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
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
A rash of recent military crashes has cost the lives of several service members as well as billions of dollars worth of damages. The wave of accidents has raised questions about the training of pilots and the maintenance of aircraft, with top brass pointing to slashed budgets and aging fleets strained by prolonged conflict. Last week, an MH-60S helicopter crashed in the James River in Virginia during a training mission. ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Indian Navy is the only Navy in South Asia to operate an aircraft carrier. Presently two aircraft carriers are deployed by it. Considering that China has only one operational aircraft carrier, the significance of the Indian Navy operating two of them cannot be lost.In 1980, India opted for the Harrier a VSTOL fighter aircraft. In September 1980, The Sea harrier Project ( SHARP) was formed and the first aircraft was ...
Category: Military Aviation
GE Aviation Thursday won major new business, as South Korea selected the GE F414 engine for its next-generation fighter jets. The Evendale-based arm of GE beat out Eurojet to be the preferred bidder for the South Koreans. The Korean KF-X fighters jets are expected to be deployed starting in the mid-2020s, according to Bloomberg News. A GE Aviation spokesman said he wasn’t able to put a dollar value on the ...
Category: Military Aviation
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter weighed in on the recently revived debate about the F-22, telling reporters May 12 that he is against resuming production of the stealthy fighter jet. The Raptor, built by Lockheed Martin, was cancelled in 2009 at the insistence of then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. At the time, Gates argued that the money required to build more aircraft would be better spent on other priorities ...
Category: Military Aviation
When commercial aircraft product launches are stage-managed with a careful unveiling of billions of dollars worth of orders from a few hand-picked customers, the sight of a new military aircraft propelled into development with no announced buyers can come across as a rarity bordering on reckless. Selling military aircraft is already a hard business, subject to feckless stewards in the acquisition offices, unreliable support in the political class and shifting ...
Category: Military Aviation
May
01
X-2 makes maiden flight
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) X-2 (formerly Advanced Technology Demonstrator - Experimental [ATD-X]) 'Shinshin' (Spirit) fifth-generation fighter technology demonstrator made its maiden flight on 22 April. The milestone, which took place a day later than scheduled because of poor weather, saw the experimental aircraft depart from Nagoya Airpor ...
Category: Military Aviation
The contract with the Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne) is to supply eight aircraft as well as Ground Based Training Systems Presented to General Commander of the Polish Armed Forces, the two aircraft will be delivered by November 2016. A total 59 M-346 aircraft have been ordered so far by Italy, Israel, Singapore and Poland Finmeccanica announces the kick-off of the final assembly phase for the first two Aermacchi M-346s ...
Category: Military Aviation
Feb
21
China’s radar can track F-22
State-run Chinese media is claiming that the People’s Liberation Army has been able to track the U.S. Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighters over the East China Sea. While the Chinese report might be easily dismissed as propaganda it is not beyond the realm of possibility. In fact it’s very possible that China can track the Raptor. Stealth is not a cloak of invisibility, after all. Stealth technology ...
Category: Military Aviation
Indonesia will buy 10 units of Sukhoi 35 fighter jets from Russia to strengthen the country’s air forces, a minister confirmed on Tuesday. “I will go to Russia in March to sign off the contract,” Defense Minister Ryamizard told reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with visiting Russian Security Council delegation in Jakarta. He said the government limit the purchase to 10 units, but promised to update the air ...
Category: Military Aviation
A Russian fighter jet came within 20 feet of a U.S. Air Force spy plane over the Black Sea in southeastern Europe this week, a Pentagon representative said Thursday evening. The reported incident between the Russian Su-27 and the American RC-135 is the latest involving Moscow’s air force, which during the past year has been cited for harassing other military aircraft and traversing the sovereign airspace of countries around Europe. ...
Category: Military Aviation
Russia has struck a deal with Egypt to deliver 46 Kamov Ka-52K navalized attack helicopters, the director-general of the state-run Russian Helicopters aircraft maker said Wednesday. Ka-52Ks were designed for French-made Mistral helicopter carriers that were to join the Russian Navy last year, before France cancelled the deal over Ukraine. ...
Category: Military Aviation
Russia will begin delivering the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system to Iran next month, a Russian news agency reported on Friday. “The process of delivery of the first regiment of the S-300PMU-2 air defense systems is planned to begin in January and to be completed in February,” an unnamed source was quoted by TASS as saying. “Iran is due to receive the second regiment of these systems in August or ...
Category: Military Aviation
