February, 2023 Military Aviation News
02/28/2023
Singapore will exercise a contractual option to acquire eight more F-35B fighter jets, bringing it fleet to 12 aircraft that manufacturer Lockheed Martin will deliver by the end of the decade.
Speaking to lawmakers during a budget hearing, Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the decision came after a “full evaluation” of the F-35, which followed increased access to the aircraft program thanks to the country’s initial order.
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02/28/2023
In the initial stages of its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow shot down several of its own military aircraft, leading to a shortage of experienced pilots required for Russia to establish air superiority over Ukraine, The Financial Times recently reported. Despite having a large fleet of fourth-generation fighters and cutting-edge aircraft like the Su-57, which British intelligence earlier claimed had not yet been used for operations within Ukraine’s airspace, Moscow has struggled to maintain control
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02/28/2023
On February 26, 2023, a Russian A-50 AWACS aircraft was damaged at Minsk’s military airfield near Minsk, according to Reuters and Militarnyi with reference to the opposition Belarusian channels Belarusian Hajun and BYPOL. Belarusian sources mentioned the use of two UAVs, which were controlled from the territory of Belarus. Operators are reported to be safe outside the country. It is claimed that the A-50 has received serious damage and will not fly anywhere.
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02/28/2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the situation is becoming increasingly difficult in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian and Russian forces are engaged in heavy fighting. "The situation is getting more and more complicated," Zelenskyy said Monday during his nightly address. He said Russian forces are "constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions."
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02/28/2023
Russia’s war on Ukraine, with its images of helicopters trailing flames, has demonstrated their vulnerability to effective air defences and triggered debate on the future of crewed aircraft sent to penetrate enemy airspace. Former Australian Army major general Mick Ryan, who has studied the conflict closely since Moscow’s 2014 invasion, says Russia is no longer flying crewed aircraft over Ukraine because of its potent air- and missile-defence regime.
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02/28/2023
The day began with an attack by Iranian drones. Most of them were shot down. Eleven out of fourteen. Unfortunately, there were also hits. Three employees of the State Emergency Service in Khmelnytskyi were wounded, two were killed. In fact, that is why we need the aviation component of air defense – modern combat aircraft – to protect the entire territory of our country from Russian terror. Air defense is complete only when it is backed by aviation. Modern aviation.
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02/27/2023
In the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s Air Force has launched four strikes on enemy personnel and military equipment clusters. Russian troops attempted to conduct offensive actions in five directions but failed. 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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02/27/2023
The Armed Forces, defense forces, and all defenders of Ukraine are ready for any scenario during the spring-summer campaign, which will be extremely difficult. This was said by the Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, at an event on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, organized on February 24 at the residence of the Federal President of Germany in the Bellevue Palace in Berlin.
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02/27/2023
Various U.S. units under Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, or CJTF-HOA, and the 449th Air Expeditionary Group pooled their resources to conduct the first simulated joint branch Forward Arming and Refueling Point, or FARP, exercise on the African continent, Feb. 22.
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02/27/2023
The maker of JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets, Saab, is facing an acute supplier shortage, according to a newly published annual report. As per the report, Sweden has been facing supplier shortages due to the Ukraine war, which have caused struggles with the maintenance of military equipment and “major delivery deviations,” such as delayed delivery of the new signals intelligence ship “HSwMS Artemis.”
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02/26/2023
A Chinese fighter jet together with a guided-missile destroyer warship in the South China Sea warned a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft to turn away from Chinese airspace in a heart-stopping confrontation all caught on camera.
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02/26/2023
The 317th AW successfully passed fuel from a C-130 to an M1A2 utilizing an Emergency Response Refueling Equipment Kit, marking the first time in USAF history that a C-130 has been used to refuel an Abrams tank.
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02/26/2023
The latest use of an Air-to-Air missile (AAM) was by the US Northern Command F-22 Raptor fighter jet launching an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down a car-sized object flying above Alaska on February 10. The same combination of jet and missile destroyed the Chinese balloon on February 4. While there have been a few air combat engagements in the initial days of the war in Ukraine, missile usage is not clear.
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02/26/2023
Singapore announced on February 24 that the country would purchase eight additional F-35B Lightning II fighter jets on top of the four for which a deal was signed in 2019. The announcement indicates that the F-35s are rapidly proliferating in China’s neighborhood.
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02/25/2023
As the world marks the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine Dr DAVE SLOGGETT asks if the lessons emerging from the conflict challenge the long-held military doctrine on achieving and maintaining air supremacy? It is still true to say that the enduring characteristic of war is that it is a bloody affair. While some significant technological advances have occurred, they have not changed this fundamental perspective.
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02/25/2023
Britain is prepared to provide fighter jets to its allies in eastern Europe, according to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. According to Mr Wallace, this would enable Britain's allies to give Ukraine their own Soviet fighter jets. Notwithstanding the UK's willingness to “backfill” ally stocks, he reiterated that it would not send its own Typhoon fighters to Ukraine.
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02/25/2023
Ukraine’s leader pledged Friday to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe’s security. It was Ukraine’s “longest day,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, but the country’s dogged resistance a year on has proven that “every tomorrow is worth fighting for.”
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02/25/2023
The 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, part of Air Combat Command, hosted Integrated Combat Turnaround (ICT) training for members of Air Mobility Command (AMC) from Feb. 9 to Feb. 17, 2023. An ICT is a process by which an aircraft is recovered and relaunched in a minimum amount of time, through the simultaneous fueling, loading of munitions, aircraft reconfiguration and aircraft inspections.
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02/25/2023
Danish acting Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen is “open to” Denmark sending combat aircraft to Ukraine in the long term, DR reports. “I don’t want to deny that at some point it may be necessary to look at a fighter aircraft contribution,” he said making it clear that no decision has been made yet: “I cannot announce this morning that we are going to provide a contribution of fighter aircraft from the Danish side.”
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02/25/2023
Iran’s backing of Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine is expanding to include “unprecedented defence cooperation” that will see the Islamic Republic purchase advanced weaponry from Moscow in exchange for providing Russian forces with equipment meant for use on Ukrainian territory, the White House has said.
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02/25/2023
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) will purchase eight more F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, to be added to its fleet by the end of the decade. This follows the agreement of purchase of four F-35Bs first, which was inked in 2020. Since then, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was given exclusive access to information and facilities of the aircraft, allowing them to conduct robust evaluations.
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02/25/2023
Korea Aerospace Industries has won a competition to supply light attack aircraft to Malaysia, the company announced, marking its latest export for the line of trainer/light attack jets. The South Korean company said the contract, worth $920 million, will see it deliver 18 FA-50 jets to the Southeast Asian country, with the first due for delivery in 2026.
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02/24/2023
While US President Joe Biden’s historic surprise visit to Ukraine on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of that country and his new offer of $460 million of the military to boost the country’s defense has raised the spirit of the Ukrainians enormously, Kyiv’s request to get F-16 fighter aircraft at the earliest remains pending for Washington’s approval.
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02/24/2023
Ukrainian pilots have visited the U.S. and the specific type of aircraft to be provided to Ukraine has already been selected, the top spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force claimed on Tuesday.
“Our military pilots went to the United States, funds were allocated for the training of our pilots,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said, according to ArmyInform an information agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (MoD).
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02/24/2023
The current serviceability and related maintenance issues of the Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije (Serbia Air Force and Air Defence) MiG-29 fighter aircraft is causing headaches for the Serbian Ministry of Defence (MoD).
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02/24/2023
Boeing Co. plans to end production of its F/A-18 Super Hornet, the fighter jet that wowed movie audiences in last year’s Top Gun: Maverick, after more than 2,000 deliveries over 40 years. The aerospace giant will stop manufacturing the fighters after it hands over the last Super Hornet to the US Navy in late 2025, according to a statement Thursday.
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02/23/2023
If it has not yet convinced the United States to pass on some Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to its air force, Ukraine at least already has a new American aircraft. Military Intelligence Aviation, linked to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, revealed that it had received a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter.
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02/23/2023
“We have a continuing and robust dialogue with the [United Arab Emirates] on these sales," senior State Department official Stanley Brown told Breaking Defense. "We remain committed to them, even as we continue consultations to ensure that we have a clear, mutual understanding with respect to Emirati obligations."
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02/23/2023
The pilot of a British fighter jet that rolled off a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has spoken of his relief at managing to eject from the £100m F-35. Speaking soon after the incident in November 2021, the pilot, known as Hux, recalled having only seconds to react. An official investigation concluded the sudden loss of power on take-off was probably caused by a cover being left on one of the aircraft's jet intakes.
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02/23/2023
When Finland’s airforce switched from Soviet fighter jets to US-made aircraft, Jarmo Lindberg led the first group of experienced pilots to be trained in California to fly F18 hornets. That training took a full year including English lessons, flight simulations, emergency procedures and learning to use the aircraft to fight, the former fighter pilot and chief of defence told Euronews.
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02/22/2023
Since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's pleas to the U.S. for advanced fighter jets have gone largely unanswered, but even as experts warn that the planes might not make much of a near-term difference in the conflict, the idea is gaining support.
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02/22/2023
South Korean defense company Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) is aiming to export its combat jets and helicopters, including the KF-21 stealth fighter jet, to the Middle East, the company’s CEO Kang Goo-young said. Speaking at the IDEX defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi on February 21, 2023, the CEO said one of the main priorities for KAI is continuing with the MC-X, a joint project to develop a twin-engine military transport aircraft, according to a report published by The Korean Herald.
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02/22/2023
China's aviation industry announced on Tuesday that a deal to export the domestically developed L15 advanced trainer jet to the UAE has been sealed, as it put the latest, aerial refueling-capable variant of the aircraft on display at an ongoing defense expo in Abu Dhabi, with experts hailing the aircraft as one of the best trainers in the world.
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02/22/2023
European defense consortium Airbus is staring at a shortage of orders, including for the Eurofighter Typhoon, when European countries are making new military purchases to combat potential Russian threats. Airbus SE’s defense unit revealed recently that the company has been planning to increase production of its Eurofighter jet and other important weapons systems but has been held back due to the inability of governments to commit to orders, Bloomberg reported.
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02/22/2023
In another sign of tightening defense ties between Belarus and Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced his country’s defense industry is ready to kick off the manufacturing of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft. Some analysts suggest the move could be related to Moscow’s plan to streamline Minsk’s defense industry capacities towards its war against Ukraine.
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02/21/2023
The fourth prototype of South Korea's homemade fighter jet KF-21 successfully conducted its flight about seven months after the first prototype made its 33-minute maiden flight in July 2022. The first two-seater fighter jet will be used for various missions such as testing the performance of a computer-controlled array antenna system that determines the survival of fighter jets in a combat situation.
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02/21/2023
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may raise the issue of providing Ukraine with modern combat aircraft during her upcoming visit to Kyiv, which is due to take place before February 24. The Italian publication Repubblica reported this with reference to its own sources writes.
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02/21/2023
The US has carried out separate air exercises with both the Japanese and South Korean air forces to build quick response capability to any regional threat. According to a US Forces Japan’s media statement, the bilateral exercise between Japan and US was conducted on 19 February to demonstrate the combined rapid capabilities of both nations in countering a wide range of regional adversaries.
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02/21/2023
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) displayed a model of its company-funded HLFT-42 (Hindustan Lead-in Fighter Trainer) concept at the recent Aero India show, despite the apparent lack of a formal Indian Air Force requirement for the jet. The project is being positioned as a lead-in fighter training aircraft that will have performance and systems representative of frontline types, allowing it to download training from operational aircraft while exposing pilots to modern sensors, weapons and roles at low
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02/20/2023
Ukraine’s Defense Forces have shot down another Russian Su-25 aircraft, two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and one Lancet-3 loitering munition. 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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02/20/2023
The likelihood of US transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is gradually increasing. Such an opinion on Sunday, February 19, on the air of the TV channel CNN expressed the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Michael McCall (R-Texas).
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02/20/2023
On February 16, the Russian Ministry of Defense (RuMoD) highlighted the capabilities of the Su-25 attack aircraft upgraded by the country in a Telegram post titled ‘Upgraded Su-25SM3: Superpower Over The Battlefield’.
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02/19/2023
During Operation Desert Storm F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short, from 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, today 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” was credited with one of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history.
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02/19/2023
Russia is to propose a partnership with the Gulf States to produce its cutting-edge fighter jet Su-75, also referred to as Checkmate, Russian media reported on Thursday. "Rosoboronexport is considering options for joint design and manufacture of cutting-edge high-tech products, including a fifth-generation fighter based on the Checkmate light tactical aircraft," shared Rosoboronexport's Director General Alexander Mikheev.
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02/19/2023
China has released a video featuring its second aircraft carrier Shandong conducting a training exercise and making announcements in English, which according to a Chinese military expert, could mean that the aircraft carrier had “a close encounter with a US aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.”
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02/18/2023
During the day, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched five strikes on the personnel and military equipment clusters of the Russian invaders and hit the location of an anti-aircraft missile system. This is stated in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of 18:00, February 17, published on Facebook.
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02/18/2023
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)’s EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft will be upgraded to the most current US capabilities by Australian Defence Force’s standout radar-systems developer CEA Technologies as part of the $6 billion Project AIR 5349 Phase 6 project.
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02/18/2023
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 12 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Thursday (Feb. 16) and 6 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 17). Of the 12 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during this time.
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02/18/2023
China is helping Myanmar’s military to strengthen its control over the helpless civilians by providing them with “fighter aircraft”, and this clearly shows that Beijing doesn’t value human rights when it comes to furthering its own interests, Mekong News, Myanmar-based news agency reported. Earlier, in October, Irrawaddy, a newspaper in Myanmar run by the opposition had claimed that the country had ordered several FTC-2000G midrange fighter jets from China.
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02/18/2023
The invasion of Ukraine on 24 February provoked ‘swift and severe’ retaliatory sanctions against Russia – as President Biden had warned. Russia’s defence industry was a target sector for santcions. In the last year the maritime and land domains have been significantly debilitated by sanctions. In Russia there is debate over how naval ship-building can recover under sanctions.
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02/18/2023
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing President Joe Biden directly to send F-16 warplanes to Ukraine as the fight against Russia’s invasion enters its second year. Five House members argued modern jets — which Kyiv has sought, but the administration has so far not agreed to — “could prove decisive for control of Ukrainian airspace this year” in a Thursday letter to Biden obtained by POLITICO.
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02/18/2023
On Feb. 7, Iran unveiled a new underground Air Force base called “Eagle 44” in a slick propaganda video. On the wall was a clue hiding in plain sight: a poster with silhouettes of fighter jets. One in particular stands out. It’s situated front and center, and is in the shape of a state-of-the-art military jet that Iran currently doesn’t possess, but which officials claim Russia is in the process of selling to them.
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02/17/2023
Hundreds of the Air Force's workhorse aircraft are being grounded as the service investigates a faulty part which, if not fixed, could potentially cause part of a plane's tail to fall off leading to a crash.
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02/17/2023
High-tech stealth fighter jets like the F-22 Raptor have taken over the news cycle in recent weeks and are being used as the primary weapons to deal with potential threats in American and Canadian airspace. The Raptor and jets like it showcase the best the United States and its military has to offer when dealing with airborne targets both inside the borders of the States and abroad.
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02/17/2023
Two U.S. F-35 fighter jets intercepted Russian fighter aircraft Tuesday as they approached Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone, officials announced Thursday. The Russian military aircraft included a TU-95 BEAR-H bomber, as well as SU-30 and SU-35 fighter jets.
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02/16/2023
India’s indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has garnered much attention worldwide with Argentina and Egypt joining the bid for the procurement of the multirole fighter. Developed by the pioneering India-based aviation company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), LCA Tejas is a lightweight, multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft. HAL Chairman CB Ananthakrishnan said Argentina and Egypt are in talks with India regarding the procurement of the aircraft.
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02/16/2023
Boeing has submitted details to the Indian Navy for assessment about the Super Hornets fighter aircraft produced by the company, a senior official of the firm has said. Boeing Defense, Space and Security, India business development head, Alain Garcia told PTI the company has handed over the details and the Indian Navy is also interested in acquiring six more P-8 patrol aircraft.
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02/16/2023
In December 2022, media reports indicated that the production of the new T-7A Red Hawk training jet for the Air Force had been delayed until 2024 due to design and testing issues. Pre-production flight testing is planned this year.
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02/15/2023
Four Russian aircraft, including a fighter jet and bomber, flew into a buffer zone of international airspace near Alaska Monday, according to a release from the North American Aerospace Defense Command on Tuesday, prompting a handful of U.S. Air Force jets to scramble and intercept them.
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02/15/2023
On Monday, the US Department of Defense’s research agency, DARPA, announced that its AI algorithms can now control an actual F-16 in flight. The fighter aircraft that was first introduced in 1978 has now seemingly evolved into an autonomous plane.
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02/14/2023
A joint Department of Defense team executed 12 flight tests in which artificial intelligence, or AI, agents piloted the X-62A Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft, or VISTA, to perform advanced fighter maneuvers at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Dec. 1-16, 2022. Supporting organizations included the U.S. Air Force Test Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.
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02/14/2023
The Air Force is studying whether drone wingmen flying alongside piloted fighter aircraft could be controlled by operators in nearby battle management aircraft or refueling tankers, according to Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown. The future fleet of collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, as the service calls the concept, could involve them being partially guided from nearby aircraft such as the KC-46 Pegasus or E-7 Wedgetail, Brown said in a discussion at the Brookings Institution on Monday.
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02/14/2023
According to Vasily Dandykin, the West failed to break Russia last year despite providing Ukraine with a host of weapon systems, and therefore have resorted to delivering the tanks, long-range Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDBs), and maybe after that, even the combat aircraft.
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02/13/2023
Winning the battle for the skies of Ukraine is just as important as winning the fight on the ground. Despite recent moves by the United States and NATO allies such as Germany to end their previous objections to supplying Ukraine with heavy armor, their reticence to do the same for aircraft remains.
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02/13/2023
Taiwan has observed dozens of Chinese military balloon flights in its airspace in recent years, far more than previously known, adding to concerns that Beijing could be preparing for an attack on the country. “They come very frequently, the last one just a few weeks ago,” said a senior Taiwanese official. Another person briefed on the matter said such incursions were happening on average once a month.
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02/13/2023
Russian soldiers are dying in greater numbers in Ukraine this month than at any time since the first week of the invasion, according to Ukrainian data. The Ukrainian data shows 824 Russian soldiers dying per day in February. The figures were highlighted by the UK's Ministry of Defence. The figures cannot be verified - but the UK says the trends are "likely accurate". The increase comes as Ukrainian officials say that Russia has launched a "big offensive".
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02/13/2023
The US has shot down another unidentified flying object, this time over Lake Huron near the Canadian border, in what is the fourth such incident this month. It was downed by Air Force and National Guard pilots on Sunday, Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said. "Great work by all who carried out this mission," she wrote on Twitter.
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02/12/2023
Another day, another “unidentified object” has been shot down by a U.S. Air Force F-22. It’s the third “kill” scored by a Raptor in a few days: the first one was the famous Chinese high altitude balloon shot down on February 4, 2023, at 2:39 p.m. by an F-22 Raptor, belonging to the 1st Fighter Wing from Langley Air Force Base, shot down with an AIM-9X infrared-guided air-to-air missile off the coast of South Carolina and within U.S. territorial airspace.
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02/12/2023
Poland, among the first to promise tanks to Ukraine, is now hesitating to send fighter jets to its neighbor over fears that it would deplete its own air force’s already small fleet of combat aircraft. President Andrzej Duda told BBC sending F-16 aircraft would be a “very serious decision” that was “not easy to take,” even after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week during his marathon tour through Europe, in which he called for additional air support.
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02/12/2023
As Ukraine continues to request Western-made fighter jets to strengthen its military capabilities against Russia, a Ukrainian fighter pilot has expressed his opinion that the US-made F-16 jets are the “optimal choice” above the extremely capable British Eurofighter Typhoons.
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02/12/2023
U.S. fighter jets intercepted and shot down an aerial object over the coast of Alaska on Friday, less than a week after a Chinese spy balloon traversed the country before being destroyed. The latest object was at 40,000 feet above the state's northern coast and judged to be a threat to civilian air traffic when an F-22 Raptor hit it with a Sidewinder missile, according to the Pentagon. President Joe Biden gave the shootdown order after it was detected by U.S. Northern Command on Thursday.
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02/11/2023
Developers of India’s stealth fighter jet have opened doors for private players. The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), under development by the Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) for close to two decades, is a fifth-generation, medium-weight, multirole, and twin-engine aircraft
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02/11/2023
Macron said priority should be given to “more useful” and “faster” types of weapons, in the later case meaning ones that could quickly be brought into battle by Ukraine. Despite Ukraine having already requested fighter aircraft several times over the past few months, Macron said that in his opinion the supply of combat aircraft “today does not meet (Ukraine’s) needs.”
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02/11/2023
Beijing and Moscow have increasingly close military ties, sharing hardware and technology. Each has also touted the capabilities of their respective latest jet fighters — even as some experts have continued to downplay the purported attributes.
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02/11/2023
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spent much of the past week touring European capitals, appealing to leaders to send his country fighter jets. At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine was believed to have around 120 combat capable aircraft - mainly consisting of aging Soviet-era MiG-29s and Su-27s. But officials say they need up to 200 jets to match Moscow's air-power - which is thought to be five or six times greater than Kyiv's.
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02/11/2023
The Pentagon shot down an unidentified object over frozen waters around Alaska on Friday at the order of President Biden, according to U.S. officials, less than a week after a U.S. fighter jet brought down a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic. U.S. officials said they could not immediately confirm whether the object was a balloon, but it was traveling at an altitude that made it a potential threat to civilian aircraft.
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02/11/2023
As India continues its hunt for 114 combat jets, Swedish aerospace and defence major Saab on Thursday pitched its single- and two-seater variants of the Gripen combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force.
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02/10/2023
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has committed to training Ukrainian combat jet pilots, according to a statement made ahead of a Feb. 8 visit to London by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Sunak also offered to bolster other initiatives, including training Ukrainian marines and supplying unspecified longer-range weapons. The deal could also be expanded to include military helicopter pilots, according to recent testimony given to lawmakers.
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02/10/2023
Ukraine's leader has called on EU leaders to provide fighter jets and arms for the war against Russia, on his second trip abroad since the war began. "We have to enhance the dynamics of our co-operation, we have to do it faster than the aggressor," said Volodymyr Zelensky. He was earlier given a standing ovation at the European Parliament in Brussels.
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02/09/2023
North Korea's missile program had a record-setting year in 2022, but Pyongyang has been using its aging air force to keep its neighbors on their toes as well. On October 6, 12 North Korean jets were detected practicing air-to-ground attacks near the DMZ, prompting South Korea to scramble 30 of its fighters. Two days later, North Korea conducted a massive aerial drill reportedly involving as many as 150 aircraft.
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02/07/2023
Airport development being a capital intensive and ‘long lead time’ project of national interest, it is desirable that requirements of both Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Civil Aviation converge so as to optimally utilise the newly constructed airports
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02/07/2023
The US Air Force (USAF) has finally got its first fifth-generation aggressor pilot for the recently reactivated 65th Aggressor Squadron (AGRS) at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada. The Commander of the USAF’s Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC), Brig. Gen. Trey “Lou” Rawls has become the first general officer to be certified as a fifth-generation aggressor pilot on the F-35A Lightning II aircraft with the 65th AGRS.
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02/07/2023
Kuleba specified that the base model for Ukraine, considering the supply and access to maintenance, is the American F-16. But this will not necessarily be the first foreign combat aircraft that Ukraine will receive. "I have no doubt that we will open the possibility of supplying combat aircraft," Kuleba emphasised. He added that the only barriers for partners to provide combat aircraft to Ukraine are psychological.
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02/07/2023
The Indian Ministry of Defense announced the maiden landing of an LCA Navy and MIG-29K fighters aboard the Indian Navy's new aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. INS Vikrant is the first indigenous Aircraft Carrier and the most complex warship ever built by our country. It is a matter of pride that the ship has been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and constructed by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited. The ship had sailed for maiden Sea Trials on 04 Aug 21.
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02/06/2023
The Canadian government said on Sunday it deployed a military aircraft over Haiti to address what it called a "dire security situation" and to support efforts to disrupt the activities of Haitian gangs. Canada said in a statement that it supports the Haitian National Police and deployed a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft in response to Haiti's request for support as violence continues to escalate in the country.
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02/06/2023
Ukraine will need Western-made combat aircraft if it is to resecure its skies against Russian invaders, an examination of the air war over Ukraine has concluded. Kyiv’s ground-based air defense missiles have done well in repelling air attacks and preventing the Russian Air Force from achieving air superiority.
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02/06/2023
The US provides Egypt with $1.3 billion of military assistance annually to facilitate the transition from the outdated Soviet era equipment to advanced equipment made in the US and other Western nations. Against this backdrop, Egypt’s defence expenditure spending, inclusive of the US military funding, is forecast to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9 percent from $9.4 billion in 2024 to $11 billion in 2028, says GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
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02/06/2023
Contrary to all expectations, Ukraine's air force remains in the fight almost a year after Putin launched his shambolic invasion. Yet feats of force preservation and adaptation mustn't obscure that the Air Force's Soviet-vintage MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters remain badly outranged by the radars and weapons of modernized Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters and MiG-31BM interceptors. And while transfers of Soviet aircraft and aircraft parts have helped replace Ukrainian losses.
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02/04/2023
On January 31, a South Korean KF-16 multi-role fighter aircraft accidentally fired a flare while in flight, prompting the country’s Air Force to investigate the incident, reported South Korea-based Hankyoreh daily. The misfire happened on the same day when Lee Jong-sup, the South Korean defense minister, and Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, met in Seoul’s Yongsan Defense Ministry building.
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02/04/2023
In the naval domain, both fixed and rotary wing types perform a wide range of missions.
These range from fast-jets flying from aircraft carriers for air-to-air and air-to-surface sorties to helicopters being used. One of the most prolific users of manned naval aircraft is the United States Navy and its NIMITZ class aircraft carriers.
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02/04/2023
Kyiv’s forces are preparing for the war’s most intense phase, world affairs editor Julian Borger reported from the Ukrainian town of Huliaipole 60 miles (100km) east of Zaporizhzhia city. Russia is relentlessly building up its forces while Vladimir Putin is moving the economy towards a war footing to churn out new tanks and missiles. The chief of the Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov, has been put in direct charge of Ukrainian operations, a move seen by many analysts as presaging a major o
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02/03/2023
According to a defense ministry paper accessed by Reuters, Germany intends to buy eight IRIS-T air defense systems for its armed forces. The defense deal is listed as one of several planned purchases anticipated to be submitted for approval to parliament in the second quarter of 2023.
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02/03/2023
President Joe Biden’s administration has promised to fast-track the approval the General Electric Company of the United States sought to produce in India the engines to power the combat aircraft manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The Biden Administration also agreed to work with the American Congress to lower the barriers for the export of High-Performance Computing technology and source code from the US to India.
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02/03/2023
The 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron hit major milestones in the development and testing of their Multi-Utilization Secure Tactical and Network Ground Station, or MUSTANGS, through its recent participation in Pacific Edge 22. During the exercise, MUSTANGS proved its ability to process, curate, and send F-35A Lightning II data over-the-horizon to a reprogramming laboratory, all in a matter of minutes.
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02/03/2023
Subject matter experts from Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command, the Air National Guard, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Reserve Test Center and the 148th Fighter Wing exercised end-to-end employment of the recently fielded AN/ASQ-236 radar pod and planned how the Air National Guard will operationalize the pods for all ANG F-16 fighter aircraft.
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02/02/2023
Taiwan activated its missile systems and sent fighter jets into its skies after Chinese aircraft swarmed towards the democratic nation. It’s the latest in a series of provocative moves by Beijing, which views Taiwan as its own territory despite it never having been under Communist rule. Taiwan offers an alternative version of a China that is Western aligned with multi-party elections.
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02/02/2023
The U.S. Air Force says it would like to have a fleet of next-generation aerial refueling tankers in service by 2040. At least for the time being, the service says that it is willing to consider a wide range of options for what the tankers might actually look like, but says they will need to be able to provide support in "contested scenarios." Lockheed Martin and Boeing have already been exploring relevant design concepts with blended wing-body planforms and that are at least somewhat stealthy.
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02/02/2023
The Chadian Air Force trying to improve its firepower by upgrading and arming two of its US-donated Cessna 208 ISR aircraft, as it awaits delivery of Turkish Hükus trainer and light attack aircraft. But the effort is facing stiff resistance from the Belgium government which are worried over Chad’s spotty human rights track record.
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02/02/2023
Subject matter experts from Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command, the Air National Guard, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) and 148th Fighter Wing gathered at the Duluth-based Air National Guard flying unit to exercise the end-to-end employment of the recently fielded AN/ASQ-236 Radar pod and create a plan how the Air National Guard will operationalize the AN/ASQ-236 radar pod for all ANG F-16 fighter aircraft, January 24-26, 2023.
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02/01/2023
Operations are scheduled for Monday to Thursday between 9:00am to 5:00pm and Fridays 9:00am to 3:00pm. PC-21 aircraft also operate intermittently on the range in support of Number 4 Squadron combat control and joint terminal attack training. 4 Squadron has programmed training from 31 January to 2 February. Training will run up to 10:30pm to achieve essential night time objectives.
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02/01/2023
An upcoming international airshow in Geelong, Victoria calls attention to a high-stakes domestic U.S. aerospace industry competition with profound ramifications for Australian defense. As the former chief spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet in Japan and later, the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, I want to highlight for airshow attendees that the most significant aviation asset available to deter possible Chinese aggression is the F-35A Lightning II.
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