July 2011
Boeing 787 Dreamliners, for now the world’s coolest planes, are rolling off the assembly line more than three years late, a delay that risks a dogfight with archrival Airbus. This was the jetliner the planet was going to build, producing pieces in the world’s far corners for seamless U.S. assembly. Boeing managers parceled out work to countries likely to buy the plane, letting Japan make wings, China build rudders, Italy ...
Category: General Aviation
India has approved a $2.4-billion deal for French defence groups to upgrade 51 ageing Mirage fighter jets, officials said Thursday, as the country takes further steps to boost its military capacity. The long-delayed deal is part of a major modernisation programme being undertaken by India, which has become the biggest importer of military hardware among emerging nations as it enjoys rapid economic development. “The defence secretary has agreed to the proposal ...
Category: Military Aviation
The U.S. Lockheed Martin arms concern has confirmed its interest in a tender for fighters for the Czech military worth billions of crowns and it would probably offer its F-16 aircraft, the Ekonom.cz server has reported. However, F-16 is rather an old type and it failed in 1999 when the Czech Republic was considering purchasing supersonic fighters for the first time. At the end, the government decided to lease the ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
Saab Gripen Multi Role fighters are now flying with great success in five different air forces around the world. Integration of new weapons and capabilities are ongoing and the demonstrator for the future Gripen NG has been flying with new avionics and displays since May 19. Gripen is also now operational in Thailand following delivery to the Royal Thai Air Force in February of the first six aircraft, out of ...
Category: Military Aviation
New success on the international markets for the tactical transport aircraft C-27J, designed and built by Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company. Mexico has in fact ordered four C-27Js for a total value of about 200 million dollars. The contract has been signed today at the headquarters of SEDENA (Secreteria della Defensa Nacional) in Mexico City, at the presence of General Augusto Moisés Garcìa Ochoa, Director General de Administracion de SEDENA ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Japan Air Self-Defence Force has temporarily grounded its Boeing/Mitsubishi F-15J fleet after one of the aircraft crashed off the coast of Okinawa on 5 July, triggering a safety investigation. The F-15J was lost from radar about 40min after taking off from Naha airport, the service said in a news release. Less than 2h later, a search and rescue team spotted pieces of an F-15J floating in the water about 185km ...
Category: Military Aviation
SuperJet International a joint venture between Alenia Aeronautica (a Finmeccanica Company) and Sukhoi Holding signed an order today with the Italian Blue Panorama Airlines for the purchase of 12 Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft. Based on the list price, the agreement has an estimated value of USD 370 million. The deliveries of these SSJ100/95B aircraft will start at the end of 2012. The aircraft interiors will be provided by the ...
Category: Russian Aviation
Russia has informed India that the crash of a MiG-29K fighter jet, which was manufactured for the Indian Navy, was due to pilot error and there was no need for it to ground its such planes. India had sought clarifications from Russia after a MiG-29KUB twin-seater fighter, which was part of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, crashed in south Russian Astrakhan region on Wednesday killing its two-member crew. “The ...
Category: MiG News
Jul
02
Nellis F-16 crash site found
Air Force officials here announced June 30 that search and rescue teams have found conclusive evidence the pilot of an F-16, which crashed at approximately 5:30 p.m. June 28, did not survive. At the time of the accident, the single-seat F-16, based at Nellis Air Force Base, was participating in a combat training mission within military operating airspace managed by The Nevada Test and Training Range. It crashed on Bureau ...
Category: Military Aviation
In an exclusive June 2006 interview, Israeli Air Force (IAF) chief procurement officer Brigadier-General Ze’ev Snir told Israel’s Globes publication that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was a key part of their IAF recapitalization plans, and that Israel intends to buy over 100 of the fighters to replace their F-16s over time. Since then, however, the expected cost of that purchase has more than doubled. The necessary contract must deal ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
For the Navy’s Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II, this is where the rubber hits the road in this case, the deck. The jet has begun the first stages of “carrier suitability testing,” the Navy announced on Tuesday, at the base formerly known as Naval Air Station Lakehurst, now known by the poetic name “Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.” Navy engineers want to begin to get a clearer understanding of how the ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
