F-16 crash at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina kills pilot
A US Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft crashed during a training mission in South Carolina, killing the pilot, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The plane went down about 11:30 pm Tuesday...
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The U.S. Army science and technology community is charting the future of military vertical lift aviation that will enable warfighters to accomplish missions not possible today. The Army, supported by NASA and the Navy, is combining its areas of technical expertise to accomplish the aggressive scientific and engineering goals necessary to develop a new fleet of joint aircraft, said Ned Chase, deputy program director of science and technology, or S&T, ...
Category: Military Aviation
A senior Air Force commander praised Iran’s capability as the only country, besides the US, that can overhaul F14 fighter jets, adding that Iranian experts have mounted new radar and weapons systems on the aircraft to optimize it for new missions. “We can firmly say that the only place in the world that F14 fighters are overhauled is Isfahan (base in Central Iran),” Deputy Commander of Air Force 8th Air ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Air Force, with congressional authorization, will convert 18 primary combat-coded A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from active units and place them into Backup-Aircraft Inventory (BAI) status with the possibility to convert another 18 at a later date in fiscal year 2015. The secretary of Defense has authorized the Air Force to place up to a total of 36 A-10 aircraft into BAI status. Although Congress has authorized 36 of the ...
Category: Military Aviation
India has announced that a deal to buy 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation is “effectively dead”. The reason is the announced high cost of the overall project, according to the country’s online newspaper Business Standard. The global tender for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) was the first time the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) had awarded a contract based on life cycle ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Russian Air Force is set to receive the first batch of Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA jet fighters this year amid its strained business relationship with co-developer India. Compared with the aircraft’s previous version, the variant has been fitted with a number of new features, according to the manufacturer. Despite this, Russia will need to cope with the increasing criticism voiced by India, which is partnering with Moscow on developing ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The Russian Armed Forces began to accept into service the first fifth-generation aircraft, the T-50 (PAK FA), announced Yury Slyusar, head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), on January 30 during an interview on the TV channel Russia-24. The PAK FA will be subjected to qualification testing directly in the service of the armed forces. Currently, all T-50 prototypes are being tested in special flight centers. Mass delivery of the ...
Category: Russian Aviation
Four-year-old Steve Rainey sat on the hood of his father’s car at a local airshow watching the small airplanes and helicopters at the airport. When the Thunderbirds in their F-100s sped by, Rainey fell off the car, looked up at the sky and thought, “I’ve got to do that.” Jan. 22, the now chief test pilot flew his 1,000th hour in an F-22 Raptor. Rainey is the second person at ...
Category: Military Aviation
Pictures showed that 14 J-10B fighters painted with the mark of the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAAF) were on the parking apron at the airport of the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co., Ltd. under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), meaning that this type of modified fighter will possibly be deployed to the aviation troops of the PLAAF, according to a recent report on the website ...
Category: Military Aviation
The Administration’s fiscal 2015 budget proposed to retire the entire fleet of A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft beginning in FY2016. This report covers the background to that decision and legislative action as of the end of 2014. The A-10 was designed in the 1970s to perform air interdiction, battlefield air interdiction, and close air support.1 It was principally designed to attack large masses of Soviet tanks and other armored vehicles. ...
Category: Military Aviation
Russia and India have completed the preliminary design for the Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), the regional director of international cooperation at the united Russian-Indian aircraft manufacturing company said Saturday. “As of now, we and our Indian colleagues have completed the creation of the export version of the [Sukhoi] PAK FA, known in India as FGFA. We already have documents and understanding of the scope of the next phase ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The Pentagon’s fighter jet F-35 may not be fully operational until 2019 due to a newly discovered computer glitch. The $400 billion ultra-sophisticated jet, the most expensive in US history, was expected to enter service in 2015. F-35 is the fifth generation combat aircraft which is designed in three variations for US Air Force, Navy and Marines to replace out of date aircraft. It was planned to join the Marines ...
Category: F-35 Lightning II
Today two Su-34 frontline bombers took off the airport of the Sukhoi Company’s branch – the V.P. Chkalov Novosibirsk aviation plant and headed to the place of deployment at one of the air bases in the South of Russia. The aircraft were handed over to the Russian Air Force several days ago. Thus, the Sukhoi Company exceeded the initial yearly delivery plan for the 2014 State Defense Order on that ...
Category: Russian Aviation
General Andrei Kartapolov announced on Tuesday that Russia carried out surprise military drills to assess the readiness of troops in the Kaliningrad region between December 5 and 10. Kartopolov, who heads the Operations Department at the General Staff of the army said that the inspection was ordered by Russian President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin. The report of the General Staff reveals that the drills ...
Category: Russian Aviation
The head of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex said Tuesday that Pakistan had added 50 home-assembled multi-role JF-17 fighter jet to its airforce. Air Marshal Javed Ahmed, chief of the state-owned PAC, said the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had already received 50 of the home-made aircraft and that the supply of a second tranche would start this month. “The five aircraft of the next block would be inducted (into PAF) this year,” ...
Category: Military Aviation
