Saturday, January 01, 2005
Westover reservists deliver helicopters to ThailandU.S. Air Force reservists from Westover air base launched a relief mission to disaster-stricken Thailand. A crew of 10 reservists flew a C-5 cargo plane to Kadena Air Base in Japan. After the 19-hour flight, they will get a load of five rescue helicopters and deliver them to Thailand.
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U.S. Helicopters to Bring Aid to IndonesiaHelicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group will start ferrying relief supplies on Saturday to devastated Indonesian areas to clear supply-line bottlenecks, a U.S. military spokesman said.
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Singapore opens up air, naval bases for relief supplies to IndonesiaSingapore will open its air and naval bases to anyone who is bringing in supplies for the relief efforts in the region.
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Boeing donates $1 million for tsunami reliefThe Boeing Company has committed $1 million to support humanitarian efforts of three nonprofit agencies assisting tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.
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ONGOING ADF SUPPORT TO INDONESIAThree UH-1H Iroquois helicopters from the Australian Defense Force will be deployed to Ache, Indonesia.
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Army Seeks Industry Ideas To Fill Gaps In Air, Missile DefenseThe U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School is asking for industry help in a study of ways to overcome shortfalls in U.S. air and missile defense capability.
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Blue Angels to Commence Winter TrainingThe U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, will make its annual deployment Jan. 2, 2005 to Naval Air Facility (NAF) El Centro, Calif., to prepare for the upcoming show season.
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NAS Fallon returns to normal training in 2004Last year, five USN Carrier Air Groups, came to NAS Fallon for training.
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Osprey's fate is in Marines' handsFour years after a third fatal crash nearly killed the V-22 program, the fate of the tilt-rotor Osprey is shifting from the hands of highly trained test pilots to conventional Marine fliers who are preparing to test whether the troubled aircraft finally is ready for operational use.
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S.P. Tyagi is new air force chiefAir Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi took over from Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, as chief of the Indian Air Force.
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UAVs, sniffer dogs being used to locate bodiesIAF UAVs are being used to find bodies deeply buried in jungles and urban areas after the Tsunami.
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Friday, December 31, 2004
Donation for the 2004 Indian Ocean EarthquakeI have contributed US$53 via Amazon to the American Red Cross. This amount was collected from the clicks generated by Google Ads. For those who have supported this site by clicking the Google and Amazon ads. Thank you very much.
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Unmanned Aerial VehiclesGreg have also updated his article on UAVs with new illustrations and materials.
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Air Vector:The Republic F-105 ThunderchiefGreg has updated the Air Vector section on the Republic F-105 Thunderchief with new illustrations and more details on the Wild Weasels.
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IAF, Navy start evacuation amid threats of fresh tsunamiThe Indian Air Force have started air lifting vehicles and staff to the Car Nicobar island in order to launch a major rescue and relief operations in the interior parts, Defence Ministry officials said.
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U.S. Sailors Donate Essentials in Wake of TsunamiU.S. Sailors forward deployed to Naval Support Activity (NSA), Bahrain, supported a relief drive Dec. 29-30 for survivors of the massive tsunami that struck Southeast Asia early this week. More than two tons of donations poured in from men and women in uniform, and from local nationals employed on the base. The aid consisted mostly of essentials: bottled water, food, clothes and toiletries.
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IAI's Elta seeking to sell South Korea Phalcon (Registration Required)IAI's subsidiary Elta has teamed up with General Dynamics' Gulfstream Aerospace and L3 Communications in a strong competition against Boeing to sell the Phalcon early airborne warning system to South Korea.
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Two injured in IAF copter crashAn Indian Air Force helicopter crashed in thick fog in West Bengal Thursday, seriously injuring its pilot and co-pilot, police said.
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Tajik capital airport closed after Moldovan jet’s crash-landingTajikistan’s Dushanbe airport is temporarily closed after the crash-landing of an Ilyushin-76 transport jet belonging to Moldova’s Air Force.
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India on mercy mission in Sri LankaIndia, while battling its own tsunami ravages, is assisting Sri Lanka in a big way to cope with the calamity. Six MI-17 Indian Air Force helicopters are performing ferry duties within the island, carrying provisions, medicines and drinking water to remote areas and evacuating stranded people to safety.
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Pentagon bent on slashing expendituresThe Pentagon plans to retire the 36-year-old aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy from its 12-carrier fleet next year to save $60 billion.
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7th Fleet Units Help in Relief Operations in Southeast AsiaAs directed by U.S. Pacific Command, Commander U.S. 7th Fleet is preparing to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the governments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other affected nations to mitigate the effects of the recent earthquakes and tsunamis.
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Thursday, December 30, 2004
Donation for 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
I have added a banner from Amazon for those who wish to donate. 100% of the donation will be send to the American Red Cross. At the time of this post, the donation amount stands at US$3,121,170.23
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Aviation Nation 2004 Nellis AFBWe have a new photographer who contributed his photos today. I like to welcome Larry Grace. Hopefully we can see more of his works in future.
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Air Vector:The Lockheed S-3 VikingNext month's Air Vector features another Lockheed product. The S-3 Viking.
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Copter Project to Be Resumed in 2005The South Korean government has decided to resume from next year the Korea Multipurpose Helicopter procurement plan, officials at the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.
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Air Force to be made stronger, says KhaledaBangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on Wedenesday expressed her government's determination to continue its efforts to build the country's Air Force as a strong, effective and time-befitting force for the sake of greater national interests.
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Ops support center Airmen coordinate AF relief effortsU.S. Pacific Air Forces officials have activated the 24-hour PACAF Operations Support Center to coordinate Air Force-related relief efforts for the devastation caused by tsunamis that struck 12 countries following an earthquake Dec. 26.
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Report: Fire caused Predator crashA fire caused an MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to crash while supporting operations near Balad Air Base, Iraq, on Aug. 17, according to an Air Force report released Dec. 29.
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Officials release F-15 accident reportA loss of fuel to both engines resulted in a dual-engine flameout causing an F-15 Eagle to crash June 18 about 60 miles north of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., according to an Air Force report released Dec. 29.
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U.S. military cranking up relief efforts for stricken areas in Southeast AsiaU.S. military officials in the Pacific are cranking up humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief missions to Southeast Asia after a powerful earthquake triggered a catastrophic tsunami along the coastlines of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and other nations Sunday.
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Pentagon plans cuts to fighter jetsAccording to the New York Times, the Pentagon is planning sharp cuts in the U.S. Air Force's program for its new F/A-22 fighter jet. Budget analysts said the cuts are intended to offset mounting U.S. deficits and the growing costs of the Iraq war.
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Yaron: Crisis with Pentagon must be resolved quicklyIsraeli Ministry of Defense director-general Amos Yaron confirmed to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that there are problems between Israel and the US Department of Defense relating to the sale of weapons systems to China. His refusal to go into detail about the deal raised the ire of four Knesset members, who left the meeting in protest, and delayed proceedings for about an hour.
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ADDITIONAL HUMANITARIAN RELIEF TO TSUNAMI-HIT AREASThe Singapore Government would be despatching 2 Chinook and 2 Super Puma helicopters to Indonesia to assist with the Indonesian government’s relief efforts. The RSAF is also prepared to deploy 2 Chinooks and 2 Super Pumas to aid the Thai relief efforts.
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AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE TO HELP SUMATRA’S TSUNAMI VICTIMSAustralia will send four C-130 Hercules to Indonesia to assist in the humanitarian relief effort, Defence Minister Robert Hill said.
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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Donation for 2004 Indian Ocean earthquakeHelp do you part in this great diaster. If you wish to donate, please click on the link to contribute to the Red Cross. For my part, I'll donate all the earnings from Google Ads that readers click on this website up till 31st December 2004.
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Tsunami waves delay IAF's plans for AndamansSunday's tsunami waves have wrecked Indian Air Force's plans to turn the Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a major fighter base. The IAF had planned to place two SU-30 multi-role aircraft on the island base from January 5.
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U.S. to Delay Payments on Lockheed Jet Project (Registration Required)The Pentagon will put off some potential payments to Lockheed Martin Corp. for the Joint Strike Fighter as an incentive to fix schedule delays, weight problems and cost overruns, according to the military program manager.
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Airmen bringing tsunami-relief supplies to devastated ThailandSix USAF C-130 Hercules aircraft from Yokota Air Base, Japan, are expected to deliver relief supplies including food, shelter and clothing to Thailand within the next 24 hours.
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A scene of tsunami fury at IAF Station CarnicAn emotionally charged IAF Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy said "in my 34 years of service, I have never seen an IAF Base Commander receiving his Chief dressed in a vest, pyjamas and chappal. He (Base Commander Group Captain V V Bandopadhyay of Indian Air Force Station Carnic) has nothing left".
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USS Lincoln to help with tsunami relief effortsUSS Abraham Lincoln which is currently in Hong Kong will head to the Indian Ocean to help with tsunami relief efforts. USS Bonhomme Richard will head for the region also.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Navy providing some help to countries hit by tidal wave -- may provide moreThe U.S. Navy base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean has emerged unscathed from the tsunami. Three P-3 Orion aircraft have been deployed to Thailand to help in search efforts.
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Missed deadline delays new J-STARS enginesThe U.S. Air Force was late in sending the J-STARS re-engining economic analysis report to the U.S. Congress, thus missing the deadline to get any funding in the 2005 budget cycle to re-engine the planes.
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DARPA Cancels Third Phase Of UCAR ProgramThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen to cancel the third phase of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program due to lack of funding from the U.S. Army.
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Russia and China to hold maneuversRussia and China will hold joint military maneuvers on Chinese territory next year involving their air forces and navies, Russia's defense minister said on Monday. Strategic bombers may take part in the exercise as well.
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Drone Tug-o-War Brings Chinese Dep. PM to Jerusalem, Involves RumsfeldChinese deputy prime minister, Tang Jiaxuan, flew in to Israel secretly Saturday night, December 25. His mission is to recover an unspecified number of Israel-built Harpy unmanned aerial attack vehicles sent to Israel for overhaul or upgrade and were held back by Israel at Washington’s insistence.
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Monday, December 27, 2004
23 killed in Car Nicobar island, IAF base washed awayThe entire Indian Air Force base in Car Nicobar island has been virtually washed away by Tsunami waves with 23 air force personnel and their family members being killed, IAF Chief Air Marshal S Krishnaswamy said.
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Armed forces launch rescue operation in coastal areasThe Indian Air Force and the Navy are pressing transport aircraft, helicopters and warships to undertake massive rescue and relief operations all along the country’s eastern coastline and isolated islands to search for dead and trapped persons after tsunamis hit the region.
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Army report urges better pilot training in wake of helicopter crashA report, published this month in Flightfax, an U.S. Army aviator safety magazine, urged the need to properly train helicopter crews and ensure that at least one experienced pilot always is on board.
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Sunday, December 26, 2004
DVD Review : NOVA Battle of the X-PlanesThis is the 1st of, what I hope, many series of reviews on books and videos. I'll start off with NOVA's Battle of the X-Planes. The film crew was allowed into Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works and Boeing's Phantom Works for the Joint Strike Fighter Competition between 1998 to 2001. The program contains alot of scenes that viewers will not get to see on the local news channel or even Discovery Wings. Coming up after this review will be 3 books by Robert K. Wilcox. Stay tuned.
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USA will fly its F-16s, Chinese air chief to attendChinese General Qiao Qingchen, Commander of the PLAAF, is expected to attend Aero Show 2005, to be held from February 9-13, 2005 in Bangalore.
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Russia plans new military aircraft sales to ChinaRosoboronexport and the Chinese Air Force is expected to sign several new contracts for Su-30MK2 fighters, according to the Interfax news agency. Pre-contract work on supplying Il-76 Candid military transports and Il-78 Midas aerial tankers were almost finished as well.
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Boeing plant trims work force, but says hundreds more to be hiredDozens of workers at Boeing's Ridley Township helicopter plant may be out of a job after the holidays due to outsourcing of warehousing operations, but officials say they expect the plant's work force to grow by several hundred over the next five years.
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San Diego-based carrier Stennis will soon sail for new home portUSS John C. Stennis is scheduled to leave San Diego for its new home of Bremerton, Wash., Jan. 5.
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US carrier's port call in HK not related to TaiwanUSS Abraham Lincoln Battle Group's visit to Hong Kong has nothing to do with the cross-strait situation, and is merely to allow the group's sailors to spend their Christmas vacation in the harbor city, Rear Admiral Doug Crowder said.
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