Military Aviation
Tata Group and American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin today signed an “unprecedented” deal to jointly produce the combat-proven F-16 fighter jets in India, boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ plan ahead of his first summit with US President Donald Trump. Under the deal, Lockheed will shift its Fort Worth, Texas plant to India without directly affecting American jobs, a campaign pledge of Trump who has vowed to put ...
Category: Military Aviation
Qatar has signed a deal for 36 Boeing F-15QA fighter aircraft. The deal is reportedly worth $12 billion, according to media reports quoting official Qatari sources. The deal was finalised in Washington DC by Qatari defence minister Khalid Al Attiyah and US defence secretary Jim Mattis. Attiyah says the deal reflects increased Qatari and US collaboration in the fight against terrorism. The aircraft will also increase interoperability between US and ...
Category: MiG News, Military Aviation
The Chinese-made Y-8F-200 took off from the southern coastal town of Myeik at 1.06pm local time on Wednesday and was heading to Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. It was on a regular, weekly flight that takes in several coastal towns. Those on board included 106 soldiers and family members and 14 crew, the military said. Myanmar’s military said it lost contact while flying at 18,000ft over the Andaman Sea, 29 minutes ...
Category: Military Aviation
The dual-seat fighter trainer plane JF-17B developed by China made its maiden flight Thursday in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. A variant fighter trainer for the JF-17, JF-17B was developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) to meet the requirements of international customers and the global market, according to the AVIC. The AVIC said in a statement that the plane can be used for training in peacetime and can ...
Category: Military Aviation
A fighter jet crashed Wednesday morning in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, after he had mechanical trouble and steered the aircraft away from a neighborhood, officials say. A witness said the pilot’s first concern was residents’ safety. “I asked him if he was OK and he didn’t even respond to that. He asked if everyone in the neighborhood was OK,” Patrick Dodson said. The D.C. Air National ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Air Force is looking at possible plans to retire the F-15C/D Eagle as early as the mid-2020s, officials told lawmakers Wednesday. While the decision would mean divesting an entire aircraft class, officials said the F-15 capability would be replaced by the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a potential cost-saving measure that would allow pilots to train on fewer platforms. Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. L. Scott Rice said the Air ...
Category: Military Aviation
India and Russia have failed to make progress on one of their most prestigious defense deals—the co-development and production of the Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), known in India as the Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF). The most recent stumbling block to a successful continuation of the project has been Russia’s unwillingness to share sensitive aircraft technology with India. New Delhi is demanding a full-scale transfer of technology in order ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Chengdu J-20, China’s independently developed fourth-generation stealth fighter has entered service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), as revealed by the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) on March 9. Early in 2011, the J-20 stealth fighter made its maiden flight in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. In November last year, the J-20 fighter made its public debut at the Zhuhai International Air Show. As a masterpiece of ...
Category: Military Aviation
Russia will provide to China the first batch of four Sukhoi-35 jets by December 25, 2016, a source within the system of military-technical cooperation with other countries told TASS. “The first four Sukhoi-35 are to fly over to China by December 25,” the source said. Originally the deliveries were to begin as of next year, but eventually a decision was made to speed up the process and to provide the ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Science and Technology Daily of China published an article titled Conjecture on China’s Strategic Bomber Performance on December 4, saying that China’s Air Force Commander Ma Xiaotian revealed that China is developing next-generation long-range bombers at an open day activity on September 1, confirming the “legendary” “H-20” bomber. Recently, a China Central Television (CCTV) program also showed a suspected CG graph of China’s H-20 bomber, which further made a ...
Category: Military Aviation
Kuwait plans to buy 28 Boeing F-18 Super Hornets, a military official said on Monday, 10 days after the U.S. State Department notified Congress of the possible sale of 40 of the warplanes to the Gulf Arab state. Major General Lafi al-Azmi, chief of the military’s Armament and Procurement Authority, also said Kuwait planned to return a number of outdated F-18s in its inventory as part of the purchase deal, ...
Category: Military Aviation
Oct
16
Poland to buy Black Hawks
Poland said Monday it would buy Black Hawk helicopters from US defence giant Lockheed Martin, days after it blamed French aeronautics giant Airbus for the breakdown in talks over a multi-billion euro contract for military choppers. “This week we will open talks… Before the end of the year, the first machines of this kind will be delivered to our special forces for exercises,” Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz told reporters. He ...
Category: Military Aviation
According to Ma, the Chinese air force’s strike capabilities have significantly increased over time. “We are currently developing a new generation of strategic bombers, soon you will be able to see it,” Ma told the Global Times (Huanqiu Shibao) newspaper. Ma gave no additional details on the new bomber. Last year, China unveiled its Xian H-6K strategic bomber, a licensed copy of the Soviet Tu-16 aircraft. The H-6K is equipped with the DH-20 cruise missile, which gives ...
Category: Military Aviation
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
