CNS Nanchang (101).
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05/10/2022
The Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopter was poised to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Pave Hawk — a stalwart during the war in Afghanistan, time and again rescuing American troops and allies trapped in enemy territory. But in its fiscal 2023 budget released in late March, the U.S. Air Force unveiled a surprise: It wants to scale back its total planned purchases of the Jolly Green II HH-60W by one-third, to 75 in all, citing concerns they could be shot down.
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05/10/2022
Airpower should have been one of Russia’s greatest advantages over Ukraine. With almost 4,000 combat aircraft and extensive experience bombing targets in Syria, Georgia, and Chechnya, Russia’s air force was expected to play a vital role in the invasion, allowing the Russian army to plunge deep into Ukraine, seize Kyiv, and destroy the Ukrainian military. But more than two months into the war, Vladimir Putin’s air force is still fighting for control of the skies.
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05/09/2022
Information we have from sources with Ukraine’s military shows the Russian army continues to bleed men, tanks, APCs, aircraft, artillery, and even ships and patrol boats to attacks by Ukrainian forces. On Saturday, we have these figures of Russian losses from just the Donbas and Luhansk regions: 19 tanks, 20 armored combat vehicles, 4 special armored vehicles, 6 soft-skinned vehicles. 1 special engineering vehicle.
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05/09/2022
The French Defense Procurement Agency DGA took delivery of the seventh Atlantique 2 (ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) upgraded to standard 6 on April 25, 2022, and delivered it to the French Navy (Marine Nationale) at the Lann-Bihoué naval air base.
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05/09/2022
Observers record an increase in the activity of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Eastern and Southern regions facing attacks from the Russian army. So far, photos and videos that have appeared on social media in the last few days confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still have a significant majority of their air combat power available to them, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing.
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05/08/2022
Kyiv said Saturday it has destroyed another Russian ship near the Black Sea's Snake Island, where Ukrainian forces were awarded for heroism after rebuffing Russian demands to surrender. Ukraine's defence ministry said in a statement an armed drone had destroyed a Serna-class landing craft and a missile defence system at the small island under Russian control.
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05/07/2022
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed one Russian aircraft and 14 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past day. The relevant statement was made by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“The enemy’s combat aviation continues to act on distance, without entering the air space controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the report states.
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05/07/2022
Taiwan on Friday reported that 18 Chinese military aircraft entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ). According to the Ministry of National Defense, the planes included six J-11 fighter jets, six J-16 fighter jets, two Xi’an H-6 bombers, two KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, and one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, reported Taiwan News.
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05/07/2022
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many of the world’s nations have sought to support Ukrainians by sending weapons. Even before that, though, many countries were offering limited help as a result of the Russian takeover of Crimea, in southern Ukraine, in 2014.
(Read More...)
05/07/2022
The “Warthogs” are back in Europe. Ten Maryland Air National Guard A-10C Thunderbolt II jets arrived in Iceland on Thursday, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa said in a statement Friday. Designed to destroy Soviet tanks during the Cold War, the iconic attack plane nicknamed for the guttural sound its cannon makes is expected to train over various parts of Europe.
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05/07/2022
The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) plans to activate a second squadron of adversary aircraft to meet the future air combat training needs of its strike fighter squadrons. The second aggressor squadron will provide the East Coast with training assets similar to those of the West Coast.
According to the Marine Corps Aviation Plan 2022, released this week, the 402nd Marine Fighter Training Squadron (VMFT-402) will be activated in fiscal year 2023 at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina.
(Read More...)
05/06/2022
The Russian Baltic Fleet has announced that it carried out a series of simulated missile strikes of its nuclear-capable Iskander system. This is not the first time that the Russian exclave – roughly the size of Northern Ireland and wedged between Nato and EU members Poland and Lithuania – has made the headlines as part of Russia’s sabre-rattling.
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05/06/2022
The Russians made extensive use of air support by combat aircraft and helicopters. Airstrike missions were launched from airfields in Russia at targets on the front lines in the north, center, and east. Airstrikes were directed primarily at urban targets, while helicopters mainly engaged Ukraine forces in the open areas. Airstrikes employed Su-25, Su-24, and Su-34, while Su-30 provided air cover.
(Read More...)
05/06/2022
In what could be seen as a tough response, a Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft reportedly conducted a maritime patrol mission near the island of Taiwan on May 3, Global Times reported. There have been speculations that the Y-8 aircraft was involved in an accident in March this year.
(Read More...)
05/06/2022
During the Korea Security and Defense Forum held on May 4 in Seoul, a proposal was made to add more FA-50, F-35, and KF-21 fighter jets to shorten the replacement period of its F-4 Phantom and F-5 Tiger II fighters, by three to five years. According to local media news2day, the question was raised at the Air Force Power Development Direction Seminar was held, where the need to accelerate the decommissioning of its older fighter jets to replace them with new «up to date» aircraft was discussed.
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05/06/2022
On Tuesday, the Japanese defense ministry said that the refurbished Soviet-origin PLA’s Kuznetsov-class carrier was photographed launching out and collecting its ship-borne fighter J-15s and early warning helicopter Z-18s. The Ministry also stated that China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier and six accompanying naval warships are undertaking military drills with fighter jets and helicopters in the Western Pacific Ocean.
(Read More...)
05/05/2022
Taiwan signalled on Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States, saying they were too expensive. Taiwan had earlier said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters, made by Lockheed Martin Corp unit Sikorsky, but domestic media said the United States had rejected the sale as not being in line with the island's needs.
(Read More...)
05/04/2022
More than eight months ago, as the Western-backed Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani crumbled, a portion of the Afghan Air Force flew out of the country and landed in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Afghans eventually made their way to processing centers in countries like the United Arab Emirates and then on to the United States. Their planes remained in Central Asia, and for now that seems to be where they’ll stay.
(Read More...)
05/04/2022
Taiwan's military on Tuesday said it had a clear grasp of the activities of nearby Chinese forces a day after Japan's Self-Defense Force said China's Navy had recently deployed an aircraft carrier battle group into the Pacific Ocean. Military spokesman Sun Li-fang said Taiwan's military closely monitors Chinese military maneuvers in waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan, and would take "appropriate response measures," without elaborating.
(Read More...)
05/04/2022
Heightened threats from Russia and China don’t automatically translate to a need for more than 100 B-21 Raiders, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 3. The service may simply bolster the number of escorts that go with the new bomber to do the long-range strike role, he said.
(Read More...)
05/04/2022
A thick dossier of documents passed from one hand to another among officials lined up on a red carpet at the Col. Jesus Villamor Air Base in Manila. Inside the hangar stood two T129 attack helicopters produced in Turkey. "They are to be used against enemies of our state -- terrorists trying to destroy our country," Delfin Lorenzana, the defense secretary of the Philippines said at the April 6 handover ceremony.
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05/04/2022
25 years after it entered service in the U.S. Air Force, the F-22 Raptor is scheduled to receive some major upgrades to keep its edge over future adversaries. Some of these upgrades were unveiled last week in the Fiscal Year 23 Budget request documentation and in an official artwork shared by Gen. Mark Kelly, the Commander of Air Combat Command, in a post about the 15th anniversary of the approval of the first F-22 flight demonstration.
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05/04/2022
U.S. combat jets from New England will soon fly the skies of Eastern Europe. Eight F-35 Lightning II aircraft from the Vermont Air National Guard arrived Monday at Spangdahlem Air Base to bolster NATO and support its air policing mission, U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa said in a statement Tuesday.
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05/03/2022
The Azerbaijani edition of The Azeri Times reported that, following Turkey, neighboring Azerbaijan closed its airspace for Russian military aircraft. According to The Azeri Times, this is due to intentions to disrupt the transportation of military cargo between Russia and Armenia.
“Azerbaijan has closed its airspace to Russian military aircraft. As a result, Russian military aircraft carrying military supplies from Armenia to Russia were forced to fly over Iran and the Caspian Sea on their way
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05/03/2022
An Australian tanker has refueled a Japanese fighter jet in the air for the first time as part of interoperability trials between the two Asia-Pacific nations. A Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A tanker aircraft was deployed to Japan April 4-27, during which it participated in a flight test engineering program with Japan Air Self-Defense Force Mitsubishi F-2 jets.
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05/03/2022
As Russia scales up anti-West rhetoric, Russia has scaled down their May 9 Victory Day Parade by almost 35 percent. The cuts are so dramatic, and the planned parade so humiliating, that Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, will likely do almost anything to keep the World from focusing overly much upon Russia’s dwindling military prospects.
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05/02/2022
Since the beginning of the war, over 1,000 tanks, around 200 aircraft and at least 2,500 armored fighting vehicles of Russian forces have been destroyed by the Ukrainian army, claimed President Volodymyr Zelensky, as per media reports. The invading Russian army still have more equipment to carry out attacks, he added.
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05/02/2022
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown testifying before the House Armed Services Committee said this while revealing their plans for the F-15EX. Instead of replacing numerous older F-15C/D Eagle fighters with the newer, more capable F-15EXs, the Air Force will replace the older F-15s with remotely piloted drones or nothing at all in case the drones weren’t feasible.
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05/02/2022
The United States and its allies have shifted from providing small arms and defensive equipment to hastily ratcheting up deliveries of heavy weaponry to Ukraine as the brutal Russian war there intensifies.
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05/02/2022
On Friday, a Russian AN-30 propeller plane was flying east of Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic, before it headed towards Swedish territory. “It is completely unacceptable and extremely worrying in the current situation”, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Danish F16 fighter jets countered the incursion and the plane then left Danish airspace.
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05/01/2022
Ukraine is again calling on its Western allies, including Greece, to supply it with more Russian-built military hardware. Athens has considerable quantities of Russian equipment Ukraine is familiar with, including BMP-1 tracked infantry fighting vehicles, 9K33 Osa and Tor-M1 short-range and S-300PMU-1 long-range air defense missile systems. If the latter systems ultimately ends up in Ukraine’s arsenal, that would be historically ironic given how Greece came into possession of them in the first p
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05/01/2022
NATO fighter pilots took to the skies several times since Tuesday to track and head off Russian aircraft over the Black and Baltic seas, according to NATO. The Russian planes turned back after each encounter. The alliance announced on Friday that planes took off “multiple times” from April 26-29 to track unidentified planes over the seas before confirming them as Russian aircraft.
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05/01/2022
One aircraft that perhaps came closest to destroying an Israeli F-15 Baz in ‘combat’ was the venerable McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. These nimble little aircraft have been used by both the US Navy and the Israeli Air Force (IAF) as ‘Red Air’ aggressors, using their agility to humble mightier opponents.
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05/01/2022
Serbia on Saturday showed off its new Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles and other military hardware purchased from both Russia and the West, as the country seeks to perform a delicate balancing act over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Members of the public and the media were invited to the display at the Batajnica military airfield near Belgrade, where Chinese and French missiles were lined up beside Airbus helicopters, Chinese-armed drones and Russian MIG-29 jets.
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04/30/2022
The Ukrainian military destroyed 11 Russian tanks and more than 40 units of other equipment in the area of the Joint Forces Operation on Friday, April 29. According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Joint Forces Operation announced this on Facebook. On April 29, in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian Joint Forces successfully repelled 14 attacks by Russian invaders. Ukrainian defenders destroyed 11 Russian tanks, seven artillery systems, 27 armored vehicles, an armored combat vehicl
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04/30/2022
Despite the U.S military’s shift to great power competition with China and Russia, Special Operations Command says it still needs aviation platforms that can support isolated commandos conducting irregular warfare in remote areas. To fulfill the mission known as “Armed Overwatch,” the command launched an initiative in 2020 to acquire 75 near-production-ready manned, propeller-driven turboprop aircraft.
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04/30/2022
The near-monopoly on remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) that the United States once enjoyed is rapidly eroding as other countries build and export their own unmanned aircraft. Their persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strike capabilities, as well as lower cost, are huge force multipliers, and countries around the world are recognizing the asymmetric advantages RPAs provide.
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04/30/2022
A Hongdu JL-10 or L-15 supersonic advanced jet trainer flown by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) crashed in Caolu Village in Yucheng County, Henan Province’s Shangqiu City, on April 23. Both pilots of the aircraft successfully parachuted before the crash and were found in a field, waiting to be rescued. A video taken after the crash that went viral on social media led to suspicions that the instructor pilot in the video was Russian.
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04/30/2022
In an attempt to become a military aircraft maintenance center for neighboring African nations, Morocco has signed a strategic partnership with Belgian firms Sabca and Sabena Aerospace, alongside American giant Lockheed Martin, for the maintenance and support of F-16 and C-130 Hercules aircraft.
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04/30/2022
Brazil is set to order four Saab-Embraer F-39E jets in addition to the 36 already purchased in 2014 under a $4.7 billion contract. The country is also considering ordering another batch of at least 30 F-39E fighters — the local designation of the JAS 39E Gripen NG.
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04/30/2022
Colombia’s Air Force has chosen a mix of TA-50 and FA-50 Golden Eagles as its next jet trainers, military sources told Defense News. The Air Force plans to acquire at least 20 advanced jet trainers with air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities under a project estimated to be worth $600 million.
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04/30/2022
ontrol of the air is the Air Force’s top core competency, but as its premier fighters age, its ability to perform that mission in the future is increasingly in question. By 2030, the Air Force anticipates its F-22 Raptors will no longer be sufficiently survivable in contested air space, potentially leaving the joint force vulnerable to air attack. To stay well ahead of China’s J-20 and other adversary aircraft, as well as increasingly sophisticated ground-based air defenses around the world.
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04/30/2022
The future F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter will operate as the Navy’s “quarterback” for manned and unmanned teaming in future carrier operations, according to the service. Navy officials described the vision for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, meant to expand the range for carrier-based operations, in written testimony to Congress this week.
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04/29/2022
Eglin’s Integrated Test Team demonstrated a new low-cost, air-delivered capability for defeating maritime threats in the Gulf of Mexico April 28, 2022. This was proven when an 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle released a modified GBU-31 joint direct attack munition that successfully destroyed a full-scale stationary surface vessel. This was third experiment in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration.
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04/29/2022
A team from the US Air Force will go to Thailand to evaluate if the southeast Asian nation is ready to operate F-35 fighter jets. The Royal Thai Air Force announced earlier this year that it plans to procure the fifth-generation fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of combat aircraft.
Commander-in-chief Napadej Dhupatemiya revealed that the country was considering the purchase of eight to 12 F-35s and using drones to fly alongside them.
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04/29/2022
China's military has rapidly built one of the world's largest aviation forces, developing increasingly capable aircraft that the US Defense Department has warned are "gradually eroding" the US military's advantage in the air. In recent weeks, China's premier fighter jets and strategically valuable airlifters have reached milestones that underscore Beijing's increasing focus on and investment in military aviation.
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04/29/2022
The U.S. Air Force’s secretive Next Generation Air Dominance future fighter program could be the most expensive aircraft program in history, with each piloted, sixth-generation aircraft expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When asked about the price tag for NGAD during a Wednesday appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall did not specify exactly how much an individual aircraft could cost.
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04/29/2022
Boeing has rolled out the first T-7A Red Hawk built for the U.S. Air Force under the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the program. These jets are set to be the service’s first new advanced jet trainers since the T-38 Talon, which first took to the air more than 60 years ago. Significantly, this particular jet is the first true T-7A, the previous two aircraft being company demonstrators that were not necessarily representative of the final configuration.
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04/28/2022
The German government has announced that it is to send a fleet of around 50 anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, as it attempts to offset criticism that it has been too slow to provide military equipment to the war-torn country.
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04/28/2022
A Pentagon report reveals that billions of dollars in weapons and military equipment transferred to the Afghan government was left behind in Afghanistan after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country. In all, about $7 billion worth of hardware remained in the country after the Taliban seized control, according to the report prepared for Congress which was obtained by CNN.
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04/28/2022
Despite recent projections that it would eliminate strike fighter gaps in the next three years, the Navy now won’t have enough jets to train and deploy efficiently until 2031, two lawmakers said today. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) and Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), the top lawmakers on the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee, disclosed the new timeline during the panel’s hearing today.
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04/27/2022
The United States said the world was galvanized against Russia's two-month-old invasion of Ukraine as it hosted more than 40 countries for defence talks in Germany that sought to speed and synchronize the delivery of arms to Kyiv. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted the event at Ramstein Air Base following a trip to Kyiv where he pledged additional military support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's war effort, which is at a crossroads.
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04/27/2022
China, between 2017 and 2021, has cemented its place as Pakistan’s largest supplier of major arms, including fighter aircraft, warships, submarines and missiles, data compiled by an independent institute focusing on arms transfers and conflict said. Between 2017 and 2021, Beijing met 72% of Islamabad’s demand for major arms, data from Sweden’s Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published in March showed.
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04/26/2022
The costs of major upgrades to the F-35 fighter are continuing to rise, and repeated delays on critical simulation tests and on a full-rate production decision are increasing the risk the Defense Department buys faulty jets that need to be fixed, a new Government Accountability Office report said. In Monday’s report, GAO found that the cost of the F-35's Block 4 modernization effort grew to $15.1 billion in 2021, $741 million more than the estimated cost in 2020.
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04/26/2022
The U.S. Marine Corps this month declared its new heavy lift helicopter operational, following the completion of test, training and sustainment requirements. Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Mark Wise on April 22 determined the Sikorsky-made CH-53K King Stallion had achieved initial operational capability. The service announced the milestone April 25.
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04/25/2022
Canada chooses Lockheed Martin F-35 as its next fighter. The Canadian government has selected Lockheed Martin Corporation and the F-35 at a higher price in a tender to buy a new fighter jet, government officials said Monday. So after Switzerland and Finland, Canada is one step away from buying 88 F-35s from Lockheed Martin to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force (Rcaf) CF-18 hornets. Also in the competition was Saab Griffin. Canada had already rejected Boeing’s Super Hornet.
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04/25/2022
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy celebrated its 73rd anniversary on Saturday by announcing, over the past days, the commissioning of half a dozen powerful warships and two types of advanced vessel-based helicopters, which have already started training to form combat capabilities. These achievements are a reflection of the Navy’s rapid, tremendous growth over the recent years, which is enabling the naval force to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development i
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04/25/2022
Taiwan is not Ukraine. It is, rather, in a far more vulnerable position. No matter what other idea guides the defense of the island republic, air superiority will be critical. Washington and Taipei must prepare now to ensure this air superiority. And while discussion of a Ukrainian no-fly zone has given a wide berth to military reality, planning for Taiwan’s air defense must be grounded in hard truth.
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04/25/2022
The scale of Russian troop losses in Ukraine has tipped 21,000 as Putin's war rumbles into its third month today. The latest statistics, published by the Ukrainian Land Forces this morning, suggest 21,800 Russian fighters have been killed amid bitter resistance from Ukraine's armed forces and territorial defence units - though this figure could not be verified. Meanwhile, the land forces claim to have dealt massive damage to Russia's military equipment and machinery.
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04/24/2022
Following the Czech Republic’s donation of 56 Pbv-501 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine with the approval of Germany, Slovenia is now stepping up to the plate and donating its own set of tanks to Ukraine. This is to help the country defend its territory against the Russian advance in Donbas. It is rumored that Slovenia’s Yugoslav-made M-84 tanks (an upgraded version of the T-72) would be sent to Ukraine.
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04/24/2022
In the Joint Forces Operation area, the Ukrainian defenders have repulsed 12 attacks and destroyed dozens of units of enemy equipment, including four tanks and an aircraft, today.
"Today, April 23, the Joint Forces troops have successfully repulsed 12 enemy attacks. Thanks to their skillful actions, our soldiers inflicted losses on the Russian occupiers," the press service of the Joint Forces Operation posted on Facebook.
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04/24/2022
Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian military and civilian flights to Syria after notifying Moscow, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said Saturday. “We were giving permissions in three-month intervals. The latest one was until April,” the minister said in an interview with the press during his flight to Latin America, stating that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had informed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. “Henceforth the flights have stopped,” Çavusoglu added.
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04/24/2022
Given the widely shared criticism of the big gap that exists between rhetoric and realities in India-UK defense relations in recent years, will the just-concluded visit of the British PM Boris Johnson to India result in its narrowing, discernibly? In their joint press briefing on April 22, Johnson and his host Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to think so. But then, such an atmosphere of optimism existed too when the two met “virtually” last May and outlined their “2030 Roadmap” or vision.
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04/24/2022
The attacking Akinci unmanned aerial vehicle successfully hit a target on the sea surface with the Teber-82 guidance kit, after the target was laser-marked by another Turkish drone – Bayraktar TB2. The information was shared by Baykar Defense in a press release.
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04/24/2022
In the last few years, Chinese ships have escalated their patrols of the area surrounding Japan’s controlled Senkaku islands, an uninhabited island chain also claimed by China and Taiwan. The islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and Diaoyutai in Taiwan, have become a centerpiece of rising regional tensions.
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04/24/2022
Russia, which has already suffered losses in Ukraine, appears to be straining at home as well, with a large fire breaking out on April 21 in a secretive Russian military research facility, killing seven people, injuring another 25 people, and causing substantial damage, according to the state-run news outlet Tass.
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04/24/2022
Hungarian Government Commissioner Gaspar Marot informed the national media about the purchase from Budapest of L-39NG training aircraft manufactured by the Czech company Aero Vodochody, BulgarianMilitary.com has learned, citing Defence 24.
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04/23/2022
We discussed a bit the distance between the two bases because it is from one that F-15C Eagles belonging to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron have been heading to the other throughout March, as the planes were in the process of being reassigned to the 53rd Wing at Eglin. We see one of these F-15s in the main photo of this piece, released last week by the USAF. The plane is seen shortly after take-off, the two Pratt & Whitney engines burning hot as it is climbing to the sky, tanks.
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04/23/2022
After days of making desperate diplomatic overtures in the region against the deal, Australia was left ‘disappointed’ as the signing of the agreement was announced earlier this week. On April 19, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the agreement in Beijing, adding that China would work with Honiara to preserve social order, defend people’s safety, provide aid, combat natural catastrophes, and help safeguard national security, ABC News had reported.
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04/23/2022
The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase. Russia’s aim over the next few weeks is to deliver a paper victory for President Vladimir Putin to justify a parade on 9 May in Moscow marking Victory Day, the anniversary of the Nazi surrender in 1945.
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04/23/2022
The poor performance by the Russian military thus far in their full-scale invasion of Ukraine should serve as a cautionary tale of how not to fight a war. While immediate attention has been drawn to the effectiveness of man-portable weapons like the Javelin and Stinger missiles, students of the art of war know that the greatest lesson is not new at all: combat effectiveness depends on the seamless integration of all elements of combat power.
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04/23/2022
Britain and India will strengthen their defense and security ties, including partnering on development of combat jet technology, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced during a trip to New Delhi Thursday. Johnson said the defense cooperation pact would boost procurement across several areas, but offered few details during a press conference wrapping up the two-day visit to India. The trip was aimed principally at progressing talks about a free trade deal between the nations.
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04/22/2022
The criticism against German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been unrelenting. He's been accused of stalling and breaking his promises over sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. DW looks at some of the main points of contention.
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04/22/2022
Eying growing and distinct threats that may require the United States and Israel to conduct long-range airstrikes, both militaries urgently need to replace their aging aerial refueling fleets with the modernized KC-46A. The problem is the aircraft has been plagued by development challenges and delays.The good news is there are steps the U.S. and Israel can take together to avoid further delays and reduce the time it takes for Israel’s Air Force to use its KC-46s in real-world missions once the n
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04/22/2022
Boeing has been trying to woo the Indian Navy with its aircraft carrier-borne fighter - F/A-18 Super Hornet for India's aircraft carriers. Vice president of Boeing's India Business Development Alain Garcia said that the US defence major is planning to fly two Super Hornet fighter jets to Goa summer for operational demonstrations this summer. In an attempt to convince the Indian government to buy the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III.
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04/21/2022
Embraer today delivered the seventh and final modernized A-4 Skyhawk fighter jet (locally designated AF-1) to the Brazilian Navy. The ceremony was held at Embraer’s industrial unit in Gavião Peixoto, in São Paulo state. Under the AF-1 program (the Navy designation for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk), seven subsonic fighter jets were modernized – five single-seater AF-1Bs and two two-seaters AF-1Cs.
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04/20/2022
The Indian Air Force (IAF), on Tuesday, conducted a firing test of the BrahMos cruise missile from the Sukhoi-30 MkI aircraft from the Eastern Seaboard. According to the IAF, the test ended in a success as the missile precisely hit its target which was a decomissioned Indian Navy ship. "The mission was undertaken in close coordination with Indian Navy", the IAF said in a statement.
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04/20/2022
Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets had no sooner finished a six-week deployment in the Arctic before a real-world contingency required them to redeploy to NATO’s eastern flank. The Marine Corps rarely conducts NATO Air Policing. But in the total force muscle flex triggered by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312 finished Exercise Cold Response in Norway and flew south to central Poland. They replaced eight U.S. Air Force F-15Es from the 336th Fighter Squadron.
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04/20/2022
Soldiers can hear a subtle roar from the range tower at Zdar Range, Hradište Military Area, Czech Republic, on March 8, 2022. Czech army soldiers come outside and look up to see what made the noise. Two MI-24 Hind attack helicopters fly over the range. Suddenly, an L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA) fixed-wing subsonic aircraft appears and dives close to the ground toward the tower.
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04/20/2022
China has deployed its premier fighter jets over its nearby seas to counter mounting U.S. military involvement in Asia, analysts say. Domestically made Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter aircraft are stationed in the country's south for missions in the South China and East China seas, as well as around Taiwan, according to experts and media reports from Asia.
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04/19/2022
Putin has ordered one of his nuclear-capable Tu-160 strategic bombers to fly close to the Ukrainian border in a menacing show of might, after his invading army was forced back in several regions of Ukraine and his Black Sea task force’s flagship was destroyed. As it travelled over Russia’s western Kaluga area, between Moscow and the Ukrainian border, the Tupolev 160 was escorted by an Ilyushin Il-78 aerial refuelling tanker and four fighter aircraft.
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04/19/2022
A former F-35 test pilot says Canada likely benefited from not purchasing the stealth fighter more than a decade ago, but that the time has come for Ottawa to finally end its waffling and commit to the aircraft. Retired Royal Canadian Air Force lieutenant-colonel Billie Flynn also defended the F-35’s performance and reliability, which along with the stealth fighter’s cost remains a source of consternation in Washington and elsewhere.
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04/19/2022
Russia has begun its large-scale military action to seize the east of Ukraine, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. “Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” he said in a video address late on Monday night. Zelenskiy said a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive”.
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04/18/2022
Japan scrambled the second-highest amount of times to head off potential airspace violations by Chinese and Russian aircraft over the past year, its defense ministry has said. Nobuo Kishi, defense minister, told reporters on Friday that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force flew 1,004 sorties to intercept approaching foreign aircraft in the 12 months ending in March, up 279 flights from the previous fiscal year.
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04/18/2022
China dispatched frigates, bombers and fighter around Taiwan as U.S. lawmakers visited the island to show support; F-15C spotted flying with Live weapons at Kadena AB, Japan, as tensions in the region grow.
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04/17/2022
Meanwhile, the Romanian Ministry of Defense also intends to speed up the process to buy additional F-16 jets from surplus Norwegian stocks. “At the same time, measures have been taken to speed up the procedures for the purchase of Norway’s 32 F-16 aircraft,” the ministry said in a statement.
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04/17/2022
Amid a strong push by the government for indigenisation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has shelved its plan to buy 48 additional Mi-17 V5 medium-lift helicopters from Russia. India had signed a deal with Russia about 10 years ago for the procurement of 80 Mi-17V5s that have been inducted in batches into the force and these 48 were planned to be inducted into the force and other aviation agencies who don’t want it anymore.
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04/17/2022
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled its fighter aircraft 1,004 times in fiscal year 2021 (FY 2021) in response to foreign military aircraft approaching the country’s airspace. That marked the second-highest total recorded in a year since such operations began in 1958, providing an indication of rising regional tensions.
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04/17/2022
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Friday organized multi-services and arms, dispatching forces including destroyers, frigates, bombers and fighters, and conducted joint combat alert patrols and drills including maritime assault, in the forefront of the East China Sea and in waters and aerial areas around the island of Taiwan, when a group of US lawmakers were visiting the island.
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04/16/2022
The war in Ukraine has damaged the reputation of Russian arms. Heavy armor has proved especially vulnerable, but other weapons have also not performed to standard. The future, moreover, is bleak. Due to crushing Western sanctions, Russia’s defense technological and industrial base, which is already plagued by debt, will now fare even worse.
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04/16/2022
According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in a statement posted on Facebook. The total estimated losses of the enemy, from February 24 to April 15, are also: tanks – 756, armored combat vehicles – 1,976, artillery systems - 366, fuel tanks - 76, air defense means - 66, aircraft - 163, helicopters - 144, vehicles – 1,443, ships/boats - 8, UAVs of the operational and tactical level – 135, special equipment – 25, and mobile SRBM systems – 4.
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04/16/2022
The sinking of Russia’s ‘Moskva’ cruiser is a big symbolic win for Ukraine, but does very little to change the course of the war. Experts NatSec Daily spoke to since the Kremlin confirmed the news say the Slava-class ship had minimal land-attack capability and was fitted with dated systems. Its main utility was gunning Ukrainian lands like Snake Island — a replaceable capability — taking on carrier strike groups, and protecting nearby Russian ships with its air defenses.
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04/16/2022
As they watch Russia unleash total war against a European neighbor, Sweden and Finland seem to agree: It’s finally time to join NATO. With public opinion turning strongly in favor, both countries are inching closer toward formally joining the Alliance. Just this week, their prime ministers publicly telegraphed their strong support for such a move, though Finland appears more certain than Sweden and likely to move first.
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04/16/2022
Russia’s mounting losses of conventional equipment in the Ukraine war—and its likely inability to replace that hardware anytime soon, due to economic sanctions—won’t substantively change how the U.S. views the threat from that country, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. That’s because the threats posed by Russia’s nuclear, chemical, and biological capabilities remain unchanged.
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04/16/2022
Ukraine's frantic hunt for more fighter aircraft continues as Russia's invasion rolls into its eighth week. Deals to replenish the Ukrainian Air Force with Soviet-era aircraft that are familiar to operate and easy to maintain have come and gone. While there is still hope that the embattled country can get additional MiG-29s from a NATO neighbor, progress toward such an arrangement has been slow and has been dogged by military readiness and geopolitical issues.
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04/16/2022
Tired of the wait, Ukrainians have begun the #buymeafighterjet campaign to crowdfund the restocking of the nation’s fighter force. A video began circulating on April 14 featuring a Ukrainian Pilot wearing a helmet with the visor down and begins with the pilot walking in front of a MiG-29 that appears to be damaged, after which he appeals to the viewers for donations so that Ukraine can procure operational fighter jets.
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04/15/2022
Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv early on Friday, and air raid sirens blared across Ukraine as residents braced for new Russian attacks after Moscow's lead warship in the Black Sea sank following a fire. The explosions appeared to be among the most significant in Ukraine's capital region since Russian troops pulled back from the area earlier this month in preparation for battles in the south and east.
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04/15/2022
These days, Finland—which shares an 800-mile border with Russia—has collectively proved itself such a brave soldier that NATO is expected to receive its membership application with open arms. As Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced this week, Finland will decide whether to apply within weeks.
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04/15/2022
The latest move came after US Pacific Air Forces Commander General Kenneth Wilsbach revealed in mid-March that US F-35 stealth fighter jets had a close encounter with China’s J-20 stealth fighter jets over the East China Sea. The Global Times reported that the J-20 has been conducting combat patrols in the East China Sea and alert patrols in the South China Sea after switching to domestically made engines.
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04/15/2022
Russia is increasingly harassing NATO aircraft near Polish air space, reinforcing the need for both Polish and NATO air policing, including various U.S. Air Force assets, a senior Polish Air Force official told Air Force Magazine. “The current situation brings more tension—more risk—and it’s definitely more serious for the whole NATO community,” Polish Chief of the Air Force Directorate Brig. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak said via videoconference.
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04/15/2022
With two major nuclear programs ramping up, the Air Force had to make hard choices on fighter procurement in fiscal 2023, the Air Force’s top officer said. After three budgets where Air Force fighter buying soared to heights of more than 60 aircraft per year, the service requested 33 Lockheed Martin F-35As and 24 Boeing F-15EXs in FY23, for a total of 57 jets.
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04/15/2022
Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, was being towed to port when "stormy seas" caused it to sink, according to a ministry message. The 510-crew missile cruiser was a symbol of Russia's military power, leading its naval assault on Ukraine. Kyiv says its missiles hit the warship. Moscow has not reported any attack. It says the vessel sank after a fire.
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04/14/2022
Next door to Ukraine, Poland has become a key player in Russia's war. As a member of the European Union and NATO, it is a strategic center of gravity for military and humanitarian aid, and it has welcomed Ukrainians who have fled. Yesterday, I sat down with Poland's ambassador to the United States. Marek Magieroweski said Poland is trying to integrate about 2.7 million refugees as quickly as possible.
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04/14/2022
Ukraine officials met with General Atomics to negotiate the potential acquisition of Reaper and Predator armed drones. As the country continues to defend itself from Russia’s invasion, members of the Ukrainian government appeal to foreign partners to receive more equipment and ammunition. Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, detailed on Twitter the needs of the armed forces: air defense systems, unmanned aircraft, tanks, artillery, combat aircraft, and anti-ship missiles.
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04/14/2022
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has awarded a $53 million contract to conglomerate Saab to modernize the country’s JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighter aircraft. As part of the agreement, the company will provide capability improvements to the aircraft and maintain its operational relevance until the mid-2030s. Saab will also provide cost-effective solutions to help sustain the Gripen for a longer period.
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04/13/2022
The Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have downed 300 enemy air targets since the Russian invasion started. The relevant statement was made by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. On April 12, 2022, in eastern and southern Ukraine, most affected by Russia’s air strikes, the weather was rather unsafe for completing air tasks and, thus, the intensity of enemy aircraft operations was low.
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04/13/2022
The Royal Air Force awarded a six-year contract to Draken to provide aggressor aircraft to support the training of Typhoon and F-35B pilots, replicating the tactics, techniques and procedures of potential adversaries. This is the first such contract placed in the United Kingdom, although a similar service is currently being delivered by Draken International and other contractors to the United States Air Force.
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04/13/2022
The U.S. government has no objections to Slovakia transferring its fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets to Ukraine, a senior American defense official said today. This comes after a previous plan to give Poland's MiG-29s to the Ukrainian Air Force collapsed after authorities in the United States said they would not directly facilitate the delivery of the fighters via an American base in Germany.
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04/13/2022
The Air Force is asking Congress for more than $100 million in additional R&D funding for autonomous drones and networked weapon systems as the Pentagon pursues more cost-effective ways to match up against China. The technology is a top priority for Air Force leaders as they look toward the future operating environment and fiscal constraints that will limit the number of manned planes that the service can buy for Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) and other programs.
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04/13/2022
At the end of February 2022, the German chancellor announced a new way ahead with regard to German defense and the immediacy required for upgrading German defense capabilities.
Relatively shortly after that the German government announced a decision to acquire F-35s to replace their gaining Tornados, which provides the current nuclear option for Germany.
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04/12/2022
In the fall of 2010, the Indiana Air National Guard took on the task of replacing its old, 1990s-era F-16 Fighting Falcons at the Fort Wayne airfield with a fresh fleet of A-10 Warthogs.The A-10, a larger aircraft at 53 feet, 4 inches long with a 57 foot, 6-inch wingspan, has been in service with the U.S. military since the 1970s. It was used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing close-air support for troops as it lumbered above at a max speed of 420 miles per hour.
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04/12/2022
Military exercises are held regularly by armed forces throughout the world. An exercise can be seen as an act of diplomacy, a direct threat, a demonstration of military capability for deterrence or – in the case of Nato – an expression of unity. In purely military terms, exercises allow different nations’ armed forces to act in cooperation. They are useful for testing plans for deployment, reinforcement and logistics. New weapon systems and doctrines can be tried out in the field in as close to
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04/12/2022
The Navy and Marine Corps demonstrated a key capability when they operated 20 F-35B Lightning II jets from America-class amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli March 30 through April 8, fully exercising the Marine Corps’ “lightning carrier” concept for the first time in naval history on an amphibious assault ship.
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04/12/2022
NATO fighter jets based at a Romanian air base have intercepted Russian fighters nearing NATO territory at least four times in the span of 20 days, according to a report released Friday.
During the incidents, the Crimea-based Russian fighters flew along the Black Sea toward NATO territory before turning away, reported Air Force Magazine.
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04/12/2022
The announcement came in response to a request from the Ukrainian President for the MiG-29 fighter jets, some of which are in service with the Air Force of the war-torn country. As part of an elaborate drama that followed, the US contemplated transferring its F-16 fighter jets to Poland as backfill for MiG-29 aircraft.
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04/11/2022
The newly appointed general in command of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine is likely to usher in a fresh round of “crimes and brutality” against civilians, the US has said. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser in Washington, said the appointment of Alexander Dvornikov as theatre commander of Russian forces in Ukraine could not disguise the strategic failure of Vladimir Putin’s war so far. “Ukraine will never be subjugated to Russia; it doesn’t matter which general President Putin tr
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04/11/2022
Four Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday, local media reported. The aircraft was identified as a Shenyang J-11 fighter jet, a Shaanxi Y-8 EW electronic warfare plane, and in a rare appearance near Taiwan, a CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter and a Russian-made Mi-17 cargo helicopter, Taiwan News reported.
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04/11/2022
The Russian government has donated two helicopters Mil Mi-17 armed gunship version of the Armed Forces of Mali, West Africa, learned BulgarianMilitary.com. The news was confirmed by the Mali government, announcing that the helicopters arrived in the country on March 30th and were received by Defense Minister Sadio Kamara in the capital, Bamako.
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04/11/2022
Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region. Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.
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04/11/2022
Serbia has reiterated its intention to acquire Turkish combat drones as its president on Saturday vowed to further strengthen the country’s defenses, amid tensions in the Balkans and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We will strengthen our aviation. We will also increase the number of drones,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after Serbian military forces completed their exercise named “Fire Shield 2022.”
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04/11/2022
The Russian jets were returned without trouble each time, but the flights pose a serious challenge to the military coalition, Airforce Magazine reported. This comes as NATO members deploying more resources to strengthen their air defense. For instance, the United Kingdom stated on April 8 that two more RAF Typhoon jets joined the four already stationed in Romania.
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04/10/2022
A few days ago, a video surfaced that purports to show the moment the Su-35 jet plummeted from the skies in flames before crashing into the ground. Later, photos of the charred Flanker surfaced on social media. The Su-35 was blown out of the sky near Kharkiv by Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile forces, causing “$50 million in damage” to the Russians, according to Ukrainian deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko.
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04/10/2022
Two retired U.S. Air Force generals who were deeply involved in the early development of the U.S. drone war program have suggested introducing the notorious MQ-9 Reaper, the most powerful U.S. killer drone, into the skies over Ukraine. Such a move would open a new, even more dangerous phase in Ukraine’s war in which Reapers, and MQ-1 Gray Eagle drones, both widely used in Afghanistan, might be put at the service of the Ukrainian military to attack Russian forces in Ukraine.
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04/10/2022
Ukrainian officials are clear on what they want from the United States and Europe: weapons. Big, heavy weapons. Not helmets. Tanks.They say they need these weapons now, not later. And a lot of them. The message has been broadly the same from the start of Russia’s invasion, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly said “I need ammunition, not a ride,” to this past week, when Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told NATO leaders in Brussels that he had a threefold agenda: “weapons, wea
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04/10/2022
Aircraft are desperately needed. Our park is out of date, with planes that are 30 years old or older. We have good enterprises where we have been able to repair and modernize most aircraft in 8 years [since 2014]. But still, these are aircraft of the previous generation. There are opinions that unmanned aerial vehicles [such as Bayraktars] will play an increasing role, but we see that in real combat, manned aircraft remain extremely powerful.
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04/09/2022
The United States has approved a $95 million military sale to boost Taiwan’s air defenses, as China sends increasing numbers of warplanes near the island democracy. Details of a contract to support “training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance, and sustainment of the Patriot Air Defense System” on Taiwan were released by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday.
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04/09/2022
The Air Force awarded a $108 million deal Wednesday to a defense contractor to start acquiring parts for the B-21 Raider program -- the upcoming fleet of long-range strike bombers that will soon consume a major portion of the service's budget. The B-21 Raider project is projected to cost the Air Force $5 billion next year, including $3.25 billion for research and development.
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04/09/2022
While most of the world is watching the struggle between Ukraine and Russia, the eyes of U.S. Navy leaders remain fixed on China, which already has the largest navy in the world, and one that could dwarf the American fleet by the end of the decade.
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04/09/2022
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, has confirmed that his country has transferred its only Soviet-era S-300PMU long-range surface-to-air missile system to the Ukrainian military. This deal has been in the works for weeks now, and was made possible in large part by NATO allies, including the United States, agreeing to deploy Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to Slovakia to make up for the resulting air and missile defense gap in the country.
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04/09/2022
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday night said Russian air traffic control had told him that a NATO fighter jet tracked an Air Serbia passenger plane within Russian airspace on Wednesday near the Latvian border. Making it clear he accepted the Russian claim, Vucic said Serbia would seek additional information from Russia and from NATO.
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04/08/2022
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded with the international community to provide more military supplies and to impose tighter sanctions on Russia as his foreign minister said he had one demand of Nato: “Weapons, weapons and weapons.”
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04/08/2022
PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE (PAF) FA-50PH jet fighters will conduct “dissimilar air combat tactics” (DACT) with Hawker Hunter aircraft of the US Navy on Friday, the last day of the two-week “Balikatan” exercises. “The last flight of the FA-50s of the 5th Fighter Wing with the Hawker Hunters of the US Navy will be on April 8, they will do DACT,” said PAF spokesperson, Col. Maynard Mariano, in a message to the Philippine News Agency Thursday.
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04/08/2022
When the saga of Ukraine and the MiG-29 played out last month, the plan seemed fairly simple: Poland would ship its Russian made jets to Ukraine and the US would provide older-configuration Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to Poland as a replacement.
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04/08/2022
The Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber was recently caught on video firing a large number of heat traps over the Donetsk region in Eastern Ukraine where it has intensified its airstrikes, local media reported and share links on social media. According to the reports, a video of a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber passing over the Donetsk region surfaced on the internet. However, not the appearance of the combat aircraft, but the enormous shooting of deceptive thermal targets by it has caught the attention
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04/07/2022
The top item in the Pentagon’s latest assistance package to Ukraine announced last week is “laser-guided rocket systems.” This might seem like a curious description, as by convention any rocket with guidance is called a missile. But in the U.S. military ‘guided rocket’ refers to a specific weapon — one that could equip Ukraine's fleet of Bayraktar TB2 drones, which may now be running short of missiles.
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04/07/2022
Marine Corps pilots landed 20 F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters on the deck of the USS Tripoli (LHA-7) this week, marking the largest number of the jump jets loaded onto a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship. The aircraft landings are part of an ongoing joint Navy and Marine Corps exercise underway in the Pacific demonstrating the lightning carrier concept that turns amphibious assault ships into light carriers.
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04/07/2022
Russia’s war repositioning to Ukraine’s south and east has heightened worries for NATO Black Sea ally Romania, which saw Russia close within 30 miles of its coastline when it captured Snake Island from Ukraine Feb. 24. American F-16s are currently conducting a NATO enhanced air policing mission in Romania, and in February the U.S. sent two F-35s to help deter Russia.
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04/07/2022
Serbia is considering a purchase of 12 new Rafale multipurpose fighter jets developed by French manufacturer Dassault Aviation, French media reported. Initially, Serbia and Dassault Aviation discussed the purchase of six aircraft but subsequently the number was increased to 12, La Tribune weekly reported on Tuesday, quoting sources familiar with the matter. The reelection of Serbia's incumbent president Aleksandar Vucic last Sunday is likely to facilitate the process, La Tribune added.
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04/06/2022
The 2022 war in Ukraine has demonstrated the vulnerability of advanced military aircraft to modern air defense systems on both sides. From Ukraine’s loss of the famed ‘Grey Wolf’ to Russia’s numerous losses of combat jets, vehicle-mounted and man-portable air defense systems are proving to be deadly to even advanced 4.5-generation fighters.
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04/06/2022
The U.S. Army has decided to shelve its Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades it was developing as part of the Boeing-manufactured CH-47F cargo helicopter’s latest upgrades due to issues that cropped up during testing, according to Brig. Gen. Robert Barrie, the program executive officer for Army aviation.
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04/06/2022
The Marines broke a record on Sunday when they loaded the most 16 F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters ever aboard a big-deck amphibious warship. Under cloudy skies on Sunday afternoon, deck sailors directed Marine pilots onto launching spots and maneuvered others into parking spots on the flight deck USS Tripoli (LHA-7), the Navy’s newest big deck amphibious warship, with more coming later this week.
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04/06/2022
While the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is a joint development between India and Russia, the sale of the systems to Philippines is a transaction between the two countries and we will be able to move ahead on a “bilateral basis”, said Indian Ambassador in the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran, amid the global developments following the Russian war in Ukraine. Philippines was also given clarification on the accidental BrahMos missile launch recently.
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04/06/2022
A new program appears to have been added to the relative flurry of activity in the field of next-generation air-to-air missiles, or AAMs, for the U.S. military. While very little is known about the Modular Advanced Missile, reference to which first appeared in a recent Air Force budget document, we now know that the weapon is an AAM and that there are plans to test-fire it from a fighter jet.
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04/06/2022
Not only are Ukrainian MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) a significant threat to the Russian Ka-52 and Mi-28 gunship helicopters operating over Ukraine but also ATGMs. The following clip has started to circulate online on social media on April 5, 2022, and shows a Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Alligator gunship shot down by a Ukrainian Stugna-P ATGM.
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04/05/2022
Boeing will begin the delivery of second batch of F-15QA combat aircraft to Qatar this year. “We plan to begin delivery of the F-15QA to the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) in 2022,” Kuljit Ghata-Aura, President of Boeing Middle East, Turkey & Africa, told The Peninsula in an exclusive interview.
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04/05/2022
The U.S. Navy is one step closer to fielding MQ-25 Stingray refueling drones aboard its aircraft carriers. The Navy’s 2023 budget request includes $16.8 billion to allow the MQ-25 to begin formal procurement next year. The Stingray is the first done of its type. It will be capable of refueling the Navy’s carrier air wing, including F-35Cs, F/A-18s, and other carrier aircraft. It is expected to double the combat radius for carrier-launched aircraft.
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04/05/2022
The US Defense Department approved Monday the sale of eight F-16 combat aircraft to Bulgaria for $1.67 billion, bolstering its air force as the regional threat has risen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The proposed sale will improve Bulgaria's capability to meet current and future threats by enabling the Bulgarian Air Force to deploy modern fighter aircraft routinely in the Black Sea region," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
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04/04/2022
The Ukrainian leadership asked the United States to provide Kyiv with Su-25 attack aircraft as part of military assistance. This was reported on Wednesday [March 30] by the television company CNN, the Russian online portal Nezavisimaya Gazeta said.
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04/04/2022
Ukrainian forces braced for an intensified Russian onslaught against the eastern Donbas region Sunday as officials from Ukraine, the U.S. and other countries condemned Moscow over allegations of civilian executions. A gruesome cleanup was underway in the northern suburbs of Kyiv, the capital, following the withdrawal of Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers were removing bodies from streets, homes and other sites in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which had been recently occupied by Russian forces.
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04/04/2022
Marine Attack Squadron 214, also known as the Black Sheep, has become the last of the four squadrons assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma to be converted from AV-8B Harriers to the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter II. Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, the commanding general of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, presided over the redesignation ceremony and said the switch to the F-35B represents a leap forward in the Marine Corps' air dominance.
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04/04/2022
Ukrainians have shared pictures of a burning Russian fighter jet they say was shot out of the sky in the Kharkiv region as Putin's forces continue to take heavy damages. Photos from the scene remains of Russian fighting aircraft Su-35 believed to have been hit by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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04/03/2022
Two South Korean air force planes collided in mid-air during training and crashed near their base on Friday, killing all four people aboard the aircraft, officials said. Both planes were KT-1 trainer aircraft — South Korea's first indigenously developed planes — that took off from an air force base in the southeastern city of Sacheon one after another for flight training, the air force said in a statement.
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04/03/2022
SNC says the aircraft, the most technologically enhanced and mission capable A-29 brought to market, are intended for AFSOC’s Combat Aviation Advisor (CAA) mission which is designed to build international partner capacity. The first two A-29Cs, delivered earlier this month, are already conducting training operations with AFSOC at Hurlburt Air Force Base.
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04/03/2022
The Air Force plans to cut nearly 6,000 military billets in fiscal 2023 as it looks to retire more of its mainstay combat aircraft, according to the Biden administration’s new budget request released Monday. But it is unclear how many airmen could be out of a job as a result.
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04/02/2022
A Ministry of Defence source told The Times a video (you can see it below) showed Starstreak being fired over Ukraine. The source added that the system had been used by Ukrainian forces for almost a week. The footage circulating online shows a high-velocity Starstreak projectile destroying an aircraft in the Luhansk region of Ukraine.
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04/02/2022
The Directorate for Air Armaments and Airworthiness of the Italian Secretariat General of Defence/National Armaments Directorate has signed an acquisition contract with Leonardo for the supply of one C-27J to the Slovenian Ministry of Defence. The contract also covers additional equipment for aero-medical operations, training services and integrated logistic support for two years.
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04/02/2022
The focus of European policymakers over the past several weeks has been on dealing with arguably the biggest military crisis on European soil since the end of World War II. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered what the German government has called a Zeitenwende, a turning point in history, when it comes to Europe’s defense procurement and policies.
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04/02/2022
Just yesterday, we commented a video posted by the Russian MOD that proved that the Ka-52 Alligator helicopters are still lobbing unguided rockets at targets in Ukraine in the very same way we had observed a couple of weeks earlier, when the first clips of Russian Aerospace Forces Ka-52 and Mi-28 Havoc helicopters had started circulating online.
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04/02/2022
The report claimed that the exercise encompassed a variety of terrains, including plateaus and the sea, and that it demonstrated not only the great capabilities of the pilots and aircraft but also the solid logistics support capabilities of various airbases. Warplanes such as the J-11B and J-11BS from a brigade linked with the PLA Air Force reportedly took off from a location in Central China and flew thousands of kilometers to an undisclosed location.
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04/01/2022
A Russian official accused Ukraine of mounting a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory Friday, as footage surfaced of the facility engulfed in flames. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region claimed two Ukrainian military helicopters flew across the border at low altitude on Friday morning and struck the fuel storage facility, setting millions of gallons of fuel on fire.
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04/01/2022
The Ukrainian parliament have proposed cash payments to Russian military soldiers and pilots to sell their serviceable military equipment. Politicians have said that they could offer $1m for a Russian pilot to give up their fighter jet, to be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
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04/01/2022
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, perhaps the most repeated request by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for assistance in the defense of his country against Russia’s invasion, is for the stand-up of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Many people assume that somehow a no-fly zone is a relatively risk-free and simple means to disperse an enemy from conducting hostile operations over a particular area of interest—nothing could be further from reality.
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04/01/2022
The US Department of Defense's annual report on China's military was released in November, providing new information on the growing strength of the People's Liberation Army during 2020. Among the updates to last year's assessments, which covered developments in 2019, were an increase in the estimated size of China's ground forces, an even larger naval fleet, and the introduction of new weapons.
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04/01/2022
Swedish media report that two Russian aircraft that violated Sweden’s airspace in early March 2022 were carrying nuclear weapons. On March 2, 2022, four Russian combat aircraft, including two Su-27 Flanker fighters and two Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers briefly violated the airspace over the Swedish island of Gotland. The incident took place while the Finnish and Swedish forces were engaged in a joint exercise in the Baltic Sea. The Russian flight group took off from the nearby enclave of Kalin
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04/01/2022
The service seeks to phase out a total of 33 of its oldest F-22s. These jets are apparently not combat-capable anymore and are used only for training purposes. The cost of getting these F-22s ready for combat, according to Maj. Gen. James Peccia, the Air Force’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for budget, will be $1.8 billion over eight years, which is astronomically high. Thus, the USAF decided to divert those funds for research on cutting-edge combat jet designs as part of the NGAD program. Further
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03/31/2022
Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their own kit, and refused to carry out orders, a British spy chief has revealed. Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, said President Vladimir Putin's advisers are afraid to tell him the truth about how badly things are going. In a rare public speech on Thursday in Australia, the senior intelligence officer also said:
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03/31/2022
The Air Force plans to cut its fleet of F-22s by 33 — mothballing planes used by the training unit that’s moving to Langley Air Force Base — but its plans to shift that unit and its hundreds of civilians and contractors to Hampton are still on course. “Although we plan to retire the F-22 Block 20 aircraft, we plan to redistribute the existing operational F-22 aircraft to support the training mission as well as the operational missions,” said Ann Stefanek, the Air Force’s chief media spokeswoman.
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03/31/2022
Two F-35A Lightning II of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), took part in “Armeebotschaft 2022” at Emmen Air Base, Switzerland last week. The presence of the two Italian aircraft was requested by the Swiss government to present the population and authorities the new fighter which was chosen to replace the current aircraft in the Swiss Air Force.
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03/31/2022
Military aviation training companies Top Aces and Blue Air Training announced the completion of a merger on 30 March. Las Vegas-based Blue Air provides Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training for the US Air Force (USAF) and foreign air forces. JTACs are ground-based USAF personnel who direct fire support from aerial platforms.
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03/31/2022
Ukraine is poised to introduce a new ground-based air defense system to its war against Russia’s invasion forces, with the announcement that the British-supplied Starstreak main-portable air defense system, or MANPADS, is “ready to be used imminently.” Once fielded in combat, the Starstreak will be the latest addition to a growing armory of similar systems used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which we examined in detail in this past feature.
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03/30/2022
Three days after the attack began, Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a landmark speech pledged a special budget of 100 billion euros for the military, as well as annual spending of more than two percent of output on defence. The armaments industry has since been buzzing about the looming spending spree.
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03/30/2022
The US Air Force’s (USAF) 18th Wing has conducted the hot-pit style refuelling with a KC-135 Stratotanker at Kadence Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The hot pit refuelling exercise maximises agile combat employment (ACE). The event was conducted in the Pacific Air Forces’ (PACAF) area of responsibility for the first time, reported technical sergeant Micaiah Anthony.
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03/30/2022
The US Air Force (USAF)’s 325th Fighter Wing (FW) based in Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida is set to receive F-35A Lightning II aircraft starting from September 2023. The move is part of the National Defense Strategy to enhance air superiority goals. Currently, Tyndall personnel and contractors are working to prepare the airbase to accommodate the F-35 jets.
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03/30/2022
The Sukhoi Su-34 was supposed to change the Russian air force. The twin-engine, twin-seat, supersonic fighter-bomber—a highly-evolved variant of the Su-27 air-superiority fighter—promised to usher in a new era of high-tech, precision bombing.
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03/29/2022
A budgetary analysis by Finland’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has determined that the government’s $10 billion buy of 64 Lockheed F-35 fighter jets can be funded from within the Finnish Defense Force’s (FDF) established annual income and expenditure framework.
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03/29/2022
With thousands of troops deployed to Europe in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Navy is adding to its assets in the region. The Defense Department announced Monday that six EA-18G Growlers, with 240 air crew and maintainers, will head to Spangdahlem, Germany, as part of 14,000 troops the U.S. has committed to reassure NATO. The electronic attack aircraft will not be doing any jamming missions, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
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03/29/2022
Armenia handed over combat aircraft to Russia for use in military operations against Ukraine, Trend reports citing the Turkish media. According to the statement, on March 25, four Su-30 fighters took off from Armenia and flew to Russia to be used against Ukraine. Thus, Armenia became a participant in the military activities in Ukraine. Once again, this country contributed to the escalation of the conflict rather than peace in the region.
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03/29/2022
Thousands of American and Filipino forces began on Monday one of their largest combat exercises in years that will include live-fire maneuvers, aircraft assaults, urban warfare and beach landings in a showcase of U.S. firepower in the northern Philippines near its sea border with Taiwan.
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03/29/2022
Air Force jobs are set to dip in fiscal 2023 as the service looks to retire more of its mainstay combat aircraft, according to the Biden administration’s new budget request released Monday.
The service wants to shrink its workforce by opting not to replace airmen who separate, retire or leave on other terms, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters in a March 25 preview.
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03/28/2022
The Canadian government has selected Lockheed Martin Corp., the American manufacturer of the F-35 fighter jet, as its preferred bidder in a $19-billion search for a new warplane. The announcement will be made today, a source told The Globe and Mail. They were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. This development means Canada starts negotiating solely with Lockheed Martin on a contract for the combat aircraft.
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03/28/2022
India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) informed that on Sunday (March 27), the country has successfully carried out the test firing of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile air defence system. The test-fire was carried out off the coast of Odisha's Balasore, which is an eastern Indian state.
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03/28/2022
As Russia continues its attack on Ukraine, the role of NATO is at the forefront. Here's a quick overview of the alliance, the role that the United States plays within it, and what it's doing to help Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
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03/28/2022
Emotional compartmentalization is among the fighter pilot’s most essential skills. Especially in wartime, when there is little time to reflect on one’s mortality, or to honor the dead. Apart from their fears and sorrows, however, there is another emotion, unique to war, which Ukrainian fighter pilots must now also control each time they fly. It is their rage, provoked by the Russian pilots who continue to bomb and murder Ukrainian civilians.
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03/27/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visibly irritated, demanded that Western nations provide a fraction of the military hardware in their stock piles to his country and asked whether they were afraid of Moscow. Several countries have promised to send anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles as well as small arms but Zelenskiy said Kyiv was not getting what it needed.
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03/27/2022
The Ukraine defense ministry reported that another Russian general has been killed in the war.
"Yakov Rezantsev is the second Russian lieutenant general to die in the war against Ukraine," the ministry tweeted Friday. "This is becoming a typical track-record of Russian generals. Lt. Gen Yakov Rezantsev is said to have been killed during a Ukrainian strike on the Chornobaivka airbase near Kherson, Ukraine, BBC reported.
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03/27/2022
The Nigerian Army on Saturday said its troops have discovered wreckage of a missing Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha Jet. The Nigerian Army made this known on its official Twitter page on Saturday. Recall that the Alpha fighter jet, marked NAF 475, went missing after losing radar contact with the air force base in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital on March 31, 2021.
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03/27/2022
The end of an era is upon Nellis Air Force Base (AFB). The installation geared up to bid farewell to the F-15C Eagle as the aircraft prepared to depart for the last time. On Mar. 16, 2022 one of the last few F-15Cs departed to its final active flying unit, Eglin AFB, Florida. Back in December 2020, it was announced that the last cadre of F-15C students and instructors flew their final defensive counter-air mission for the US Air Force Weapons School.
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03/27/2022
American F-35s deployed to NATO member states in Eastern Europe could help deter Russia from expanding its war in Ukraine to other countries. U.S. Air Force F-35As briefly operated from Estonia in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Air Force units in Europe remain in the region to support allies.
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03/26/2022
According to a report on Israel’s Walla! News site, Israel is trying to persuade the US to approve the sale of advanced F-15 Advanced Eagle fighter jets to Egypt. Israel is working to approve the US aircraft deal with Egypt as part of Jerusalem’s efforts to improve relations between Cairo and Washington, the report says.
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03/26/2022
A viral video of an Air Force pilot training exercise captures the heart-stopping maneuvers a real Top Gun has to perform to escape his 'enemy.' The video shows Air Force Pilot William Lewis shooting off swirling flares to distract his pursuer in a 3k training exercise above the Nevada Test and Training Range on the Nellis Air Force Base. The 3k refers to the 3,000 feet separating the jet-to-jet combat.
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03/26/2022
As part of the transition from the AV-8B Harrier to the F-35B Lightning II, VMA-214 was re-designated as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 214. The F-35B Lightning II is replacing the AV-8B Harrier to introduce unmatched capabilities to the Marine Corps. The F-35B Lightning II represents a leap forward in air dominance by providing the operational agility and tactical supremacy Marines need to provide expeditious and lethal support.
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03/26/2022
The issue of air power over Ukraine remained center stage this week as NATO heads of state gathered in Brussels to discuss their further support of the country aimed at upholding its right to self-defense against Russia’s invasion.
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03/26/2022
On 23 March, a B-2 stealth bomber conducted a mission in the region with five different fighter aircraft from the US Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, the Pacific Air Forces announced in a press release. A USAF B-2 ‘Spirit’ flew from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, to RAAF base Amberley, Australia. The combat aircraft was linked to the 509th Bomb Wing and became the first B-2 Spirit to land at RAAF Base Amberley, the release stated.
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03/25/2022
In a conflict that’s so far confounded many expectations, it’s no exaggeration to say that the performance of the Ukrainian Air Force in its response to Russia's invasion has been one of the more surprising aspects. Rather than being wiped out on the ground and in the air in the first few days of the war, as many had predicted, Ukrainian airpower has instead refused to buckle in the face of a much larger and technologically more advanced opponent.
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03/25/2022
Ukraine has updated its extensive wishlist of additional military assistance from the US government in the past several days to include hundreds more anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles than previously requested, according to a document provided to CNN that details the items needed.
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03/25/2022
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the NATO summit, has said that the Alliance could provide Ukraine with 1% of all its tanks and aircraft. The head of state recalled that Ukraine had applied to NATO representatives for combat aircraft and tanks, both on a reimbursable and non-reimbursable basis, to prevent deaths among its own population and unblock the cities surrounded and occupied by Russian troops.
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03/25/2022
With global attention focused on the crisis in eastern Europe, China has surreptitiously stepped up its engagement with Myanmar’s junta and has also got Pakistan involved as its proxy to supply arms and munitions to the southeast Asian nation. A senior delegation from the Myanmar Military Procurement Authority is slated to visit Pakistan soon for pre-shipment procurement of weapons.
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03/25/2022
The Navy is making the first major changes to the carrier air wing in a generation. The service just wrapped up the first carrier deployment of the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters – the first new fighter jet on a carrier in 20 years – and is a few years away from introducing the first unmanned aircraft into the air wing.
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03/24/2022
A trilateral military exercise between the air forces of Singapore, Thailand and the United States that had been put on hold for two years because of COVID-19 is currently under way at Thailand's Korat Air Base. More than 1,100 people and around 70 assets are taking part in Exercise Cope Tiger - now into its 26th edition - from Mar 13 to Mar 25, said Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) on Thursday (Mar 23).
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03/24/2022
The Defence Ministry is expected to make some crucial updates on the status of 18 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) procurement in the upcoming Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition & Conference next week that will be held from March 28-31.
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03/24/2022
The Air Force usually takes a long time to procure new equipment, even when the need for something new is clear and urgent. But it seems the service may drop its typical agonizingly deliberative process and move quickly to buy a replacement for—or at least complement to—its fleet of aged E-3 AWACS air battle control jets. That new platform will almost certainly be the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail.
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03/23/2022
An F-22 Raptor from the 325th Fighter Wing "experienced a mishap on landing" at Eglin Air Force Base shortly before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a brief announcement released from the base's public affairs office shortly before 1 p.m.
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03/22/2022
Two F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role fighter jets from Aviano Air Base, Italy, deployed to Croatia on Mar. 16, 2022 taking part in agile combat employment exercises and bolstering NATO’s southeastern flank, the US Air Force (USAF) announced. According to Air Force Magazine, the Vipers arrived a few days after a military drone crashed in the Croatian capital of Zagreb amid nearby war between Russia and Ukraine.
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03/22/2022
The war in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s psychotic obsession with wreaking murderous havoc on a democratic neighbour has had many unintended consequences. For one, it has strengthened the resolve and stiffened the spine of western nations, repurposed NATO back to its original intent, and is protecting Europe from Russian aggression.
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03/22/2022
Something epochal has happened in the Nordic lands. For the first time in the country’s history, the majority of Finns now support joining NATO. Domestic backing has shifted radically in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a recent poll, 65% of Finns supported membership; only 15% are against it. That has risen from just 26% less than two years ago.
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03/22/2022
As Russian forces continue to surround Kyiv and conduct urban operations throughout Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have turned to drones to supplement their combat power. Whether being used in a reconnaissance role or to deliver lethal munitions, drones such as the TB2 Bayraktar are strengthening the Ukrainian military’s ability to fight the numerically superior Russian army in close proximity to the civilian population.
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03/22/2022
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has concluded its participation in Exercise Red Flag – Nellis. The multilateral air combat exercise was held from 7 to 18 March 2022 (US time) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, United States. The RSAF has won the "Outstanding Aircraft Maintenance Unit" award this year.
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03/21/2022
Uganda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India for the maintenance and technical support of the Sukhoi SU-MK30 fighter jets Uganda purchased from Russia more than a decade ago. The maintenance will be done by Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Indian company has a manufacturing license from Russia to build the fighter aircraft.
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03/21/2022
In the newly released video, shared by the official account of the Russian defense Ministry, observers spotted footage showing that Russian troops used Gomel airport as military bases for its armed drones. According to a tweet from MotolkoHelp, the Russian Ministry of Defense provided evidence of the use of Gomel airport for strikes on targets in Ukraine.
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03/21/2022
In April 2018, the Indian Air Force proposed the MMRCA 2.0 tender for the procurement of 114 additional fighter jets for its air fleet, following the acquisition of 36 Rafale jets. Boeing is vying for the multi-billion dollar contract that includes the Swedish Saab Gripen, the Russian MiG-35 and Su-35, the French Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the US Lockheed Martin F-21.
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03/21/2022
Despite amassing an invasion force of nearly 200,000 troops and thousands of armored vehicles supported by combat aircraft and warships, the Russian military has failed to reach its primary objectives in the three weeks since its offensive into Ukraine began.
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03/21/2022
China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby, a top U.S. military commander said Sunday.
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03/20/2022
Four Chinese military aircraft, two fighter jets and two bombers, flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) Saturday, the Ministry of National Defense said. The sortie consisted of two twin-engine Xian H-6 strategic bombers, and Shenyang J-11 and Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, according to a statement released by the ministry.
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03/20/2022
The absence of stealth aircraft appears to be a particularly impactful dynamic in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, given that advanced air defenses have made it possible to close large swaths of the sky to attacking aircraft. An effective fifth-generation stealth fighter would quite likely be able to find and destroy enemy air defense systems, something that fourth-generation aircraft seem to have been unable to do.
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03/20/2022
The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced Russian forces made use of the Kinzhal hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles to destroy a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatyn, Ivano-Frankivsk region, in Ukraine’s western part, on Mar. 18, 2022.
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03/20/2022
Dozens of soldiers were killed when Russian troops bombed a Ukrainian military barracks in the southern city of Mykolaiv, witnesses told AFP on Saturday while a rescue operation was underway. “No fewer than 200 soldiers were sleeping in the barracks” when Russian troops struck early Friday, a Ukrainian serviceman on the ground, 22-year-old Maxim, told AFP without providing his last name.
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03/19/2022
A US military aircraft with four people onboard has crashed in northern Norway, the country’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centres (JRCC) told Reuters on Friday. The V-22 Osprey aircraft was taking part in a NATO military exercise called Cold Response when it was reported missing at 6.26pm CET (9.26pm UAE), the JRCC said.
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03/19/2022
Russian missiles on Friday targeted a facility used to repair military aircraft near the airport in Lviv, the Ukrainian authorities said as the war entered the 23rd day. However, no casualties were reported during the strike, news agency AP reported. "Several missiles hit a facility used to repair military aircraft and damaged a bus repair facility, though no casualties were immediately reported. The plant had suspended work ahead of the attack," Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
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03/19/2022
Even as much of Russia's military is tied up in the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is demonstrating that it can still operate in the Far East with shows of force in Japan's neighborhood. Four Russian tank landing ships were observed passing through the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido on Tuesday and Wednesday, traveling westward into the Sea of Japan, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.
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03/19/2022
The Swedish Air Force provided a vital role to the 414th Combat Training Squadron’s Red Flag-Nellis 22-2 with two air bosses. Their participation promotes interoperability between friendly forces and the exchange of information for both future Red Flag exercises and the Swedish Arctic Challenge Exercise.
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03/19/2022
The Air Force’s next budget proposal, expected to be released by the end of March, will provide more clues on how it hopes to mix manned fighters and bombers with autonomous combat drones. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall views this concept as so vital that elements of it made up two of the seven operational imperatives he outlined in his March 3 keynote address to the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here.
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03/18/2022
The Iraqi Security Media Cell said on Thursday that four rockets fell in open areas in Balad Airbase, leaving no damage or casualties. The media cell stated that the authorities will hunt down the perpetrators of this “cowardly terrorist act”, reassuring Iraqi citizens that “the acts of criminal terrorist gangs will not pass unless the perpetrators are put behind bars and under the judgment of the law.” Balad Airbase houses Iraqi F-16, L-159, and T-6 fighter jets.
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03/18/2022
Jet fighter designers at the Boeing Co. are enhancing electronic warfare (EW) capability to a major upgrade of Japan's F-15 combat aircraft under terms of a $24.6 million order announced Wednesday. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to add EW capability to upgrades involved in the Japan Super Interceptor (JSI) program.
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03/18/2022
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Bundestag in a video call for the first time on Thursday morning before the German parliament opened. The Ukrainian president told German parliamentarians that "help came too late to stop war" with Russia, which invaded the country on February 24.
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03/18/2022
The Taiwanese Air Force announced that it would ground its fleet of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets on March 14. The announcement came after a unit of the said aircraft crashed off the southeastern coast of the island during a routine training session. This is the second time a combat aircraft was lost in a span of three months, showing its accident-prone fleet. Though fortunately, the pilot operating the aircraft was rescued this time around.
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03/18/2022
As the Ukraine-Russia war drags on, military aviation experts are noticing that anti-aircraft missiles like the Stinger and Igla are not the only threats Russian pilots face in the skies over Ukraine. In fact, a dangerous combination of doctrine, training and equipment is partly to blame for the heavy losses the VKS, the acronym for Russia’s air force, have sustained in the three-week-old war.
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03/17/2022
Ukrainian officials accused Russia on Wednesday of bombing a theater where hundreds of displaced families have sought refuge in the besieged port city of Mariupol, part of a string of intense attacks that continued even as diplomats said they were making progress in peace talks.
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03/17/2022
Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has plunged the world into its worst military crisis since the end of the Cold War. From the U.S. standpoint, the war carries two opposing dangers: We could underreact, and thus let Russia get away with unprovoked aggression that will destroy the world order. Or we can overreact, allowing the conflict to spiral out of control. Put another way: We can’t afford to start a larger war, but we also can’t afford to let Russia win.
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03/17/2022
It’s not hard to explain the startling losses of aircraft and pilots the Russian air force has suffered as the Ukraine war enters its third week. Russian air-warfare doctrine, plus a shortage of precision-guided munitions, all but forces its fighter and attack pilots to fly low and slow underneath cloud cover within just a few miles of Ukrainian troops.
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03/17/2022
The F-35 is a state-of-the-art stealth bomber, which Germany's air force has long coveted The F-35 Lightning II is considered the most modern fighter jet in the world. The jet, made by US manufacturer Lockheed Martin, is considered more than just a fighter aircraft. It is essentially an armed computer with a jet engine that can network with other aircraft in the air as well as ground forces, processing thousands of pieces of information every second.
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03/16/2022
The top U.S. general for forces in the Middle East said on Tuesday that he believed the United States would provide Egypt with F-15 aircraft. "I think we have good news in that we're going to provide them with F-15s, which was a long, hard slog," General Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said during a congressional hearing.
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03/16/2022
The U.S. military conducted an aircraft carrier-led exercise in the Yellow Sea and intensified air defense artillery drills at a base in South Korea in response to increased missile tests from North Korea, U.S. forces said Tuesday.
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03/16/2022
For nearly three weeks, top U.S. Air Force officials have closely watched Russian troops advance — and stall — in Moscow’s attempt to reclaim Ukraine. In recent public appearances, service leaders said their real-time look at Russian capabilities hasn’t given them a reason to rethink existing strategy or spending.
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03/16/2022
From mid-February, eight Eurofighter Typhoons of the Aeronautica Militare and six Eurofighters of the German Air Force’s Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74, jointly operate from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, supporting NATO’s eAPA-S (enhanced Air Policing Area-South) mission, to protect the allied airspace in the Black Sea region, where tensions with Russia are at their highest since the Cold War years following the invasion and the war underway in Ukraine.
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03/16/2022
In the skies above Eglin and along the Emerald Coast, 40th Flight Test Squadron aircrew flew a five-ship formation Jan. 31. This formation wasn’t just any grouping of test aircraft, it represented for the first and last time, all five fighters in the 96th Test Wing inventory. Included were the F-15EX Eagle II, the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-15C Eagle, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
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03/16/2022
Almost three weeks into Russia’s large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, Kyiv is increasingly calling on NATO to protect Ukrainian airspace. The alliance has repeatedly refused the request out of fear that this would mean engaging in a direct confrontation with Russia. Yet, with dozens of Ukrainians being killed by Russian aerial attacks each day, there are still many ways in which NATO can help Ukraine protect itself.
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03/15/2022
A growing chorus of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with fighter jets and weapons to bolster its defense against Russia's continued attacks. The bipartisan, 58-member Problem Solvers Caucus on Sunday became the latest group of lawmakers to push for Ukraine to receive more military assistance from the U.S., including help securing Stinger missiles, air-defense systems and fighter jets.
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03/15/2022
The issue of providing aircraft to Ukraine remains extremely urgent on the agenda, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said. "Aircraft are needed. This issue remains extremely urgent on the agenda. There is a conversation between the military about which aircraft are needed, for what purposes, but any talk that Ukraine does not need aircraft does not correspond to reality," Kuleba said at the online briefing on Monday.
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03/15/2022
A Taiwanese Mirage 2000 fighter jet has crashed into the sea off the island's southeast coast after mechanical issues but the pilot was rescued, the air force says, the second combat aircraft loss in the space of three months. The air force said the French-built aircraft took off just after 10am on Monday on a training mission from the Chihhang air base in Taitung and reported it had to return after a mechanical problem.
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03/15/2022
PHILIPPINE Air Force (PAF) FA-50PH jet fighter pilots will have the opportunity to practice “air combat maneuvering” (ACM) tactics with American F-16 fighter pilots during the “Bilateral Air Contingent Exchange (BACE)-Philippines which will be held March 14 to 25.
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03/15/2022
Footage released by the Russian MOD early on March 14, 2022, proves once again how sturdy the Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot can be. The clip shows the aircraft taxiing with significant damage reportedly caused by a MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System) that hit the jet on the rear right hand side of the fuselage.
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03/15/2022
The F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin would replace Germany's decades-old Tornado fleet, according to media reports confirmed by the source. Tornados are the only Luftwaffe planes capable of carrying US nuclear bombs stationed in Germany that are a key part of NATO deterrence.
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03/14/2022
UKRAINE has offered a million dollars (£767,000) to every Russian fighter pilot who defects from Vladimir Putin's forces and hands over their warplane. Ukraine has offered a million dollars to every Russian pilot who defects from the military and hands over their warplane in working condition. The offer appears to be an attempt to exploit the low morale reported among Russian troops as the war enters its third week. The reward was made by the Ukrainian state arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom.
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03/14/2022
Former programme director and chief designer of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Dr Kota Harinarayana, said one of his biggest takeaways from the LCA project was that a huge amount of talent is available in small and medium industries and they need to be supported. He opined that if government agencies and big industries treat small-scale industries as partners, India will be at the forefront of innovation.
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03/14/2022
Two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has become apparent that Russia’s military is experiencing failures — both technical and strategic — that have surprised analysts who study one of the world’s largest military forces. There are multiple issues one could look at in relation to Russia’s poor military performance in Ukraine to date, such as being unable to effectively counter Ukrainian drones, or failing to deliver on the kind of cyberwarfare expected.
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03/14/2022
TLP 22-1, the first of this year, took place at the Base Aérea de Los Llanos, home of the Ala 14 of the Spanish Air Force and the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) courses, in Albacete, between Feb. 14 and Mar. 4, 2022. The Flying Course saw the attendance of 560 participants, 37 of those were graduates including 30 pilots, 4 Intelligence Officers and 3 Controllers.
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03/13/2022
Over the past day, the Ukrainian military destroyed six pieces of equipment of the Russian occupier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in cooperation with other components of the defense forces, give a worthy rebuff to the enemy troops, in particular, two helicopters, two fighter jets [one of which is Su-34] and two UAVs were destroyed over the previous day," according to a report published in Sunday morning.
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03/13/2022
India is developing a new air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile which would be able to strike at enemy targets at more than 800 kilometers. The missile earlier had the capability of hitting targets at around 300 kilometers after being released from a Su-30MKI combat aircraft.
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03/13/2022
Turkey’s drone magnate Baykar on Saturday announced it has reached a new phase in its unmanned combat aircraft project, unveiling that the first prototype has entered the production line. "A larger and more agile fish has entered the production line three and a half years later," Selçuk Bayraktar, the chief technology officer (CTO) at the drone maker, said on Twitter.
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03/13/2022
As many as 12 missiles struck Iraq’s northern city of Irbil on Sunday near the U.S. Consulate, Iraqi security officials said. A U.S. defense official said missiles had been launched at the city from neighboring Iran. No injuries were reported. Officials in Iraq and the U.S. gave different accounts of the strike and the damage it caused. A second U.S. official said there was no damage at any U.S. government facility and that there was no indication the target was the consulate building.
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03/13/2022
The BBC has spoken to a serving mercenary and a former fighter with close links to one of Russia's leading mercenary organisations, who have shared details of the recruitment campaign. The serving mercenary said many veterans of the secretive Wagner organisation were contacted on a private Telegram group a few weeks before the start of the war. They were invited to a "picnic in Ukraine", with references to tasting "Salo", a pork fat traditionally eaten in Ukraine.
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03/12/2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24 with strikes from land, sea and air in the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War Two. Despite an initial battle plan that Western countries said was aimed at swiftly toppling Ukraine’s government in Kyiv, Russia has control of only one Ukrainian city so far - the southern Dnipro River port of Kherson.
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03/12/2022
On March 9 and 10, 2022, NATO Air Chiefs and senior representatives of Allied and Partner air forces met at Allied Air Command for the first Air Chiefs' Symposium in 2022 to discuss and share perspectives on Air and Space Power. Against the background of the present war Russia launched in Ukraine, the participants discussed air activities within NATO's strategic context and in support of ongoing Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area.
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03/12/2022
In collaboration with the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Agency, India’s state-owned aerospace and defence corporation Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has begun producing India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). With the start of production activity, the AMCA programme entered a critical phase. The plan calls for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy to be equipped with a 5.5 Generation twin-engine stealth fighter.
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03/12/2022
An Iowa Air National Guard KC-135 with a giant bat tail flash retired after 65 years of service. Tail number 57-2606, nicknamed “Free Bird,” took off this week for a one-way trip to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Chief Master Sgt. Brian Harder, 185th Air Refueling Wing Maintenance Operations superintendent, said the main contributing factor to retiring the aircraft boiled down to the projected cost of maintenance.
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03/12/2022
Dassault Aviation bounced back strong in 2021. Now the war in Ukraine is expected to weigh on 2022 growth. Dassault Aviation posted 2021 sales of EUR7.2 billion, up almost 32 percent over 2020’s sales of EUR5.5 billion. Net income rose to EUR693 million for 2021, compared with 2020 income of EUR396 million.
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03/11/2022
Delhi said it was "deeply regrettable" and expressed relief no one was killed. Pakistan's military said a "high-speed flying object" had crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu and its flight path had endangered passenger flights. Both countries have nuclear weapons.
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03/11/2022
In one of the latest video recordings from Ukraine, a Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Su-57 jet fighter may have been filmed for the first time on a European combat mission on 9 March during the ongoing invasion. An eyewitness was able to film the silhouette of the aircraft as it flew overhead, as well as the moment the bridge in Zhytomyr was being hit. Presumably this was the Berdychiv bridge over the Teterev river.
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03/11/2022
Russian strikes hit near airports in western Ukraine on Friday as the military offensive widened, and invading troops kept up pressure on the capital Kyiv and the besieged port city of Mariupol. The airstrikes on the Lutsk military airfield left two Ukrainian servicemen dead and six people wounded, according to the head of the surrounding Volyn region, Yuriy Pohulyayko.
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03/11/2022
The Chinese military is searching for a patrol plane that crashed into the South China Sea earlier this month, Taiwan's intelligence agency said on Thursday, becoming the first government in the region to officially confirm several days of speculation.
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03/11/2022
The planned $2.2 billion FMS deal for Lockheed Martin to sell a dozen C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft and associated equipment to Egypt passed an important milestone on Thursday, after the US Senate voted 81-18 in favour of the proposal.
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03/11/2022
A well-armed Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter brings to mind an oft-quoted line from the fictional Bruce Banner before transforming into the Hulk: "You won't like me when I'm angry." That sentiment could certainly be directed at anyone foolish enough to confront an F-35 operating in "beast mode," where it could carry a full 22,000 lbs of ordnance, including air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
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03/11/2022
Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with other federal ministers, service chief and the Chinese ambassador, attended the induction ceremony of the single-engine fighter jet at the special invitation of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar. The premier congratulated the nation on the induction of the new multi-role fighter aircraft and also thanked China for delivering the fighter jets to Pakistan in a short period of eight months.
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03/11/2022
Foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia arrived in Turkey on March 10 for a face-to-face meeting, the first time since the two countries went to war two weeks back. The meeting comes after several rounds of discussions between the two sides in Belarus. The fifth-generation Su-57 ‘Felon’ is a heavyweight fighter. There is speculation that Russia’s Southern Military District deployed the jet to Ukraine.
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03/10/2022
War between Turkey’s two Black Sea partners has given an unexpected jolt to the country’s quest for new fighter jets and its domestic program to make new-generation aircraft. “The war has practically killed all potential Turkish-Russian deals in strategic weapons systems,” said a senior Turkish diplomat, who deals with NATO and security affairs and was not authorized to speak to the press. “This will be a de facto part of our proactive neutrality.”
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03/10/2022
The US does not support the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the Polish Minister of Defense that the US does not support the transfer of MiG-29s to the Ukrainian air force “at this time,” either by Poland transferring them to Ukraine with the US backfilling Poland’s fleet or by Poland transferring the MiG-29s to the US to then give those to Poland.
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03/10/2022
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the midst of acquiring 114 multi-role fighter jets, a project that is projected to cost Rs 1.3 trillion and take at least a decade to complete. While a Request for Information (RFI) has already been made, the Ministry of Defense has yet to approve an Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) (MoD). Technical bids, commercial bids, and assessment trials will take at least ten years after the RFP is issued, by which time the IAF will have retired its vintage MiG-21 Bisons.
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03/10/2022
The U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) will remain in the eastern Mediterranean to help maintain the security of Eastern Europe. The carrier, flagship of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG), conducted fixed-wing flight operations in the north Aegean Sea late last week.
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03/10/2022
The Russian army is routinely committing war crimes in Ukraine and Poland will provide evidence, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, said on Wednesday. Speaking after talks in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer Morawiecki said: "Russia attacked Ukrainian cities and villages with full force which, today, is seen as a perpetration of war crimes."
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03/09/2022
President Putin has directly addressed the mothers of soldiers serving in Ukraine, telling them: "I know how worried you are" and trying to reassure them. But some mothers, grandmothers, sisters and girlfriends have been telling the BBC they are desperately anxious about loved ones in the military - young men who appear to have had little idea what they were being sent to do.
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03/09/2022
One, from last week, shows a Russian helicopter flying low, just above the tree line - in the hope of avoiding what's about to happen next. Tracking its path is the smoking trail of a surface-to-air missile. In a matter of seconds the missile has found its target. On impact the Russian helicopter crashes to the ground, before bursting into a fireball.
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03/09/2022
After a period where the deal seemed off, Poland said on Tuesday evening that it is willing to hand over its fleet of 28 MiG 29s to the US – which is in turn expected to pass them on to the Ukrainian air force. Poland is also expecting the US to supply it with more advanced F-16s to fill the gap.
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03/09/2022
The United States rejected a surprise offer by NATO ally Poland on Tuesday to transfer its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. base in Germany as a way to replenish Ukraine's air force in its defense against invading Russian forces. The United States has sought to speed weapons deliveries to Ukraine. But the prospect of flying combat aircraft from NATO territory into the war zone "raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance," the Pentagon said.
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03/08/2022
On paper, Russia’s quest to occupy Ukraine looks like a foregone conclusion. With about four and a half times as many soldiers, five times as many tanks and armored vehicles, and 10 times as many military aircraft, common sense tells us that Ukraine does not stand a chance. In fact, history tells us otherwise.
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03/08/2022
On top of that, visually confirmed losses of the Russian newest Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) fighter-bomber now exceed 4 aircraft during its invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Sunday reported that Russian Su-34s struck at Ukrainian military infrastructure and civilian residents in Kharkiv, Chernihiv during an invasion.
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03/08/2022
NATO has nearly doubled the number of military jets on alert across Europe amid concerns that Russia’s reckless flying in international airspace could escalate alongside its war in Ukraine. The alliance’s move to constantly guard its eastern edge highlights how rapidly the security situation has evolved in and out of Ukraine over the past 10 days, as well as the stakes of NATO’s biggest test since its founding in 1949.
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03/07/2022
The F-35B Lightnings of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron from RAF Marham, have started flying armed patrols as part of the pre-planned Enhanced Vigilance Activity, which is a NATO led Operation initiated due to the unfolding events in Ukraine. The British 5th generation aircraft joined the RAF Typhoon FGR4 jets, flying from both RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and the rest of the NATO assets that have been dispatched to the region following the Russian invasion of Ukr
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03/07/2022
On March 6, the Ukrainian army shot down a Russian fourth-generation Sukhoi-30SM multirole fighter jet. The Russian Su-30SM shot down by Ukraine's Army can be seen in flames in exclusive footage obtained by Republic Media Network. It's worth noting that the Su-30SM is a multi-role fighter aircraft built for the Russian Air Force by JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau. It's a more sophisticated version of the Su-30MK combat aircraft.
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03/07/2022
Though Russia has now committed about 95% of the combat power it amassed along Ukraine’s borders, the Pentagon has seen “limited changes on the ground” while the airspace remains contested, a senior U.S. defense official said Sunday evening. After 11 days of war, “Russian forces continued efforts to advance and isolate Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv across the north and east are being met with strong Ukrainian resistance,” the official said, in an email to reporters.
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03/07/2022
Russia on Sunday warned Ukraine's neighbours including NATO member Romania against hosting Kyiv's military aircraft, saying they could end up being involved in an armed conflict. "We know for sure that Ukrainian combat aircraft have flown to Romania and other neighbouring countries," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video briefing.
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03/07/2022
The top body of Turkey’s defense industry has started cooperating with United Kingdom-based Rolls-Royce on the engine to power the country’s National Combat Aircraft (MMU), the head of the authority said Saturday. In a televised program on broadcaster CNN Türk, Ismail Demir, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), commented on the developments regarding the MMU, a long-awaited domestic defense industry project.
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03/06/2022
The Italian Air Force detachment, originally made of four Eurofighters, recently increased to eight, has carried out 20 alert scrambles and 400 flight hours supporting enhanced Air Policing Area South (eAPA-S) in Romania, since December 2021.
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03/06/2022
Shocking battlefield footage from today shows Ukrainians cheer and applaud as they appear to shoot down two Russian aircraft in the Chernihiv and Mykolaiv oblasts as forces were also earlier said to down a Russian helicopter near Kyiv. This comes as Volodymyr Zelensky in an address this morning urged Ukrainians to continue fighting Putin's forces.
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03/06/2022
The American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has been in the northern Aegean Sea this week in part to ensure it can conduct flight operations from there if tensions escalate in the region due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a US official familiar with the carrier’s current task.
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03/06/2022
The U.S. remains in discussions with Poland to potentially backfill their fleet of fighter planes if Warsaw decides to transfer its used MiG-29s to Ukraine, four U.S. officials tell POLITICO. The ongoing talks, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleads with Congress for help, underscore the frantic push to find weapons to equip Ukrainian forces as they continue to fight off the massive Russian invasion.
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03/05/2022
The following is a report from Reuben F. Johnson, who has written for Breaking Defense in recent years from Ukraine. This piece was written over several days, as Johnson relocated from shelter to shelter to avoid Russian strikes in the Kyiv area, with limited access to internet and power. Given that, statistics and facts on the ground may have shifted by publication; as Johnson himself put it in an email, “everything is fluid right now.”
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03/05/2022
The Indian Air Force’s (IAFs) optimism over being able to source spares to ensure operability for its fleet of Russian combat and other military aircraft, despite punitive US-led sanctions imposed on Moscow over its Ukraine invasion, is belied by the recurring component shortages the force has always faced, even when no embargoes existed.
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03/05/2022
There have been three major surprises for military analysts since the Russian military invaded Ukraine. The first has been the extent of the difficulties faced by the Russian army in terms of logistics, coordination of forces, morale and mobility. The second has been the failure of the Russian air force to achieve air superiority over Ukrainian air defences, and to operate against Ukrainian ground forces at scale. The third has been the extraordinary unity and effectiveness of the Ukrainian resi
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03/05/2022
Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo is preparing special pilots to fly the 4.5 generation Dassault Rafale fighter jets that Indonesia had bought from France. "We have prepared several pilots, but we have not determined the number. However, we have readied the criteria and those who are eligible to fly the Rafale," Prasetyo remarked after the 2022 Indonesian Air Force Leadership Meeting at the Air Force Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, Friday.
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03/05/2022
RAF F-35 Lightning aircraft have joined NATO's Enhanced Vigilance Patrols for the first time – an operation started in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The activity ensures policing of the skies over NATO member states. Lightning jets from RAF Marham have taken part alongside Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby and RAF Akrotiri.
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03/05/2022
Ukraine still has a "significant majority" of its military aircraft available nine days after Russian forces started their invasion of the country, a U.S. defense official said on Friday. Vastly outmatched by Russia's military, in terms of raw numbers and firepower, the fact that Ukraine's own air force is still flying and its air defenses are still deemed to be viable has surprised military experts.
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03/04/2022
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin overestimated the power of his military forces when deciding to invade Ukraine, as reports of low morale among troops, equipment woes and a lack of airpower emerge from the battlefield.
But Kendall told reporters that none of Russia's failures in Ukraine has made it less of a threat in his eyes.
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03/04/2022
No radiation was released from a Russian attack at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and firefighters have extinguished a blaze at the facility, U.N. and Ukrainian officials said Friday, as Russian forces pressed their campaign to cripple the country despite global condemnation.
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03/04/2022
The Russian army has been shelling residential areas of Kharkiv with Grad and Smerch multiple launch rocket systems, as CEPA previously reported. Air attacks have also been stepped up, with as Many as 30 combat aircraft violating Ukraine’s airspace, mainly from Belarus, with attacks including a number against the civilian population, according to the Ukrainian General Staff on March 2. Since the start of the Russian invasion, more than 180 missiles have been fired at the territory of Ukraine.
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03/04/2022
Videos surfaced online show as many as seven SU-34 fighter-bombers flying over the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Furthermore, images of FAB-500 unguided bombs, presumably dropped by Su-34s on a civilian location in Kharkiv, were also shared on the internet. Experts interpreted this as a sign of things to come, implying that the Russian military has begun employing tactical aviation for bombing missions. Previously, only Su-25 assault aircraft were believed to be deployed for support missions.
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03/04/2022
In the pre-war discussions between the US and Russia, Joe Biden warned Russia about the consequences of aggression, but explicitly excluded the possibility of the use of armed force by the United States. Now as Ukrainian civilians come under severe attack and refugees are pouring into other central European countries, the clamour for a military response from Nato is getting louder.
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03/04/2022
The Air Force’s “4+1” fighter plan is still intact despite Secretary Frank Kendall’s new “imperative” to develop a fighter-like unmanned airplane, and the Air Force is well into developing a concept of operations for a new unmanned long-range bomber that might be attritable, if the price is right.
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03/04/2022
If the past 80 years of warfare have taught us anything, it’s that air supremacy, the term for making an enemy air force incapable of resistance, is essential for winning a conventional war. That’s why experts are scratching their heads trying to figure out why the Russian combat air force, despite being 15 times the size of its Ukrainian foe, has not achieved anything close to air supremacy.
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03/03/2022
U.S. and NATO intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets on NATO’s eastern flank are providing tactical information to the Ukrainian Air Force as new air defense assistance arrives inside Ukraine, though the U.S. is being careful to avoid steps that might be seen as escalatory, a defense official told Air Force Magazine.
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03/03/2022
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched three C-17 transport aircraft to Romania, Hungary and Poland on Wednesday morning, Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, Vice-Chief of the Air Force, said. A fourth C-17 was sent later in the day. The C-17 was sent as it can fly non-stop to these countries.
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03/03/2022
Despite reports to the contrary, the European Union (EU), will not be sending fighters to the Ukrainian Air Force to aid in their fight for their survival against the Russians. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Tuesday that European Union members will not lend fighter jets to the war in Ukraine after reports were surfacing that they were intending to do just that.
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03/03/2022
“On the night of March 1, a fierce air battle broke out in Kyiv region between a pair of MiG-29 fighters of the Air Force Tactical Aviation Brigade and a pair of Russian Su-35S aircraft. As a result of the air battle, the two Russian planes were destroyed. Along with air-to-air missiles, S-300 surface-to-air missiles of the local anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Air Command ‘Center’ were fired on the occupiers,” the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook.
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03/03/2022
In the past 24 hours, up to 30 Russian combat aircraft violated the airspace of Ukraine, mainly from the Republic of Belarus, shelling the civilian population. The press service of the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.
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03/02/2022
As Russian armored vehicles attempt to close in on Kyiv, Ukrainian defense forces are closing off key “intersections” and “choke points,” disabling or destroying Russian supply lines, and using Javelin anti-tank missiles to decimate Russian forces and halt their advance.
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03/02/2022
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence had predicted a likely blistering assault by Moscow that would quickly mobilize the vast Russian air power that its military assembled in order to dominate Ukraine's skies. But the first six days have confounded those expectations and instead seen Moscow act far more delicately with its air power, so much so that U.S. officials can't exactly explain what's driving Russia's apparent risk-adverse behavior.
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03/02/2022
NATO airspace will not be used to transfer fighter planes to the Ukrainian military, alliance leaders said Tuesday after a meeting in Poland, where top U.S. commanders were on hand for high-level security talks. Ukraine has requested additional military hardware from the West to help stave off Russia’s full-scale invasion, which was on its sixth day when the NATO talks occurred.
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03/01/2022
The U.S. for the first time has approved the direct delivery of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine as part of a package approved by the White House last week. During the Cold War, the CIA covertly supplied Stingers to Afghan guerrillas fighting Russian forces. Now Ukrainian forces locked in an intensifying fight to repel Russia will get more of the shoulder-fired weapon, which has a 4-kilometer range.
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03/01/2022
As the war between Ukraine and Russia continues to escalate after Moscow sent its troops into its neighbouring country, several countries across the globe are sending military aid to Kyiv.
According to Ukraine’s health ministry, the conflict has killed more than 350 civilians since the beginning of Russia’s invasion.
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03/01/2022
Although NATO has assured on more than one occasion that it will not intervene militarily against Russia over Ukraine, the fact is that member countries are carrying out a historic deployment of air assets to reinforce the security of the eastern border and to keep under close surveillance all movements of Russian forces in the operational theater.
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03/01/2022
The Socialist Equality Party (Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, SGP) and the World Socialist Web Site condemn the war offensive announced yesterday by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democrats, SPD) in the German parliament (Bundestag) and supported by all the Bundestag parties.
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03/01/2022
A video purportedly showing a dogfight between two fighter jets over the skies of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has caused quite a stir on social media. According to some unconfirmed reports, a Ukrainian MiG-29 was seen engaging a Russian Su-35 in the vicinity of the capital.
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03/01/2022
Perhaps the most eye-popping of today’s pledges to ship weapons to the Ukrainian military was the European Union’s announcement that it would soon send fighter jets. Would Ukrainian pilots really be able to jump in a donated jet and fly into combat? Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle says sure, if it’s a type they already know how to fly.
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02/28/2022
Eight Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday (Feb. 26), marking the 15th intrusion this month. Four People’s Liberation Army Air Force Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, two Shenyang J-16 fighters, and two Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft flew into the southwest corner of the ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense assets to track them.
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02/28/2022
As per videos going viral on social media, it appears the Ukrainian military shot down two Ka-52s on the very first day of the Russian invasion. Called ‘Alligator’, Ka-52 is touted as Russia’s most sophisticated attack helicopter. The choppers are frequently compared with the US Army’s AH-64 Apache. Last year, several publications including The EurAsian Times and South China Morning Post reported that China was considering buying the Russian attack chopper.
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02/28/2022
The United States and NATO on Sunday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to put his nuclear forces on high alert as dangerous and unacceptable, while the White House said it has not ruled out imposing new sanctions on Russia's energy sector.
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02/28/2022
Ukraine agreed on Sunday to hold talks with Russia on the former’s border with Belarus, near Chernobyl city, after mediation efforts by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Russian forces continued their advance into Ukraine for the fourth day of their offensive, while western powers imposed heavy sanctions on Moscow.
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02/28/2022
Today, bombardment and assault aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired missiles at six columns of military equipment of the Russian aggressor. "This day was quite difficult for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The occupiers continue shelling in almost all directions of the front line. The Air Force opposes the aggressor both in sky and on earth. The aviation garrison in Vasylkiv heroically defends itself, withstanding massive shelling and enemy attacks.
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02/28/2022
There’s yet another victim of the conflict underway in Ukraine: the only Antonov An-225 ‘Mriya’ (‘Dream” in Ukrainian). The Mriya (NATO reporting name: Cossack) was designed at the end of Cold War and its purpose was to carry the Soviet “Buran” space shuttle and parts of the “Energia” rocket on its back. It operated as the primary method of transporting the Buran-class orbiters from 1988 to 1991. After remaining unused for some years, it was put back in service by Antonov Airlines, a Ukrainian c
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02/28/2022
Ukraine has received and will continue to receive military aid from NATO and European Union nations. While additional equipment could be supplied in the near future, the Ukrainian Air Force has recently received resupplies of air-to-air missiles used by its combat planes that continue to fight against the Russian Air Force in the skies over Ukraine.
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02/27/2022
In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert Sunday in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers.
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02/27/2022
“Beginning tomorrow Italy will strengthen the its presence in Romania, doubling the number of aircraft already supporting the Air Policing mission” Italy Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini said. In other words, four additional Eurofighter Typhoon jets will deploy to Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase bringing to 8 the total number of Italian Air Force fighters supporting NATO’s eAPA-S (Enhanced Air Policing Area South).
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02/27/2022
Three days after the invasion there are signs that Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is not quite going to plan. In the Sumy region, close to the border with Russia, a local resident came across an extraordinary sight. On a country road lined with birch trees, a Russian armoured vehicle had broken down.
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02/27/2022
As the sun rises on day three of the Ukrainian war with Russia, reports have surfaced that two Russian Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transports were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. Russia has not acknowledged the loss of any of its Il-76 aircraft. On Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, Ukrainian air defenses claimed to have shot down one Russian Il-76 transport near Vasylkiv, south of the capital in Kyiv. Ukrainian reports claimed the aircraft was carrying a “landing force” but did not specify any number of casu
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02/27/2022
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday he has authorized $350 million in new US military assistance to Ukraine. “This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing. It is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation,” he added.
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02/27/2022
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today announced activation of the alliance's defense plans, which means also that it can deploy the NATO Defense Force. The U.S. Defense Department now stands ready to provide capabilities to help fill that defense force, if asked to do so, said Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby.
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02/27/2022
Under attack from Russian forces on three fronts and subjected to a heavy barrage of airstrikes and land-based fires in Europe’s largest security crisis since the Second World War, Ukraine has proven itself capable of meaningful resistance and inflicted equipment losses on invading forces that give credibility to prior forecasts suggesting a quick Russian victory would not transpire, despite the substantial asymmetric advantage held by Moscow.
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02/26/2022
American defence major Lockheed Martin will be showcasing its diverse portfolio of defence capabilities and solutions at the 12th biennial edition of India’s DEFEXPO 2022, starting from 10 March at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The company’s exhibit this year includes a broad span of advanced technologies from aeronautics, rotary and mission systems, and missiles and fire control business areas.
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02/26/2022
"The first column of troops and combat equipment from the US Army's 3rd Cavalry Regiment crossed the Lithuanian border near Kalvarija at around 3 a.m.," the Lithuanian Armed Forces said. The troops and equipment, including infantry fighting vehicles, armored SUVs and trucks, will be taking part in the Saber Strike drills in the Baltic states and Poland, it said.
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02/26/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a new video message Friday morning, urging resistance to the Russian invasion and criticizing Ukraine's allies for the second time in just a few hours.
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02/26/2022
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today ruled out NATO enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine as he warned such a move would likely plunge the entire European continent into war. There have been calls from Ukraine, and from some Tory MPs, for the UK to provide air support to Kiev as it tries to beat back the Russian invasion.
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02/26/2022
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday the alliance was deploying parts of its combat-ready response force and would continue to send weapons to Ukraine, including air defences, while saying that Russia was trying to topple the Ukrainian government. "We see rhetoric, the messages, which is strongly indicating that the aim is to remove the democratically elected government in Kyiv," he told a news conference following a virtual meeting of NATO leaders.
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02/25/2022
Vadym Prystaiko, speaking in London this afternoon, promised there will be fighting in the streets of Ukraine if Russia's Vladimir Putin continues with his apparent expansion plans. He appeared to thank the UK, revealing that British-supplied military kit has been used to shoot down Russian aircraft. Prystaiko called for a no-fly zone to be put in place over his country, saying he wanted “something which only NATO can provide”.
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02/25/2022
The Army’s first manned spy plane and an Air Force “nuke sniffer” have been among the surveillance aircraft watching Russia’s military movements during the Kremlin’s planning and execution of its latest invasion of Ukraine. For weeks, aviation spotters have been following the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk, RC-135 Rivet Joint, WC-135 Constant Phoenix and E-8C, an Army prototype called ARTEMIS, as well as other U.S. and NATO aircraft flying in Ukraine or in neighboring areas.
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02/25/2022
In an apparent warning to North Korea and China, the United States has deployed an unspecified number of F-35A stealth fighter jets to Okinawa, Japan, its military said Thursday.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the F-35A jets from the 354th Fighter Wing in Alaska had been moved to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Sunday to take part in “integrated air operations.”
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02/25/2022
Germany is ready to extend and expand its support of NATO's air policing mission in Romania and also to comply with further requests from the alliance, the German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced Thursday. "I have given (an) order to expand and extend our engagement in the air policing in Romania," Lambrecht told reporters after briefing Germany's parliament defense committee.
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02/25/2022
Two U.S. Air Force EC-130H Compass Call aircraft arrived at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait to demonstrate a continued U.S. presence in theater to our partners and adversaries, and support a commitment to security and stability in the region. The EC-130 aircraft were redeployed to the United States where they postured as an immediate response force following the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron’s inactivation from Al Dhafra Air Base in Sept. 2021, after a 20-year-long standing deploym
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02/25/2022
Bell Textron has commenced the manufacture of the first AH-1Z Viper twin-engine attack helicopter for the Czech Republic Air Force. The aircraft is being built at the company’s assembly centre in Amarillo, Texas, US. The development follows after Bell Textron started production of the UH-1Y Venom helicopters for the country in July last year, marking the first production for an international operator of the UH-1Y.
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02/25/2022
Amid tensions in Ukraine due to Russia, Taiwan media reported that two Chinese military planes entered the region's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, February 23, marking the 12th intrusion this month. As per Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND), two People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
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02/25/2022
“In Lithuania, on February 24, armed US F-35 military aircraft landed at the airbase of the Lithuanian Army Air Force in Siauliai, where additional US military forces are deployed. In response to the current security situation, the US has also taken an important and necessary decision – the rotation of the heavy 3-66 armor battalion continues in Lithuania,” the ministry said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the Netherlands dispatched two F-35 fighters to protect NATO airspace over Eastern Eur
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02/25/2022
On Thursday, Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine. Big explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa as world leaders decried the start of an invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic.
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02/25/2022
Ukraine’s defence ministry claims to have destroyed several Russian aircraft during its early efforts to defend the country from invasion by Moscow’s military. “The enemy suffers losses. Currently, six Russian air force planes and two helicopters have been shot down,” the defence ministry claimed, just hours after Moscow had launched strikes against Ukrainian military facilities in the early hours of 24 February.
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02/24/2022
The latest as Vladimir Putin orders the invasion of Ukraine, with explosions heard in the country's capital Kyiv; The UN Security Council's pleas for peace fall on deaf ears as Mr Putin threatens other countries with "consequences they have never seen" should they interfere.
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02/24/2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an early Thursday morning address in Moscow, announced that Russia would launch a military action in Ukraine. NBC News reported that explosions were heard in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
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02/24/2022
The United Arab Emirates has said it plans to buy a dozen Chinese L15 aircraft, as it seeks to bolster its defences after a series of attacks by Yemeni rebels. The UAE defence ministry said it intended to sign a contract with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) to buy 12 of the L15 training and light combat aircraft, with the option for 36 additional jets of the same type, the official Emirati news agency WAM reported Wednesday.
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02/24/2022
Pakistani retired general AvM Dr Rizwan Riaz and TAI General Manager Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil announced that the MMU (National Combat Aircraft) project was carried out in cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan. Pakistan's savings within the scope of the AZM project will be used jointly with Turkey's savings within the scope of MMU, and both countries will take part in the design and manufacture of the aircraft.
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02/24/2022
One of the aircraft competing for a Malaysian trainer contract made its debut at the Singapore Airshow last week, taking part in static and flying displays. While the other competitors opted to maintain a lower profile, three of India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-made Tejas showed off their capabilities, courtesy of the No. 18 “Flying Bullets” Squadron based in Sulur. Two of the aircraft participated in aerial displays during the air show, which took place Feb. 15-18 at the Changi Exhibition
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02/24/2022
U.S. military researchers are moving forward on a project that relies heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine autonomy in complex air combat maneuvering that involves manned aircraft and combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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02/23/2022
With Russian tanks said to be rolling down the streets of the occupied Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russia now in breach of the Minsk accords a full-scale conflict in the region is an increasingly realistic prospect. Thus far, the majority of Western coverage on the Ukraine crisis has focused on the number of Russian troops on the country’s frontiers, with as many as 190,000 said to have been amassed at its borders, whether ready to embark on an all-out invasion or utilized as a
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02/23/2022
The US Department of Defense has announced that Thailand is purchasing an undisclosed number of AH-6 light attack and reconnaissance helicopters as part of a $103.8 million contract. Developed by Boeing, the AH-6 reportedly possesses “superior” performance and is equipped with “flexible” equipment ideal for precision attacks, close combat, security and escort, troop insertion and extraction, and combat search and rescue operations.
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02/23/2022
President Joe Biden has announced heavy financial sanctions against Russian banks and business leaders just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed troops into two separatist-held regions in Ukraine. "I'm announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday,” Biden said Tuesday. "We'll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates.”
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02/23/2022
THE Turkish bidders for the hotly contested Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) fighter aircraft said they are offering Malaysia co-production of a new fighter jet as part of their offerings. Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc management said it will also provide technology transfer and is willing to cut its bid price by as much as 30%, in order to secure RMAF’s open tender for military aircraft.
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02/23/2022
Another round of U.S. troops has been mobilized in support of Eastern European countries as Russia further invades Ukraine. Joining 6,000 troops already activated in Germany, Poland and Hungary, the Defense Department announced Tuesday that a spate of combat aircraft and infantry troops will head to the Baltics and Poland.
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02/23/2022
The 43d Fighter Squadron was the first unit to receive the F-22 Raptor and remains the only squadron in the U.S. Air Force to train and prepare pilots to operate one of the world’s most advanced 5th-generation aircraft.
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02/23/2022
As a key part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), the A400M demonstrated its drone launch capability from its cargo hold. Airbus Defence & Space conducted a successful test flight in which an A400M deployed a drone from its cargo ramp, validating its ability to launch drones from the air.
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02/22/2022
In a situation reminiscent of the Cold War, the last few weeks have seen a continuous stream of military aircraft across Europe in response to the growing tensions around Ukraine and the fear of an imminent Russian invasion. NATO and partner nations quickly deployed additional fighters in support of the ones already performing air policing duties in Eastern Europe.
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02/22/2022
While a Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to be a matter of hours, U.S. and NATO combat aircraft continue to operate in the eastern Europe region. In particular, on Feb. 21, 2022, shortly after 15.00LT, one of the four B-52H Stratofortress bombers deployed to RAF Fairford, UK, as part of BTF (Bomber Task Force) 22-2 carried out a quite unusual visit to Leoš Janácek Airport in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
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02/22/2022
China says it will impose new sanctions on United States defence contractors Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin due to their arms sales to Taiwan, stepping up a feud with Washington over security and Beijing’s strategic ambitions.
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02/22/2022
The self-declared people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are home to Russia-backed rebels who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. Russia's move is likely to end peace talks in the region, which has been under a tenuous ceasefire for years. Western powers also fear it could pave the way for Russian military forces to enter Ukraine's eastern regions.
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02/22/2022
The NATO Tiger Meet (NTM) is a multinational exercise attended by air force squadrons with tiger (or feline) emblems. The main difference between NTM and conventional exercises is that most aircraft have Tiger insignia, special tails, or extravagant tiger-themed paint schemes on their airframes.
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02/22/2022
The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has completed the deployment of the newest Apache attack helicopters to South Korea, its aviation unit said, as the allies have stepped up joint efforts to counter Pyongyang's evolving military threats. In a Facebook post last Friday, the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade said that the process to deploy the latest AH-64E Version 6 helicopters to Camp Humphreys, a main USFK base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was completed two days earlier.
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02/22/2022
Russian forces stepped up shelling against portions of Ukraine, but stopped short of an invasion that many experts predicted might come on Sunday. Experts had widely viewed Feb. 20 as a potential day for an invasion of Ukraine, the date official exercises in Belarus between Belarusian and Russian military personnel were slated to end. Belarusian Minister of Defense Viktor Khrenin said in a statement Sunday that the presidents of Belarus and Russia decided to continue assessing their forces.
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02/22/2022
The Hawk Lead-In Fighter will continue to train Australia’s frontline fighter pilots through to 2031 following a $1.5 billion commitment by the government. The new contract includes the continuation of the existing in-service support, providing maintenance, engineering and supply chain services to the RAAF and will be the foundation for progressive upgrades of mission systems.
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02/21/2022
The Nigerian military has killed and wounded children in an air attack in neighbouring Niger, according to a local governor in Niger, state television and an aid agency. The attack took place in the village of Nachade in the region of Maradi, Niger, on Friday, a few kilometres from the border with Nigeria, said Chaibou Aboubacar, the governor of Maradi.
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02/21/2022
In a phone call with President Emmanuel Macron, Mr Putin also agreed that foreign ministers from both countries would meet "in the coming days". Western nations believe Russia is ready to invade Ukraine, which Moscow denies. Meanwhile, Ukraine says talk of an imminent invasion is "inappropriate". President Macron's call on Sunday was the latest effort to prevent military action by Russia, which has amassed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine's borders.
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02/20/2022
On Feb. 17, 2022, an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was illuminated by a laser from a People’s Liberation Army – Navy warship. The lasing was carried out by a Luyang-class guided missile destroyer at 12.35AM LT, Australia’s Defence Department announced.
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02/20/2022
Two U.S. Air Force F-16CM Fighting Falcon aircraft belonging to the 555th Fighter Squadron of the 31st Fighter Wing, based at Aviano Air Base, Italy, took part in a mission over Eastern Europe carrying Live weapons, on Saturday Feb. 19, 2022. The shots in this post, taken by photographer Claudio Tramontin outside Aviano, show the two aircraft, serials #89-2035 and #89-2039, loaded with AIM-120C/D AMRAAM and AIM-9X air-to-air missiles along with external fuel tanks.
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02/20/2022
As the United States and NATO begin to deploy more combat aircraft to Poland—including an undisclosed number of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle fighters—Russia may be responding by permanently stationing its most advanced air defense system near the Belarusian capital.
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02/19/2022
Amid tensions on the ground, the aircraft of these cold war adversaries came very close to each other on multiple occasions over the past few weeks. Quoting Pentagon sources, The New York Times reported that US and Russian jets flying in the eastern Mediterranean Sea got perilously close to each other in three different incidents last weekend, including one in which the planes approached within five feet of each other.
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02/19/2022
China will deliver 25 J-10C fighter jets to Pakistan within weeks as part of a deal that will bolster Islamabad’s military capabilities against mutual rival India. Beijing’s first export of the advanced jets marks a big step-up in its decades-old arms relationship with Islamabad and entails providing its ally with some of the latest equipment that China’s own armed forces are using. China will also broaden its support to Pakistan’s navy.
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02/19/2022
A dozen F-35A Lightning II fighter jets and 350 airmen from Hill Air Force Base in Utah have arrived in Germany, marking the latest deployment of American aircraft to Europe as tensions mount between Russia and Ukraine. The airmen from the active-duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wing arrived at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on Wednesday, according to an Air Force Reserve statement.
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02/19/2022
The United Kingdom and Japan have agreed to the joint development of sensor technology for both the Tempest and F-X future combat aircraft programs, expanding the military-technology partnership between the two nations.
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02/18/2022
While the United States has responded to Russia's military buildup on the Ukrainian border with the deployment of B-52 Stratofortress bombers and F-15 Eagles to Europe, Russia has also deployed combat aircraft to bases outside of its national borders.
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02/18/2022
Turkey’s landmark national fighter jet is on display at Asia’s biggest airshow as the country seeks to expand its defense engagement in the region. The mock-up of the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) is being exhibited at the Singapore Airshow, which kicked off on Tuesday and will last until Friday.
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02/17/2022
Three U.S. P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft flying over the Mediterranean Sea encountered “unprofessional intercepts” from Russian aircraft over the weekend, according to the Navy. “We can confirm that over the course of last weekend, three U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft experienced unprofessional intercepts by Russian aircraft,” said Navy Capt. Mike Kafka, director of Defense Press Operations, in a statement Wednesday.
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02/17/2022
Last week, the United States approved a possible sale of $100 million worth of military equipment and services to Taiwan. If it is completed, the deal will include engineering services to support legacy Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM) and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles.
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02/17/2022
A Myanmar fighter jet on Wednesday crashed into a lake in the country's northwest, state-run media reported, blaming the incident on a technical malfunction. The crash took place in a region where there is active combat between Myanmar's army and forces opposed to army rule. The military later said in a statement the pilot had died.
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02/17/2022
A pair of U.S. F-35 fighter jets are on display at an airshow in Singapore this week, vying for potential customers in a volatile region. But Washington won’t sell its most-advanced warplanes to just anyone. Several key U.S. allies already have F-35s, including South Korea, Australia and Japan, and Singapore is set to follow suit. Next in line could be Thailand, America’s long-standing treaty ally in Asia. But analysts say there’s no guarantee that Washington will approve the sale.
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02/16/2022
The latest reports and rumors about Iraq’s planned future acquisitions of fighter jets are an apt reminder of how, throughout its history, the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) has long gone back and forth between east and west. According to a source cited by Defense News in mid-February, Iraq intends to buy 14 Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jets from France for $240 million, which Baghdad plans to pay for with oil instead of hard cash.
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02/16/2022
A study from 2003 – now available in exclusive English translation – contains important insights on China’s fifth-generation (and beyond) fighter development. The Chinese fifth-generation J-20 remains one of the world’s more enigmatic and poorly understood modern combat aircraft, even 11 years after its maiden flight and some six years after it entered initial service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. Deliberate PLA opacity and operational security is arguably the greatest cause
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02/16/2022
Air forces around the globe are looking to balance quality and quantity. Range and speed are the major focus of next-generation aircraft and weapons, driven by the United States’ increased focus on the Indo-Pacific region, according to the 2022 “Military Balance” report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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02/16/2022
After years of speculation and countless online rumors, the first Chinese-made J-10 multi-role fighter jets for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) have appeared in China. Once delivered to the PAF, the single-engine J-10 medium-weight fighter will help modernize that service and further deepen the military relationship between Pakistan and China. Furthermore, it’s a major milestone as the first export sale of the J-10.
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02/16/2022
F-22s from the 1st Fighter Wing landed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, on Feb. 12, fulfilling a pledge by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to deploy fifth-generation aircraft to the Gulf nation. The fighters are from the 27th Fighter Squadron based out of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., the Air Force announced in a release.
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02/15/2022
Two Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (Feb. 14), marking the eighth intrusion this month. One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jet and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the PLAAF planes.
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02/15/2022
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will continue flying its F-16C/D fighter jets for "at least another decade", Chief of Air Force Major-General (MG) Kelvin Khong said on Monday (Feb 14), adding that the RSAF has been following the developments of F-35 stealth fighter jets "closely". Singapore announced in 2019 that it will buy four F-35B fighter jets for complete testing with the option for eight more. The plan is for the F-35s to replace the RSAF's ageing F-16s.
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02/15/2022
The Philippines’ defense secretary late last year ordered 32 Black Hawk helicopters for the country — part of an ongoing defense modernization effort driven by territorial disputes and a need for several aerial capabilities.
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02/15/2022
More American F-15 combat aircraft landed at the Lask airbase in central Poland on Monday to help patrol the skies of the Baltic states. The arrival of the eight aircraft comes amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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02/14/2022
The Turkish Air Force had been denied the opportunity to purchase fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets as a result of its acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air missile defense system. Despite being a NATO member, Turkey was sanctioned by Washington under the CAATSA. It was also expelled from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
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02/14/2022
The Defense Ministry said Sunday it has discovered the body of one of the two pilots who were aboard the Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet that crashed into the Sea of Japan late last month. The ASDF is continuing its search for the other pilot.
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02/14/2022
n late January, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian and Syrian warplanes had conducted joint patrols along the Golan Heights and the Euphrates River. "The mission route included the Golan Heights, the southern border of Syria, the Euphrates River and northern Syria," the statement said. "The Russian pilots took off from Khmeimim Air Base, while the Syrians took off from the Sayqal and Al-Dumayur bases near Damascus."
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02/14/2022
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will provide Morocco with the Barak MX air and missile defense system. The deal is worth over $500 million, Israeli daily Globes reported. A source told Morocco World News that the Israeli aircraft manufacturing company IAI has reached an agreement with Morocco to supply it with the Barak MX missile defense system. The Barak MX missile defense system is flexible and modular and can protect against a range of missile threats and unmanned drones.
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02/13/2022
India will showcase its Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) at the four-day Singapore Air Show next week with an eye on the possible export potential of the indigenously-developed jet to friendly countries in years to come. Three Tejas fighter jets and a 44-member contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) reached Singapore on Saturday to participate in the air show to be held from February 15 to 18.
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02/13/2022
U.S. F-22 fighter jets arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, part of an American defense response to recent missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the country. The Raptors landed at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, which hosts some 2,000 U.S. troops. American soldiers there launched Patriot interceptor missiles in response to the Houthi attacks last month, the first time U.S. troops have fired the system in combat since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
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02/12/2022
Four more U.S. Navy destroyers are on their way to the Mediterranean Sea, part of a wider buildup of U.S. and NATO forces in Eastern Europe that alliance leaders hope will reassure NATO’s most vulnerable members. The deployments might not deter Russia from escalating its war in eastern Ukraine, however. U.S. President Joe Biden told NBC News on Thursday there was no conceivable scenario where American and Russian troops exchange fire. “That's a world war,” Biden said.
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02/12/2022
The sorties consisted of 8 Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, along with three electronic intelligence aircraft on the Y-8 platform. Taiwanese officials said that their responses to the PLA sorties included the scrambling of combat aircraft, the employment of air defense assets to further monitor the situation, and the issuing of warning messages to the Chinese aircraft via radio.
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02/12/2022
A fighter jet operated by a military contractor crashed west of Phoenix Thursday but the pilot ejected and no one on the ground was hurt, a spokesman for the contractor and Air Force officials said. The French-made Mirage F1 crashed near Buckeye, a growing community about 30 miles west of Phoenix. Officials in the area and the Federal Aviation Administration were referring all inquiries to Luke Air Force Base in nearby Glendale.
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02/12/2022
China’s progress toward military superpower status continues to accelerate. It already poses significant air and space power challenges to the U.S., but its expansionist strategies also affect all the adjacent countries, both in southeast Asia and farther north.
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02/12/2022
The State Department approved the potential sale of as many as 36 new F-15EX fighter jets built by Boeing Co. to Indonesia, bolstering U.S. ties with a key ally and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. The proposed sale is valued at about $9.5 billion for the aircraft and approximately $4.4 billion for related equipment, according to a statement Thursday from the State Department.
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02/11/2022
The US Air Force’s (USAF) Air Combat Command (ACC) has announced that its latest sensor pod on the F-15C Eagle has reached initial operating capability (IOC). The infrared search and track (IRST) pod, known as the Legion Pod, is a sensor system that leverages infrared spectrum to help pilots to track enemy aircraft in radar-denied environments. The Lockheed Martin-developed pod also enables the pilots to identify and monitor enemy aircraft from extended ranges.
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02/11/2022
THE Turkish bidders for the hotly contested Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) fighter aircraft said they are offering Malaysia co-production of a new fighter jet as part of their offerings. Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc management said it will also provide technology transfer and is willing to cut its bid price by as much as 30%, in order to secure RMAF’s open tender for military aircraft.
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02/11/2022
American F-15 combat aircraft flew into the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, central Poland, on Thursday to take part in Nato's Air Policing mission in the airspace of the Baltic states. Nato countries are supporting Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, which lack warplanes able to patrol their airspace. The mission is currently in its 58th deployment, with Poland contributing its Orlik contingent for the tenth time.
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02/11/2022
Bangladesh has a requirement for 16 new multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) to augment and eventually replace its aging Chengdu F-7s and MiG-29s, and the nation wants to turn westward after decades of purchasing its fighter aircraft from Russia and China. The impetus for the shift came in 2015, with the appointment of a new Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Abu Esrar, who wanted to phase out the Bangladesh Air Force fleet of Russian and Chinese fighters and replace them with Western aircraf
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02/11/2022
B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, support equipment, and personnel from the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived at RAF Fairford, England, today to execute a long-planned Bomber Task Force mission.
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02/10/2022
Russian and Belarusian warplanes conducted a new round of joint air patrols amid simmering military tensions in Eastern Europe. The press office of Belarus’ defense ministry reported this week that Su-30SM fighters belonging to Russia and Belarus conducted joint air patrols in leader-wingman pairs.
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02/10/2022
The government decided on Tuesday to increase the Armed Forces’ readiness in response to “the unacceptable Russian military pressure on Ukraine”. This follows a recommendation from the Defence Command, the defence ministry wrote in a press release.
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02/10/2022
Maintaining strategic deterrence through multiple avenues, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and a bomber presence that is unmatched, Air Force Global Strike Command’s mission is the cornerstone of the United States’ defense. To maintain force readiness AFGSC and several other major commands throughout the U. S. Air Force participate in a multi-national training exercise called Red Flag.
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02/10/2022
Spain will send four combat aircraft and 130 troops to Bulgaria to carry out air patrol missions amid tensions over Ukraine, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said, Reuters reports. The first Spanish Eurofighters are expected to land in Bulgaria by the end of the week to protect the airspace along with the Bulgarian Air Force until the end of March.
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02/10/2022
It said the initial order is undoubtedly small but is significant for the jet manufacturer since it provides a foothold in a country that had never purchased combat aircraft from France. French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly may be able to secure a larger order for 30-36 aircraft during her visit to Indonesia on February 9-10, the French newspaper speculated. Last month, she had postponed her visit.
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02/09/2022
The U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa announced on Feb. 7 that it will conduct training using Osprey and other military aircraft from Feb. 8-13, and the prefectural government responded on the same day by requesting that the Marines, the Okinawa Defense Bureau and other authorities cancel the unprecedented large-scale training at the Naha Port Facility located in an urban area.
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02/09/2022
The Israeli military said it attacked missile batteries in Syria on Wednesday after an anti-aircraft missile was fired towards Israel during what Syrian state television reported was an earlier strike around Damascus. A military spokesperson declined to comment on the Syrian report of an initial Israeli attack near the Syrian capital which reportedly killed one soldier and injured five.
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02/09/2022
As the West and Russia confront each other over the Ukraine crisis, both sides are mobilizing cutting-edge weaponry. However, Russia appears to have heightened the tensions by deploying A video shared on social media shows the fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal missile landing at the Chkalovsk naval airbase in Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
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02/09/2022
It is said that the Rafale-m or Marine, which is currently stationed on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, was rerouted to Malta on February 6 evening after the nozzle of the refueling probe came off and the fighter jet could not acquire enough fuel to return to the ship.
A spokesperson of Malta International Airport also confirmed to The Malta Independent that a French Dassault Rafale military plane landed there at 19.30 on Sunday as it did not have sufficient fuel to complete its
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02/08/2022
The United States has approved the sale of further 16 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to Jordan, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 3 February. The State Department approval covers 12 single-seat F-16C Block 70 and four twin-seat F-16D Block 70 aircraft, as well as related equipment, weapons, services, and training for an estimated USD4.21 billion.
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02/08/2022
The naval variant of the Rafale jet demonstrated its operational capabilities at the shore-based test facility at INS Hansa, the naval air station in Goa recently. This comes against the backdrop of the Navy’s plan to procure fighter jets that it will operate from Vikrant, which is likely to be commissioned in August.
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02/07/2022
Russia on Saturday sent a pair of long-range nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over its ally Belarus amid spiralling tensions over Ukraine. The Russian Defence Ministry said the two Tu-22M3 bombers practised interacting with the Belarusian air force and air defence during a four-hour mission. The flight followed several similar patrols over Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north.
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02/07/2022
A deal between aerospace giant Boeing and the Indian Navy seems likely, with the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet emerging as the top contender to supply the Indian Navy with twenty-six Multirole Carrier Borne Fighter (MRCBF) aircraft.
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02/07/2022
A plane carrying U.S. troops landed in Poland on Sunday, a Reuters witness said, as Washington reinforces its NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid a Russian military build-up on Ukraine's border. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania, as Washington moves to reassure jittery NATO allies.
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02/07/2022
The fact is that while modern aircraft are very capable, they are also extremely expensive and their technological sophistication is an unnecessary luxury for most countries in the world. In the past, the United States and the Soviet Union had aircraft which they could provide for free or at subsidized rates but that happy state of affairs no longer exists and the air forces of the west have not shown an interest in having export fighters or cheap combat aircraft. Yet there is a pressing need fo
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02/06/2022
A plane of the Canadian Armed Forces, C-17 Globemaster, carrying non-lethal military equipment departed for Ukraine, Ukrinform reports, referring to the Department of National Defense of Canada.
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02/06/2022
A Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Mitsubishi-Boeing F-15DJ Eagle fighter aircraft crashed into the Sea of Japan on January 31, resulting in the loss of two pilots. The twin-seat conversion trainer aircraft, tail number 32-8083, disappeared from radars about 5 kilometers west-northwest of Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture, soon after taking off at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The fighter was on its way to a routine training mission.
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02/06/2022
Of late, the UAE has been a target of a series of drone and missile assaults from Iran-backed Houthi rebels as the conflict in Yemen has escalated. Yemen-based militant groups launched three drone and one missile strikes against the UAE recently, according to Emirati officials. The attacks began in January, when UAE-backed Yemeni forces launched an offensive against the Houthis in Marib, in the country’s central region.
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02/06/2022
A German defence source told Reuters on Feb. 3, 2022 that the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) is moving toward buying the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to replace its ageing Tornado in the role of nuclear sharing. However, a final decision has not been taken. A claim confirmed also by another source close to the Germany military that said that a possible F-35 purchase was “back on the table”, but no decisions were expected anytime soon.
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02/05/2022
France will provide military support to the UAE to protect their airspace against any intrusion, the French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Friday. The French minister said that Rafale combat aircraft, which belong to France’s permanent organization based in Abu Dhabi, are engaged alongside the UAE armed forces in surveillance, detection and interception missions when necessary.
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02/05/2022
The US State Department has approved a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of F-16 fighter jets and related equipment to Jordan. The possible sale is estimated to cost around $4.21bn.
Following the approval, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified US Congress regarding the move.
The Government of Jordan previously placed a request for 12 F-16 C Block 70 aircraft and four F-16 D Block 70 aircraft.
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02/04/2022
A few years ago, Russian state media Sputnik had criticized China’s J-15 aircraft for its many drawbacks. Moscow also accused Beijing of reverse-engineering a Russian Su-33 that it brought from Ukraine to produce its own carrier-capable aircraft, the J-15. However, this is neither about Su-33 nor about Russia. Both the countries have left the animosity behind to rework a relationship that challenges the United States, their common adversary.
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02/04/2022
During the Cold War, many powerful, interesting, and strange weapons appeared in the world. The military industries of both the United States and Russia were working day and night improving their equipment, developing new weapons, and producing them in sufficient quantity. One of the aircraft that stood out during this period was the Tu-160 Blackjack.
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02/04/2022
Romania plans to buy Lockheed Martin's latest generation F-35 aircraft as part of its Air Force modernization programme, president Klaus Iohannis said. "The new types of aircraft fitted to the Army, especially the F-16 aircraft, allow for a highly efficient execution of all specific missions. The process of modernizing the Air Force will not stop here, as we intend to purchase F-35 state-of-the-art aircraft," Iohannis said in a televised news conference on Wednesday.
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02/04/2022
The Ethiopian Air Force is reportedly set to become the second export client for China’s L-15 lightweight fighter jet, after the Defence Ministry reportedly placed an order for the aircraft in 2021. The aircraft are expected to replace the country’s ageing fleet of MiG-23 variable swept wing third generation fighters, which form one of its two squadrons alongside a larger unit of Russian-supplied Su-27 Flanker jets acquired in the 1990s.
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02/03/2022
While mainstream media coverage of the mobilization of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine has recently been confused by public disagreements between U.S. President Biden and Ukraine President Zelensky over the imminence of the threat, the possibility of conflict with Russia has been a daily reality for most Ukrainians, ever since the Euromaidan uprising of 2013–14 succeeded in overthrowing the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych.
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02/03/2022
Six years after the Indian Air Force (IAF) allowed women pilots to fly fighter planes on an experimental basis, the government has decided to make it a permanent feature, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
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02/03/2022
More Russian military helicopters appear to be arriving in Russian-occupied Crimea, on Ukraine’s southern border, as concerns that Moscow could be preparing some kind of new invasion of Ukrainian territory continue undiminished. The build-up of Russian troops and materiel into different border areas has been well documented but, until now, additional deployments of military aircraft, specifically, from elsewhere in the country have not been closely observed.
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02/03/2022
Pilots from the 36th Fighter Squadron receive extensive Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) training in order to become an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilot during their duty assignment at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea. Pilots undergo a four-segment training, which provides them with an advanced understanding of aircraft capabilities further equipping them to become a mission capable SEAD fighter pilot.
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02/02/2022
The United States will send a guided-missile destroyer and fifth-generation fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the wake of recent missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Washington’s top military official has said. In a phone call on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Abu bin Zayed Al Nahyan the Pentagon would send the “guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to partner with the UAE Navy before making a port call in Abu Dhabi”.
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02/01/2022
There is a multitude of videos of military jets flying low and fast or employing ordnance. No doubt, they are exciting to watch. Even after a full career of flying U.S. Navy fighters, I still look up in the sky every time I hear a jet — the louder the better. But military jets are not designed to just go out and fly for show. They were built to accomplish a mission that ultimately involves employing ordnance to destroy a target.
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02/01/2022
The US Air Force's newest fighter jet, the F-15EX Eagle II, recently hit a significant milestone — it fired a weapon for the first time. The jet, which is assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron, let loose an AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile in pursuit of a BQM-167 target drone while flying over the Gulf of Mexico on January 25.
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02/01/2022
Iraq’s Defence Minister Juma Inad confirms the purchase of combat aircraft from Pakistan. He made the revelations in a recent interview with Al Arabiya, an international Arabic television news channel based in Dubai. During the interview, the talk turned to the Pakistani JF-17 Thunder fighter deal. To clarify, last year reports emerged that Pakistan received an international defense order from Iraq for the sale of 12 fighter jets JF-17 Thunder Block III, manufactured at the Pakistan.
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02/01/2022
The South Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan might decide to expand its small air force in the foreseeable future with affordable acquisitions from neighboring Turkey and Georgia. Turkey and Azerbaijan have dramatically increased military ties in recent years. Turkish arms exports to Baku surged six-fold in the months leading up to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, in which Azerbaijan dealt Armenia a stinging defeat.
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01/31/2022
The standoff over Ukraine has underscored a pressing need for NATO. Even though NATO leaders agreed to its new military strategy of defense and deterrence in 2019, given the events in Ukraine, that strategy appears dated.
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01/31/2022
According to a press release from Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors, the LRR-E is capable of detecting moving targets using two types of Moving Target Indications (MTIs). Ground Moving Target Indications (GMTIs) to scan for larger types of targets, such as vehicles, and Dismount Moving Target Indications (DMTI) to focus on smaller targets, like people.
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01/31/2022
Over the past two decades, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been characterized by deep divisions, political turmoil, and inadequate governance. Geopolitical competition and increased ambitions of some countries (Iran, Israel, Turkey) were reflected in bold and unilateral foreign policies that in many cases exceeded longtime restrictions imposed by partnerships with foreign powers and conflicted with regional agendas.
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01/30/2022
The United States is canceling $130 million (€117 million) in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns, the State Department said on January 28. The announcement comes just days after U.S. President Joe Biden's administration approved a $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt on January 25. This included 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and air defense radar systems.
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01/30/2022
China and Russia appear to be entering a new and deeper phase of military cooperation that threatens to upset the established security order in East Asia. Two Chinese and two Russian bombers flew southward over the northern part of the Sea of Japan on Nov. 29 last year, surprising Japanese and U.S. defense officials, who saw the sortie as an anomaly. While this was believed to be the third such group flight, following one in July 2019 and another in December 2020.
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01/30/2022
The German Air Force (Air Force) is sending three combat aircraft to participate in the NATO mission to protect Romanian airspace. In this way, the Luftwaffe demonstrates that «is firmly on the side of its allies», the Air Force command said in a statement released on Friday, January 28.
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01/29/2022
China has spoken out in support of Russia’s impending invasion of Ukraine, insisting the “outdated” NATO alliance is the true cause of the crisis. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Russia’s “reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved”. He did not refer to European and Ukrainian security concerns over Moscow’s 100,000 troops, heavy tanks, armoured vehicles, combat aircraft and warships assembling on their borders.
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01/29/2022
Russia has completed the deployment of Su-35S multi-role fighter jets to Belarus as part of the upcoming joint exercises between the two ex-Soviet countries. The crew of 12 Su-35S fighter planes was sent to Belarus for participation in the Union Resolve 2022 Russia-Belarus joint exercise scheduled for next month. The multi-role fighters landed at the Baranovichi airfield in the Brest region.
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01/29/2022
Gen. Mark D. Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, visited 325th Fighter Wing units at Tyndall and Eglin Air Force Bases, Jan. 24-25. During the visit, Team Tyndall displayed Installation of the Future initiatives while showcasing the resiliency of Team Tyndall during the rebuild and pandemic.
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01/28/2022
Some American troops are on standby as the world waits to see whether Russia will invade Ukraine, but the U.S. Air Force’s involvement in the conflict is already well underway. U.S. and allied reconnaissance flights in the region have been ongoing since at least Dec. 24, dispatching multiple types of military planes to serve as extra eyes and ears over Eastern Europe.
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01/28/2022
The Pentagon is defending its preparations in response to the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a top spokesman on Thursday highlighting that the United States has provided millions of dollars in weapons to Kyiv and providing new details about U.S. military forces that could deploy to Eastern Europe to bolster security there.
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01/28/2022
China’s military is stepping up its airborne challenges to Japanese airspace, according to recent data from Japan’s Ministry of Defense. Japan has already scrambled more fighter jets to intercept approaching Chinese aircraft in the past nine months than it did during all of fiscal year 2020, according to statistics the ministry released Tuesday.
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01/28/2022
At the Korean Aircraft Industries plant in Sacheon, the four prototypes of the single-seat KF-21 have already been assembled and units 5 and 6, both two-seaters, are being assembled.
Journalists from The JoongAng gained access to KAI’s facilities and were able to see first hand the progress being made on the 6 KF-21 prototypes. One of the peculiarities they were able to quickly appreciate were the different paint schemes KAI is testing on its aircraft. In particular the striking vertical drifts
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01/27/2022
Six American F-15 jets landed in an Estonian airbase on Wednesday for deployment for a week and a half, as the NATO transatlantic military alliance reinforced its eastern flank due to frictions with Russia over Ukraine. NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as Western "hysteria" in response to its build-up of troops on the Ukraine border.
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01/27/2022
Good evening. We face a critical moment for Euro-Atlantic security. Russia’s military build-up in and around Ukraine continues, with more than 100,000 troops in position, and more on the way, including significant deployments in Belarus. We call on Russia once again to immediately de-escalate the situation. NATO firmly believes that tensions and disagreements must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Not through force or the threat of force.
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01/27/2022
The Russian Navy is kicking off several simultaneous exercises, with ships from the Baltic and Black seas and its Northern Fleet sortieing from their homeports across Europe, the Kremlin has announced. More than 140 warships and support vessels, along with 60 aircraft and a total of 10,000 personnel, will participate in the drills, according to the Russian MoD.
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01/27/2022
Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighters of Russia’s Aerospace Force are deploying to Belarus for an inspection of the Union State’s response forces, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday. "The crews of Su-35S multirole fighter aircraft of the Eastern Military District involved in an inspection of the Union State’s response forces continue deploying to Belarusian airfields," the ministry said in a statement.
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01/27/2022
A $US14 billion ($19.5 billion) Pentagon software upgrade for F-35 jets is being installed on planes that are already deployed even though it’s “immature, deficient and insufficiently tested”, according to a new assessment by the military’s testing office.
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01/27/2022
The United States Air Force’s AFWERX program is funding the development of a pod to enable beyond-line-of-sight laser communications between aircraft and satellites in orbit. Such a concept is not new, but recent developments in optical technologies could make it more feasible to deploy such a system across a large force.
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01/26/2022
NATO will send a written proposal to the Kremlin later this week to "try to find a way forward" amid growing tensions over Russia's troop build-up on Ukraine's border, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
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01/26/2022
Indonesia is moving ahead with its plan to procure 36 Rafale multirole fighter aircraft, Janes reported. Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto told reporters on January 20 that discussions for the program had already been finished and that the contract was now “awaiting activation”.
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01/25/2022
A U.S. Navy F35C Lightning II combat jet conducting exercises in the South China Sea crashed while trying to land on the deck of an American aircraft carrier, injuring seven sailors, the military said Tuesday. The pilot was able to eject before the aircraft slammed into the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson on Monday and then fell into the water. The pilot was safely recovered by a helicopter, said Lt. Mark Langford, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet.
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01/25/2022
The United States has agreed to hold negotiations on the F-35 fighter jet deal with Turkic counterparts in later January or early February, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday. The meeting comes after Akar earlier this month informed that the preparations were underway to resolved the issues pertaining to the deal.
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01/25/2022
In the largest sortie of the new year, China flew 39 warplanes toward Taiwan on Sunday. The Associated Press reports Taiwan’s defense ministry says the Sunday night People's Liberation Army sortie included 24 J-16 fighter jets and 10 J-10 jets along with support aircraft. In response, Taiwan scrambled its own jets and tracked China's planes on defense radar systems, AP reports Taiwan's ministry saying.
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01/25/2022
Up to 5,000 U.S. troops along with aircraft and warships could be deployed to central and Eastern Europe in anticipation of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a news report. President Joe Biden could decide on the plan as early as this week, with the potential to increase troop numbers substantially should the security situation deteriorate further, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
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01/25/2022
The British Royal Air Force (RAF) has sent more than 300 personnel to the US for Exercise Red Flag. During the exercise, the RAF detachment will participate in ‘complex’ combat air operations, including operating against simulated ground-based air defence systems and cyber and space-based threats.
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01/25/2022
NATO Allies are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe, reinforcing Allied deterrence and defence as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine.
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01/24/2022
The Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the German Army (BAAINBw) has agreed with the Israeli company Rafael on the supplementary procurement of Litening systems, target designation tools used by attack aircraft for identifying targets and guiding Precision-guided munition (PGM).
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01/24/2022
At the end of 2021 we went to Ukraine to have a close look at the Kiev military aviation Su-25 Frogfoot, combat aircraft that in the event of a conflict with Russia would be called to attack the Moscow armored formations. The Ukrainian Air Force (Povitryani Syly) operates a range charismatics jets such as Su 24, Su 25, Su 27 and MiG 29. All Ukrainian Su 25 are now based in Kulbakino air base, close to Mykolaiv city, in the southern of Ukraine, under the 299 Tactical Aviation Brigade.
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01/24/2022
Taiwan on Sunday reported the largest incursion since October by China's air force in its air defence zone, with the island's defence ministry saying Taiwanese fighters scrambled to warn away 39 aircraft in the latest uptick in tensions. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.
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01/23/2022
It’s a sight that immediately has the hallmarks of war: Ballistic missiles being hauled across continental Russia in open-top railcars as forces gather on the Russia-Ukraine border.
But what is making military experts really sit up and take notice isn’t the missiles. It’s the little things. Mobile weather stations, latrine units, bakeries. It seems Russian President Vladimir Putin means business.
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01/23/2022
Argentina’s ambassador to China reportedly discussed the possible acquisition of JF-17 fighter jets with officials of the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) recently, an Argentinian news portal claimed.
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01/22/2022
Strategy and posture reviews coming in 2022 could significantly shape the Air Force, even as the service is slated to make major strides on programs and conduct critical tests. How the Air Force manages to pay for all that as the bills come due for major modernization efforts, particularly in the nuclear arena, will be a challenging balancing act.
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01/22/2022
Three decades of canceled, curtailed, and delayed investment in aircraft modernization has left the nation with far too few advanced fighters to meet demand. The Fiscal 2023 budget will be submitted to Congress in February 2022, and all indications are that the fighter crisis will only deepen.
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01/21/2022
The F-22 originally was to have an infrared sensor, which is passive and immune to electronic warfare (EW) jamming, to detect and track other aircraft at long ranges. This plan ultimately was dropped on cost grounds. Now, the service is at least looking at ways to insert the capability back into the jet.
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01/21/2022
Indonesia needs the support and goodwill of the US and other important democracies in the Indo-Pacific like never before in its recent history. As The EurAsian Times had reported earlier, on December 22, Chief of the Indonesian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, had revealed that his government abandoned its plans to acquire the Russian combat aircraft Su-35, “primarily because of its budget”.
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01/21/2022
Deterrence and escalation dominance — two core ideas in strategic theory — explain why Vladimir Putin will likely soon launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine aimed at toppling the democratic government in Kyiv. Deterrence — convincing an adversary that he cannot achieve his objectives through military action — works through two processes: denial and punishment. The likelihood that an adversary will be denied his objectives can prevent an attack.
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01/21/2022
The United States is looking for ways to potentially accelerate delivery of Taiwan's next generation of new-build F-16 fighter jets, U.S. officials said, bolstering the Taiwanese air force's ability to respond to what Washington and Taipei see as increasing intimidation by China's military.
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01/20/2022
BAE Systems Australia has signed a contract to support the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II operations. Signed with the Australian Department of Defence (DoD), the five-year F-35A air vehicle support services (AVSS) contract is valued at over $57.5m (A$80m). It includes the provision of essential supplementation for the maintenance and logistics crew.
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01/20/2022
Ukraine has begged Germany for weapons to deter an attack by Russia, stepping up pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz who has so-far resisted calls to provide military assistance despite warnings Putin is about to invade. Andriy Melnyk, Kiev's ambassador to Berlin, said on Wednesday that Ukraine wants German warships to help defend against Russian attacks on its coasts in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and anti-aircraft systems to prevent attacks from the air.
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01/20/2022
Greece has showcased its newly acquired defence capabilities by flying six Rafale fighter jets over the Acropolis hours after they arrived from France. The jets roared over the symbolic monument en route to the Tanagra airbase, highlighting the Greek government’s decision to press ahead with a major military overhaul amid tensions with Turkey.
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01/19/2022
The Philippines is preparing to order 32 additional S-70i Black Hawk combat utility helicopters from Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky’s Polish subsidiary, PZL Mielec. A Notice of Award (NOA) was issued to PZL Mielec on December 28, 2021, for the PHIP32 billion ($624 million) procurement. A Contract Agreement is now being drafted, which will be followed by a Notice to Proceed officially launching the acquisition.
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01/19/2022
Russian state-backed news outlet TASS has published an in-depth infographic on the new Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate fighter. Mikhail Strelets, the Checkmate’s chief designer, told TASS that the Su-75 project had its roots in the Russian military’s experience over the course of Moscow’s intervention into the Syrian Civil War. Russian leadership concluded that the strike role played by the Su-35 in Syria could have been filled by a cheaper fighter with a smaller footprint.
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01/19/2022
The Indian Navy’s first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), Vikrant, has concluded its third round of sea trials in high seas. The vessel sailed back to Kochi harbour on 16 January. On 9 January, the aircraft carrier set sail to start the trials that included ‘complex manoeuvres’. PRO Defence Kochi tweeted: “IACVikrant returned after completing third sea trials, wherein large number of ship systems were operated and tested with training on various equipment fitted onboard.”
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01/19/2022
The Air Force inactivated one squadron and activated two new ones at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., on Jan. 14, as Air Combat Command works to better align fighter operations and maintenance. The 23rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron is making way for the 74th and 75th Fighter Generation Squadrons. The shift is part of ACC’s Combat Oriented Maintenance Organization, a new structure whereby aircraft maintenance squadrons will be transitioned to fighter generation squadrons.
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01/19/2022
With 53 aircraft in service, Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus tanker is now approved for supporting over two-thirds of the aircraft in the joint air fleet that are capable of receiving fuel in flight. The tanker has passed 60 million pounds of fuel in testing and operational missions, including refueling fighters escorting Air Force One, the president’s plane, during the holidays.
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01/18/2022
The largest procurement program in the Department of Defense (DOD), the F-35 Lightning II is a strike fighter aircraft being procured in different versions for the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. Current DOD plans call for acquiring a total of 2,456 F-35s. Allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight nations are cost-sharing partners in the program with the United States.
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01/18/2022
The Indonesian government has announced its intention to assist Nigeria in producing indigenous military weapons and aircraft to bolster its air defense capabilities amid evolving threats in the region. Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria Usra Harahap made the announcement during a recent meeting with executive vice-chairman Mohammed Sani Haruna of Nigeria’s National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
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01/18/2022
Specialists at Sukhoi, part of Rostec company United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), are developing a VR simulator to train aircraft technicians working on Su-35 and Su-57 combat aircraft. ‘The system tests are scheduled to be completed in 2022,’ Rostec first deputy CEO Vladimir Artyakov noted on 12 January.
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01/18/2022
On a cloudless morning last May, a pilot took off from the Niagara Falls International Airport, heading for restricted military airspace over Lake Ontario. The plane, which bore the insignia of the United States Air Force, was a repurposed Czechoslovak jet, an L-39 Albatros, purchased by a private defense contractor. The bay in front of the cockpit was filled with sensors and computer processors that recorded the aircraft’s performance.
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01/17/2022
The Iraqi forces thwarted an attack by three drones targeting the Balad Airbase near Baghdad, a day after rockets were launched at the Green Zone and a number of military areas. Three drones approached the southern perimeter of the Balad Air Base, some 90 km north of Baghdad, prompting the Iraqi forces to open fire on the drones and forcing them to flee the scene.
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01/17/2022
South Korea's Air Force said Monday it will resume the operation of its combat aircraft suspended after a pilot died earlier this month following the sudden crash of an F-5E fighter. The armed service said the operation of its warplanes, except for F-5Es and F-35As, will resume in phases, starting at noon.
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01/17/2022
Russia is building up forces along its border with Ukraine, and NATO is watching with rising alarm. The current crisis is the latest in a long line of increasingly aggressive Russian actions against its neighbors. From the Arctic Circle to the Black Sea, NATO allies and partners have faced everything from grey-zone tactics to airborne harassment to outright war, all directed from Moscow.
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01/16/2022
“I recently signed the Notice of Award for the Philippine Navy Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile Acquisition Project. Negotiated with the Government of India, it includes the delivery of three batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package,” Lorenzana wrote on Facebook on Friday.
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01/16/2022
In an echo of the Cold War, Russia's first newly manufactured Tupolev Tu-160M (NATO designation Backfire) supersonic nuclear heavy bomber completed its maiden flight on January 12, reaching a height of 600 m (2,000 ft) during its 30-minute test.
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01/15/2022
Over the last decade, Turkey has put great attention on its national aerospace industry, starting many ambitious programs for different types of aircraft, including unmanned ones. One of these programs is the Hürjet, an advanced jet training and light attack aircraft launched in 2017 and developed with the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) own resources and the first completely developed in Turkey.
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01/15/2022
When the Pentagon asked Google to quietly build a tool that could identify objects in drone footage, what it found was a nascent worker revolt against explicitly building weapons. The program, Project Maven, was launched in April 2017 with the goal of processing video taken by drones. The plan was to identify and label objects in those videos using computer algorithms, with those labels helpful for troops who would be picking targets.
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01/15/2022
For many years these two 4th-generation fighters were the mainstay of the Russian Air Force: the lightweight MiG-29 tactical fighter (‘Fulcrum’), designed for gaining mastery of the air directly over the battlefield, and the heavy supersonic Su-27 (‘Flanker-B’), capable of intercepting enemy aircraft at long range.Performing different roles, the two planes were supposed to complement each other in combat.
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01/12/2022
Taiwan's air force on Tuesday suspended combat training for its F-16 fleet after a recently upgraded model of the fighter jet crashed into the sea in the latest of a series of accidents. The defence ministry said the F-16V, the most advanced type in Taiwan's fleet, went missing from radar screens after taking off from the Chiayi air base in southern Taiwan for a training mission over a coastal firing range.
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01/11/2022
Flights will be conducted in Estonia’s southwest, south, and east, far from populated areas, if possible. Low-altitude flights must be agreed beforehand with the country’s Aviation Department and Air Navigation Services, the agency added. On Tuesday, the US Air Force deployed F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets in Poland, so that the aircraft “work with the Polish Baltic Air Policing F-16s in Siauliai, Lithuania and enhanced Air Policing Belgian F-16s in Amari, Estonia,” the Allied Air Command sai
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01/11/2022
The Idaho Air National Guard welcomed U.S. Marines from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225, who fly the F-35B Lightning II, to Gowen Field Jan. 7-9. The squadron brought four of the fifth-generation fighters to train with A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 124th Fighter Wing’s 190th Fighter Squadron.
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01/11/2022
An F-5 fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday evening (Jan. 10) after a warning light for its landing gear lit up, according to the Air Force Command. The aircraft took off from Hualien’s Chiashan Air Force Base to perform a routine night training flight. However, its landing gear lights lit up shortly after, and the pilot made it safely back to base, CNA reported.
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01/11/2022
The Air Force and Navy are both seeing a long-term, downward trend in aircraft availability and flying hours per aircraft, which is actually worse than the Pentagon reports because of the way the Defense Department counts aircraft as ready for duty, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. While USAF availability recovered a little during the COVID-19 pandemic, flying hours continued to fall, the CBO said.
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01/10/2022
The U.S. Air Force has started stationing F-35A Lightning II fighter jets on the European continent, allowing the United States to bolster collective deterrence and streamline operations with the growing number of allied nations that have their own F-35s.
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01/10/2022
At this point, it has been speculated that the Porte Avion Nouvelle Generation (PANG) carrier would likely be nuclear powered with two K22 reactors, would be in similar size to Charles de Gaulle, and would have an air wing that would include thirty-two next-generation fighter jets.
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01/09/2022
Antonov State Enterprise, which is part of Ukroboronprom state concern, at the end of last year demonstrated the first military transport aircraft An-178-100R No. 001 designed for flight certification tests. “Ukraine demonstrates its defense capability thanks to synergy, united efforts.
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01/09/2022
US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, which is eying a fighter jet deal with the Indian Air Force (IAF), is open to setting up a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in the country, company representatives said. Lockheed’s F-21 is competing with Boeing’s F-18, Swedish SAAB Gripen, French Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Russian MiG-35 for the supply of 114 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the IAF.
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01/08/2022
In the face of mounting domestic unrest and apparent uncertainty over the loyalty of law enforcement and military forces, Kazakhstan’s president has turned to a Russia-dominated security alliance for help.
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01/08/2022
Six military aircraft from China entered the southwest sector of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) Friday (Jan. 7), continuing a trend started more than a year earlier. Four Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, one Shaanxi Y-8 ELINT electronic intelligence spotter plane, and one Shaanxi Y-8 EW electronic warfare aircraft entered the southwest sector of the ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
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01/07/2022
In an important milestone, the Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT), designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for stage-II training of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, has successfully demonstrated the capability to carry out six turn spins, displaying an important requirement for the platform. The aircraft will require another two years of testing after which it will be ready for induction, said R. Madhavan, Chief Managing Director, HAL.
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01/07/2022
Indian Navy will start testing the Rafale-M(Marine) for using on its aircraft carriers. The test of the Rafale fighter aircraft will take place at the INS Hansa in Goa which is a shore-based test facility. France sent a Rafale maritime fighter aircraft to a naval facility in Goa on Thursday to demonstrate its combat capabilities.
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01/06/2022
Taiwan air force jets screamed into the sky on Wednesday in a drill simulating a war scenario, showing its combat readiness amid heightened military tensions with China, which claims the island as its own. Before takeoff, flight crews at a base in the southern city of Chiayi - home to U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that are frequently scrambled to intercept Chinese warplanes - rushed to ready aircraft as an alarm sounded.
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01/06/2022
Jet fighter designers at the Boeing Co. will help Japan upgrade its F-15 combat aircraft with new enabling technologies to enable Japanese F-15s to fight effectively alongside the nation's growing fleet of F-35 joint strike fighters. Officials of the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced a $471.3 million contract to the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis for the Japan Super Interceptor (JSI) program.
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01/06/2022
The UK and Japan are to partner on building a jet engine demonstrator for use in next generation fighter aircraft, with work starting in the coming months. The agreement, which was signed at the end of last month also commits the countries to exploring other combat air technologies together.
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01/06/2022
To hype their Su-75 "Checkmate" aircraft last month at the Dubai Air Show, officials from Russia’’s Sukhoi Design Bureau offered up bottles of a limited-edition Checkmate perfume. No fragrance, however, will mask how the Su-75 isn’t a light tactical fighter as advertised, but rather a medium-weight fighter-bomber similar to the F-16V.
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01/05/2022
Raytheon and the US Navy (USN) are looking to increase the jamming capability of the Boeing EA-18G Growler by also using the electronic attack aircraft’s APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. They have discussed updates that would give the Raytheon-made radar the ability to jam enemy transmissions. Such a capability would be in addition to the Growler’s payload of current and future jamming pods, including the USN’s trio of next-generation jammers.
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01/05/2022
According to the report, the 5th generation aircraft was involved in a training mission when an avionic system issues forced the pilot to carry out a gear up landing at Seosan airbase, 151 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The emergency apparently marked the type’s first ever belly landing.
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01/05/2022
The Eurofighter Typhoon has served the Royal Air Force for nearly two decades. Developments around the UK Tempest concept and recent defence reviews have set the blueprint for the future of the air force and the spotlight falls once again on the Eurofighter Typhoon. Norbert Neumann explores the role and potential future of the aircraft.
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01/04/2022
Canadians will get a better idea this year of which fighter jet the Liberal government intends to buy for the country's air force. The decision amounts to more than a simple choice between two expensive new aircraft: the American F-35 and the Swedish Gripen-E. It's expected to say a lot about how the federal government sees Canada's place in the world — whether it remains tied to a politically shaky United States or to a Europe that is determined to step out of Washington's defence shadow.
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01/04/2022
This week the Rafale M fighter jet is due to begin tests at India’s naval flight test facility as it goes head-to-head with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the competition to provide the Indian Navy with its new carrier-based combat aircraft. The Rafale, which has already been ordered by the Indian Air Force, comes to India on the back of notable export success, including a huge order for the land-based version from the United Arab Emirates.
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01/04/2022
More than three decades after Jerusalem scrapped plans to field its own domestically produced combat aircraft, Pakistan announced last week that it was purchasing a squadron of 25 Chinese J-10 jets widely believed to be based on the canceled Israeli Lavi fighter. Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad announced the purchase of the jets, which he said will serve as a counterweight to new French Dassault Rafale fighters soon to be fielded by rival India.
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01/03/2022
Israel has signed a deal with the United States to buy 12 Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky CH-53K helicopters and two Boeing KC-46 refueling planes, the Israeli Defence Ministry said on Friday. The ministry said the deal is worth around $3.1 billion (€2.73 billion), adding that the procurement is "part of a wider program to strengthen the capabilities of the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] and preparedness to face current and developing threats."
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01/03/2022
Here's What to Remember: Rampage first broke cover in the summer of 2018, and it seems "Rampage" works as advertised. Israel reportedly used in combat for the first time a new kind of fast, long-range missile. According to aviation journalist Babak Taghvaee, on April 13, 2019 Israeli air force warplanes fired, for the first time, at least one Rampage air-launched ballistic missile at a missile factory and weapons warehouses in Masyaf, Syria.
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01/03/2022
Boeing Australia has revealed that, in conjunction with the Royal Australian Air Force, it has advanced the operational readiness of its Airpower Teaming System (ATS) being developed for the RAAF’s Loyal Wingman program in a digital environment.
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01/02/2022
With countdown already begun to commission indigenous aircraft carrier 1 as INS Vikrant in August 2022, the Indian Navy will conduct flight trials of Rafale-Maritime fighter at Shore Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in Goa on January 6 onwards as part of its exercise to identify the best warplane to suit the 40,000 tonne carrier. The IAC 1 is based at Cochin shipyard and is currently undergoing intensive sea trials in Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
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01/01/2022
The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is searching for a new fighter to replace its aging F-5 and F-16 aircraft, which is nearing the end of its service life. Many countries are looking to buy stealth fighters to help bolster their defenses as contemporary warfare evolves. After Switzerland, Finland recently announced the purchase of 64 F-35A fighter jets at $9.5 billion to replace its aging combat planes.
(Read More...)
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