August 2011
Russia showed off its next generation stealth fighter for the first time at a highly-publicized air show today, as the best and most expensive stealth fighter jets America has to offer sit idle on the tarmac. The Sukhoi T-50, also known as the PAK FA, made its public debut at the MAKS-2011 air show near Moscow Tuesday where Russian air force commander-in-chief Gen. Alexander Zelin said the plane is expected ...
Category: Russian Aviation
Russia’s Aviastar aircraft factory will produce the first production Il-76MD transport aircraft this year and test fly it in February 2012, a management source in the plant said at the international MAKS airshow on Tuesday. The first two Il-76MDs will be delivered by 2013, “probably for the Russian Emergencies Minstry or Defense Ministry,” the manager said. The Russian Defense Ministry wants to buy up to 100 of the aircraft over ten ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The United States has refused Taiwan’s request for 66 new Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighter jets which China had warned Washington would risk inflaming tensions between the two big powers, Defense News reported, citing a Taiwan defense official. Taiwan has repeatedly asked Washington to agree to sell the advanced F-16 fighter jets, citing the need to counter the growing military strength of China, which deems the island a breakaway province that ...
Category: Military Aviation
Russia’s MiG aircraft maker will deliver a final batch of five MiG-29K/KUB carrier-based fighters to the Indian Navy under a 2004 contract by the end of this year, the company said. The two countries signed a contract stipulating the supply of 12 single-seat MiG-29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs to India in January 2004. The contract is part of a $1.5-billion deal to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, currently being ...
Category: MiG News
It’s Official. X-43A Raises the Bar to Mach 9.6 Guinness World Records recognized NASA’s X-43A scramjet with a new world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft – Mach 9.6, or nearly 7,000 miles per hour. The X-43A set the new mark and broke its own world record on its third and final flight on Nov. 16, 2004. In March 2004, the X-43A set the previous record of Mach 6.8 (nearly ...
Category: General Aviation
Russia hopes to develop a new airborne warning and control system (AWACS) plane by 2016, Air Force chief Col. Gen Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday. “We are expecting to receive the A-100 aircraft built on the basis of the Il-476 transport plane with the PS-90 engine and extended flight range,” Zelin told reporters in Moscow. The new AWACS plane will have an advanced active phase array capable of detecting and ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The F-35 Joint Program Office authorized a return to ground operations for the F-35 developmental test aircraft today. This is the first step in returning the F-35 fleet to full flight operations. A precautionary suspension of both ground and flight operations for the program was issued Aug. 3. An Air Force Safety Investigation Board convened Aug. 4 and is reviewing the circumstances that led to the failure of the Integrated ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
The U.S. Air Force completed developmental testing of Raytheon Company’s AGM-65 E2/L, the newest variant of the combat-proven laser-guided Maverick missile, clearing the way for the weapon to enter operational testing (OT). During the U.S. Air Force-Navy test effort, the Air Force conducted aircraft integration as well as laboratory and flight tests of the new laser-guided Maverick on the A-10, F-16, AV-8B and F/A-18 aircraft. Air Force DT culminated in ...
Category: Military Aviation
It’s the most expensive fighter jet ever built. Yet the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor has never seen a day of combat, and its future is clouded by a government safety investigation that has grounded the jet for months. The fleet of 158 F-22s has been sidelined since May 3, after more than a dozen incidents in which oxygen was cut off to pilots, making them woozy. The malfunction is suspected of contributing ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) unveiled the first four of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft in a ceremony today at Ben Guerrir Air Base in Morocco. Senior representatives from the Moroccan and U.S. governments and air forces were present for the historic event. This is Morocco’s first experience with the F-16 so the package being provided by the U.S. government is comprehensive. Morocco will acquire a Block 52 configuration ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Infrared Search and Track (IRST) program received a Milestone B Acquisition Decision Memorandum from the U.S. Navy on July 13. This allows the program to advance to its next development phase, engineering and manufacturing development. The IRST system is a passive, long-range sensor that searches for and detects infrared emissions. The system can simultaneously track multiple targets and provide a highly effective air-to-air targeting capability, ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Indian Air Force (IAF) Tuesday lost a combat pilot when a MiG-21 fighter jet he was flying crashed near Bikaner in Rajasthan. “The MiG-21 Type-96 crashed today. The pilot has died,” an IAF officer told IANS here. The pilot’s identity will not be released till his family is informed. The crash took place in the precincts of Nal air base around midday, an IAF release said. “The aircraft was ...
Category: MiG News
The Lockheed Martin F-35 fleet is grounded while the joint programme office investigates the cause of a failure in the aircraft’s electrical system during ground tests.The failure occurred on an F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) test aircraft, numbered AF-4, but the precautionary grounding applies to all 20 F-35s that had reached flying status, according to a JPO statement. “Once the facts are understood, a determination will be made when ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
Aug
03
Iraqi F-16 order may double
Iraq’s order for F-16 fighter jets is likely to double as Iraqi officials press for a larger purchase in negotiations with the United States. The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is attempting to use defense contracts as a means of ensuring some U.S. troops are able to remain past the withdrawal deadline imposed under the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). This agreement, reached in 2008 between Iraq and ...
Category: Military Aviation
