Military Aviation News Archive
10/18/2021
Israeli Air Force and German Luftwaffe aircraft performed a flyby over the Knesset in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon as a display of the close cooperation between the two countries and their militaries, the Israel Defense Forces said. This was the first time that German aircraft have flown over Jerusalem since World War I.
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10/18/2021
Negotiations between Turkey and the United States have been continuing on Ankara’s purchase of Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to upgrade its existing warplanes, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. The statements by the president came as a confirmation on earlier reports that claimed Turkey is set to acquire 40 new F-16V Block 70 aircraft and nearly 80 kits to modernize its F-16 fighters.
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10/17/2021
The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, flagship of the Marine Nationale, returned to service late in September after completing a three-month-long maintenance period. The recent maintenance focused on the modernization of the carrier’s combat system. Living conditions for the crew were also improved. The vessel conducted sea trials in September.
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10/17/2021
Moscow has touted the capabilities of its fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 multirole fighter for nearly a decade. While the development of the aircraft actually began in 2002, progress was slowed due to financial constraints in Russia and it wasn’t until January 2010 that the combat aircraft even made its maiden flight.
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10/15/2021
The Israeli Air Force will host a massive, multi-national aerial exercise beginning next week and lasting through the end of the month, which will include fly-bys over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the military said Thursday. Teams from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Greece and India will participate in the fifth biennial Blue Flag exercise, the Israel Defense Forces said.
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10/15/2021
The Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract will fund the development of a supersonic uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator. Awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s AFWERX, the contract is in partnership with Air Combat Command and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate.
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10/15/2021
With its economy booming, Bangladesh is embarking on a modernization plan, which includes acquiring Western combat aircraft for the first time in its history. Eurofighter Typhoon is believed to be the front-runner while Dassault Rafale is seen as the second favorite, as per experts.
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10/14/2021
Newly obtained documents offer a clearer picture of an F-22 Raptor’s demise in Florida last year when it crashed near Eglin Air Force Base during training with other fighter jets. The F-22 grew increasingly wobbly upon takeoff, refused to turn left and shortly barrel-rolled into the ground after its pilot safely ejected, according to the Air Force’s investigation into the May 15, 2020, incident that was not previously made public.
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10/14/2021
The Air Force’s just-announced program to buy a new jet trainer is meant to support the “Reforge” overhaul of the fighter training enterprise put forward by Air Combat Command last year, but the program is in its earliest stage, and no timing for acquiring the airplane has been set, according to ACC.
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10/13/2021
The Israeli Air Force has asked the US Air Force to advance the acquisition of four out of eight tankers that are required for long-range missions, with two of them asked to be delivered immediately. The US State Department approved the possible sale of up to eight KC-46 tanker aircraft and related equipment to Israel for an estimated cost of $2.4 billion last March, marking the first time that Washington has allowed Jerusalem to buy new tankers.
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10/13/2021
Turkey’s request for Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to upgrade its existing warplanes is valued at $6 billion (TL 54.02 billion), according to Turkish sources who spoke to two different media organizations Tuesday. Considering U.S. Congress' opposition to Ankara purchasing arms due to several lingering issues, it was thought that it would be difficult to win approval for the deal, however, reports have said that the new U.S. administration supports it.
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10/13/2021
Harry J. Kazianis, Senior Director at the Center for the National Interest and Executive Editor of the National Interest, spoke with Ken Moss, LMXT Capture Manager at Lockheed Martin, on the new LMXT program. Here is a lightly edited version of the conversation:
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10/13/2021
The Air Force is seeking “at least 100” and as many as 400 Advanced Tactical Trainer aircraft both to train fighter pilots and to serve as adversary aircraft in training, a role similar to that now performed by the AT-38. While the Air Force seems likely to be looking at adding to the role of the T-7A, the service did not mention that airplane or its maker, Boeing, in the request for information published Oct. 12.
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10/12/2021
Despite the Indian Navy’s head start in the 1990s, China’s carrier capabilities and virtually all carrier-relevant industries have overtaken India’s in scale and sophistication.
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10/12/2021
The IAF had in April 2019 issued a Request for Information (RFI) to acquire 114 jets at an estimated cost of $18 billion. The contract was promoted as one of the world’s biggest military procurement programs. The speculation about Washington’s desire to sell its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to India for both the Airforce and Navy took rounds on the internet and became an instant topic of discussion among military analysts in 2018.
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10/11/2021
But an equally glorious, intriguing, and daring mission happened 24 years ago when an IAF reconnaissance aircraft made its presence heard over Islamabad, the capital of neighboring Pakistan, by unleashing a sonic boom in broad daylight.
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10/09/2021
New reports that the U.S. has secretly sent teams of special operations soldiers and Marines to Taiwan to train military forces there has added fresh fuel to rising tensions with an increasingly bellicose China. About two dozen troops have been conducting training missions with Taiwan‘s ground forces for at least a year, in an effort to shore up the island’s defenses against a possible invasion by Beijing, according to a report this week from The Wall Street Journal.
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10/09/2021
Lockheed Martin has delivered to the US Air Force an airborne high-energy laser prototype called AHEL, which will be tested next year on a ground-attack aircraft, the military technology manufacturer reported in release. The laser must first be integrated with other systems for ground testing and later the complete weapons system can be incorporated into an AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft to evaluate its performance in the air.
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10/08/2021
As China began to send large numbers of aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the country's Air Force on Saturday (Oct. 2) released a patriotic video meant to showcase its military capabilities and determination to defend the nation.
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10/08/2021
The Finnish government has approved an expansion to its defense procurement budget for 2022 that takes into account preliminary costs associated with the €10 billion (U.S. $12 billion) HX Fighter Program and the acquisition of new multirole aircraft. The proposal for new budgetary measures was presented to Finland’s national parliament, the Eduskunta, on Sept. 27. It is now included in the preliminary defense budget for 2022.
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10/08/2021
Faced with an inventory full of aging equipment, the Air Force is proposing to slash legacy aircraft it believes cannot survive in a high-end fight. The aim is to divert dollars needed to support these legacy platforms to modernization programs. While this approach has not succeeded in the past, leaders still feel it is the last card they have to play, given a cultural unwillingness to demand a greater share of the defense budget pie.
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10/07/2021
A serious shortfall in Korea's military capability is expected in the near future, as the country's plan to secure new assets to replace aging military aircraft and warships remains insufficient, a lawmaker said, Wednesday.
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10/07/2021
Russia's forthcoming unmanned combat air vehicle is about to enter its prototype stage, making its debut on the country's Ministry of Defense television station, TV Zvezda. The video (included below) is also the most in-depth analysis of the new aircraft, called the Sukhoi S-79 Okhotnik UCAV, to ever reach the public. The forthcoming Russian Okhotnik means "Hunter" in English, and it's huge.
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10/07/2021
The first new EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft recently made its inaugural flight, L3Harris announced Wednesday. Unlike a typical military aircraft procurement program, the US Air Force intends to modernize its aging Compass Call fleet by stripping sophisticated electronic warfare systems out of its legacy EC-130H aircraft and incorporating them onboard new Gulfstream G550 business jets.
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10/06/2021
A pair of F-35s from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada released dummy nuclear bombs at a nearby test range this month, moving the advanced stealth fighter closer to carrying the world’s most powerful weapons into combat, the Air Force said Monday.
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