Military Aviation
The RAF’s largest ever aircraft was officially named Voyager at a ceremony attended by the Defence Secretary. The aircraft flew into RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for its first public appearance at this weekend’s Royal International Air Tattoo. The dual role air-to-air tanker and transport plane has a 60-metre wingspan and is nearly 60 metres long. Voyager, which is able to carry almost 300 troops more than 6,000 miles, will replace ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Ministry of Defence has announced that, in the coming days, the UK will deploy an additional four Tornado to Gioia del Colle air base in Italy, primarily in the reconnaissance role to further support operations over Libya. The aircraft are in addition to 12 RAF Tornados already deployed at Gioia del Colle. This latest deployment is intended to bolster NATO’s reconnaissance capability. Equipped with RAPTOR (Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for ...
Category: Military Aviation
EA-18G Growlers operated by U.S. Navy electronic attack squadron VAQ-132 safely returned to their home base at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., on July 9, after completing an eight-month deployment that included combat operations in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility. During the deployment, VAQ-132’s personnel and aircraft supported CENTCOM operations in Iraq before quickly transitioning to AFRICOM to conduct operations supporting ...
Category: Military Aviation
The People’s Liberation Army Navy has finally broken the silence about its new carrier-based jet fighter, the J-15. While outside observers have strongly suspected for several years that China intended to deploy the J-15 – an adaptation of the Russian Su-33 – aboard the PLAN’s first aircraft carrier Shi Lang, Chinese officials didn’t confirm it until last week.Confirmation of the J-15 came with some revealing details about the plane’s missions ...
Category: Military 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
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
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
The US Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of F-22 fighters, the most sophisticated combat aircraft in the world, after problems emerged with the plane’s oxygen supply, officials said Friday. The radar-evading F-22 Raptors have been barred from flying since May 3 and Air Force officials could not say when the planes would return to the air. “The safety of our airmen is paramount and we will take the ...
Category: Military Aviation
Eurofighter have completed a range of air-carriage trials for the MBDA Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), which forms part of the process of integrating the missile onto the Typhoon swing-role combat aircraft. The first of a series of trials to ensure the safe separation of the missile across the flight envelope were carried out by Eurofighter Partner Company BAE Systems with Instrumented Production Aircraft IPA 1 on the ...
Category: Military Aviation
Fourteen mobility Airmen teamed together to fly a Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy on a direct, non-stop mission from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, here June 5 and June 6, 2011. The flight was the first time a U.S. Air Force plane flew this northern route from the United States, over Canada and into the Arctic Circle, then back down through Russian and Kazakhstan airspace to Afghanistan. “Everyone involved with this mission ...
Category: Military Aviation
NATO allies Poland and the United States signed a deal on Monday for the stationing of U.S. airforce personnel on Polish soil, a symbolically important move for Warsaw as it keeps a nervous eye on neighbouring Russia. The accord, endorsed by U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Warsaw late last month, provides for the establishment of a small air detachment to train Polish pilots in use of F-16 ...
Category: Military Aviation
The South Korean air force has unveiled its new TA-50 trainer jets designed for training for actual combat operations. The South Korean air force intends to deploy 200 new TA-50 Golden Eagle trainer jets designed to carry out a lead-in fighter training mission by mid-2012, defpro.com Web site reported Friday. The TA-50 trainer jets are a joint venture between by Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s sole aircraft maker, and U.S. ...
Category: Military Aviation
