July 2016
A US surveillance plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Russia Wednesday, following an issue with the landing gear. Pentagon spokeswoman Michele Baldanza told Defense News that the plane initially took off from a Russian airfield in Ulan Ude to begin an observation flight, but discovered the landing gear would not fully retract. “The crew, in cooperation with the Russian escort crew on-board, terminated the treaty observation mission ...
Category: Military Aviation
A high operational tempo and uncertain budgets have damaged aviation readiness across all four services and have leaders concerned about pilot safety, top brass told Congress Wednesday. “I think we’ve all used the word ‘fragile,’” said Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Mangum, the deputy commanding general for Army Training and Doctrine Command. “We are about at the tipping point.” Appearing before the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee, leaders from all four services ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is the most advanced aircraft in the Pentagon's arsenal, but Russia's powerful over-the-horizon Podsolnukh (Sunflower) radar is capable of detecting and tracking the stealth fifth-generation plane or any other fighter jet that was designed to avoid detection, Svobodnaya Pressa reported. ...
Category: Russian Aviation
United Aircraft Corporation subsidiary Irkut rolled out the first MC-21 narrowbody airliner Wednesday from its factory in Irkutsk in eastern Siberia. The milestone, which came roughly some six months later than last scheduled, nevertheless marked what the Russian company considers a sort of vindication for a program some in the West have disparaged as an overly ambitious attempt to compete with the likes of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. ...
Category: General Aviation
With the successful test flight on Saturday of a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fitted with a Brahmos cruise missile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has moved closer to a potent new capability. When the Indo-Russian Brahmos is operationalised on the Su-30MKI, IAF pilots would no longer have to fly deep into heavily-defended airspace to strike enemy fighter bases, or targets like terrorist camps, nuclear installations and military headquarters. Instead, they can launch ...
Category: Military Aviation
