December 2011
Today four serial Su-34 frontline bombers went up in the sky from the runway airport of the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) and off to the place of their deployment at the air base in Voronezh. Two more aircraft will arrive there in the next few days. The aircraft delivery is carried out in the framework of the five-year state contract signed in 2008 to supply 32 Su-34 frontline bombers ...
Category: Russian Aviation
India’s Air Chief on Wednesday flew a one-hour sortie in a Sukhoi combat jet in a bid to restore his pilots’ confidence after doubts were raised over the aircraft’s safety following a crash on December 13, the third since the plane was inducted in 1997. After the flight, Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne told the personnel at the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Lohegaon in Pune that ...
Category: Russian Aviation
Japan has chosen the F-35 stealth fighter jet to replace its aging F-4s as the mainstay of its air defence fleet. Tokyo announced it would buy a total of 42 of the Joint Strike Fighters from defence giant Lockheed Martin, in a deal worth some $8bn (£5bn). The jet was chosen over the Eurofighter Typhoon and Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet. The announcement comes amid regional uncertainty following the death of ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
Russia will provide an additional 42 Sukhoi frontline fighters to India under an agreement signed today, taking the bilateral defence cooperation to new heights. With this pact, the total number of acquired or contracted aircraft by India in various stages of manufacture of the frontline SU-30 MKI fighters increases to 272. The agreement for the upgraded Sukhois was signed by Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Russian Federal Service for ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The most expensive weapons program in U.S. history is about to get a lot pricier. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, meant to replace nearly every tactical warplane in the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, was already expected to cost $1 trillion dollars for development, production and maintenance over the next 50 years. Now that cost is expected to grow, owing to 13 different design flaws uncovered in the last ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
China and Russia are apparently chomping at the bit to get a look at the American spy drone that went down over Iran. But if Iranian officials are to be believed, all they have to do is fire up YouTube to get a glimpse. On Thursday, an Iranian news site quoted military sources as saying that Russia and China have already asked Iran to view the remains of an American ...
Category: Military Aviation
Senator John McCain took to the Senate floor this afternoon to criticize Lockheed Martin’s handling of the Joint Strike Fighter program and pressed for the company “to assume an increased share of any cost overruns.” McCain, who cited AOL Defense’s interview last week with F-35 program head Vice Adm. David Venlet, pointed to the LRIP Lot 5 negotiations with Lockheed. “It is at this exact moment that the excessive overlap ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of stealthy F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighters has suffered two additional “physiological incidents” since Nov. 21, the service confirmed Dec. 2. “Since 21 Nov., there have been two physiological incidents and no events of interest,” said Air Combat Command spokeswoman Kelly Sanders in an emailed statement. Since the F-22 returned to flight in September after a four-month grounding, the Air Force has maintained two listings for ...
Category: Military Aviation
