Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Defense Agency seeks budget boost, 150 bil. yen for missile defense
Japan's Defense Agency is seeking 150 billion yen for missile defense in its fiscal 2006 budget. Japan's defense spending will increase to 4.88 trillion yen to fund for aircraft upgrades.
The agency is also seeking 5.8 billion yen for upgrading the antisubmarine capabilities of its P-3C patrol aircraft after a Chinese nuclear submarine intruded into Japanese waters last November.
Of the 150 billion yen for missile defense, 19.3 billion yen will be used to deploy the FPS-XX ground-based phased-array radar system to detect ballistic missiles and 85.2 billion yen for PAC3 missiles.
2.7 billion yen is needed to upgrade midair refueling capabilities of C-130s and a total of 960 million yen for research related to long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
| | |
|
ATG lands Javelin in Colorado
Aviation Technology Group (ATG) will setup production of its Javelin two-seat very-light jet at Front Range airport in Adams County, Colorado.
ATG also expects the military trainer version to be assembled at multiple sites overseas.
| | |
|
Russia Resumes Production of World’s Largest Aircraft
Aviastar-SP is resuming series production of the An-124 Ruslan. 36 Ruslans had been produced in the last 20 years.
| | |
|
Pakistan acquires U.S. P-3C surveillance aircraft
Pakistan said on Wednesday that it had acquired eight P-3C Orions from United States.
A Pakistan Navy statement said the aircraft were being provided free by the United States and would be upgraded with modern avionics and missions systems by Lockheed Martin.
The eight aircraft is worth up to $970 million.
| | |
|
F-14 at Reagan Library
Thanks to William Barto, Historian, Grumman Memorial Park. The Tomcat at Reagan Library has been identified.
Its BuNo 162592 repainted as BuNo 160403, AJ101, the jet that Cdr Hank Kleeman and Lt Dave Venlet of VF-41 flew when they shot down a Libyan Su-22.
| | |
|
Air Force guidelines discourage public prayer
The U.S. Air Force released guidelines for religious tolerance yesterday that discourage public prayer at official functions and urge commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith.
| | |
|
Bell trying to find way to meet call for more capable copters (Free Registration)
Bell officials say they are still not sure how to respond to the U.S. Army's contract for 322 light utility helicopters.
Bell was surprise by the Army's requirement for higher-than-expected performance capabilities. The Army requested that the helicopters be equipped and licensed for instrument flights at night or in bad weather, which can easily add $1 million to the cost of the proposed Bell 210.
| | |
|
US controls over fighter sale: India to ask for details
Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had instructed his officials to make sure all issues related to U.S. arms controls are ironed out when Lt Gen Jeffrey B. Kohler arrives in Delhi on his technical brief for the F-16 and F/A-18.
The issues include the AESA radar on both aircraft, missiles and armament on offer with the two aircraft, and issues related to the Avionics Suite Source Code.
| | |
|
Five local squadrons to join the Roosevelt
Tomcatters of VF-31 and the Blacklions of VF-213 will leave for the last Tomcat cruise when Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group departs for the Persian Gulf.
| | |
|
Military plane makers to show off wares at Plovdiv air show
Lockheed Martin will bring their F-16s while Boeing and Saab will be represented by F-18 and JAS-39C simulators at Plovdiv air show, Bulgaria.
| | |
|
Funeral for RAF crew, 61 years on
The lost crew of an RAF plane shot down over Berlin are being officially laid to rest - 61 years after they died.
The Halifax LW430 went down after high winds blew the formation of 1,000 planes off course and into the line of fire of night fighters.
| | |
|
'Valiant' creatures (Free Registration)
Disney's animated movie, Valiant, tells the story of pigeons who helped the British war effort during World War II.
The story is based on true facts.
| | |
|
Rumsfeld criticizes BRAC results
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld criticized a decision to spare several high-profile U.S. military installations from being shut down.
He said commissioners had focused on some bases’ economic impact instead of their military usefulness.
| | |
|
Raytheon Company Names Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II Team
Raytheon will partner with Aerojet, Goodrich and EFW for the upcoming Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) contract competition this fall.
APKWS II will fill the gap between the current Hydra 70 unguided rocket
and the Hellfire missile.
| | |
|
China awards aircraft production licence to Egyptian manufacturer
Egypt's A.O.I Aircraft Factory was awarded on Monday a production certificate by China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation for K-8E basic fighter jet trainer.
| | |
|
F-16s force planes to land
F-16s forced four small planes to land after they flew into restricted airspace during President Bush’s visit to Southern California.
| | |
|
Indonesian military to buy 10 light transport planes from local firm
Indonesia will buy 10 Cassa 212 from West Java-based aerospace industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia.
The Cassa 212 can seat 12 passengers and can be modified for paratroop regiment, maritime patrol and medical plane.
| | |
|
Long U.S. Air Force role in Iraq seen
Gen. John Jumper, the U.S. Air Force chief of staff, that U.S. warplanes would have to support Iraq's security forces well after ground troops eventually withdraw from the country.
He predicted that U.S. fighter and reconnaissance aircraft would continue flying missions over Iraq for a long time till Iraq is capable of fighting insurgents on their own.
| | |
|
ARH contract signing marks step forward in aviation
U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody took the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter out for a test flight after a contract signing ceremony at Bell Helicopter Monday.
Labels: ARH
| | |
|
Guam bomber swap set for this week
Six B-1B Lancers from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base will swap places with B-2s on Guam this week.
F-15E Strike Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base’s 391st Fighter Squadron had left Andersen in early August.
| | |
|
Mission earns Marine a medal
USMC Lt. Col. Mike Franzak was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with "V" for valor.
The mission in Afghanistan that earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross was in support of ground troops in southern Afghanistan.
He and his wingman stayed in the air for nearly five hours supporting the ground troops. They refueled three or four times from an air tanker.
| | |
|
Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor Enters Follow-On Test and Evaluation, Achieves Another Milestone Toward Operational Fielding
The U.S. Air Force has officially began Follow-On Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) of the F/A-22 at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) in Nevada.
| | |
|
Common air defense in Europe possible - Russian defense minister
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has proposed establishing a non-strategic ABM system in Europe.
Ivanov also said Russia could make a serious contribution to the European air defense system.
| | |
|
Single headquarters controlled joint CIS Air Defense exercise
A single headquarters controlled the recent joint Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Air Defense exercise.
Another military exercise with Russian, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz armed forces will be held in Sary-Shagan, Kazakhstan in September.
| | |
|
Seoul Launches T-50 Jet
South Korea began mass production of the T-50 Golden Eagle.
| | |
|
Savannah worker injured by Marine Corps jet (Free Registration)
Aviation worker was injured from a USMC F-18 jet blast during a training exercise.
He was driving a golf cart near the jet when the F-18 started taxiing on the ramp. He swerved to avoid the blast and struck another F-18 parked on the ramp
| | |
|
Connecticut Sues to Block Loss of National Guard Jets
Connecticut sued on Monday to stop the Pentagon's planned transfer and retirement of fighter jets from the Air National Guard base at Bradley International Airport.
| | |
|
F/A-18 Airframe Logs 6 Million Flight Hours
The F/A-18 airframe design – which includes Hornet and Super Hornet generations – reached a milestone of having logged six million accumulated flight hours, Aug. 3.
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots accumulated most of the flight hours, with help from the air forces of Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland and Malaysia.
| | |
|
Singapore closes in on next-generation fighter
According to Flight International, Boeing’s F-15T is the favourite to win Singapore's Next Generation Fighter competition.
Singapore’s Defence Science & Technology Agency has completed its evaluation of the F-15T and Rafale and is believed to be recommending the Boeing fighter.
Singapore must make its selection by the end of September for deliveries in 2008, however it can delay the acquisition until 2006 and settle for 2009 deliveries.
Another delay beyond September would require new bids from the manufacturers.
The Eurofighter was dropped from the competition in April.
Personally, I feel that Rafale should be selected instead. As someone in a local forum said, if the F-15 wins the competition. Singapore should renamed the competition as Last Generation Fighter competition. Singapore will remain at the mercy of the United States for spare parts for its frontline fighters.
Could Singapore have been lured by the weapons package offered? Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of sale to Singapore 44 AN/AVS-9(V) Night Vision Goggles; 24 AIM-9X SIDEWINDER CAT and Dummy Missiles. For 8 F-15s? Was the country eyeing the package for deployment on its F-16s as well?
| | |
|
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Rally set to celebrate saving of air base
Niagara Military Affairs Council hosts a "Team Niagara Rally" to celebrate the saving of Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.
| | |
|
BAE SYSTEMS Achieves First Flight of Its Next-Generation Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
BAE Systems recently achieved a successful first flight of its third-generation vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle at its Southern California flight test facility.
| | |
|
B-1 bombers arrive for four-month stay
Two B-1s arrived at Andersen Air Force Base to begin a four month stay in Guam after a 15-hour, nonstop flight.
The B-2s currently there will be rotated out.
| | |
|
Four grab Navy maritime surveillance work
Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. all won contracts from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command to study and proposal of solutions for an around-the-clock worldwide maritime surveillance capability.
Each contract is worth $1 million. After the initial five-month study, the Navy will down-select contractors to continue the study for another seven months.
| | |
|
Pratt & Whitney Begins Assembly of First Flight Test F135 Engine for the Joint Strike Fighter
Pratt & Whitney has begun assembly of the first flight test F135 engine, a Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) variant.
| | |
|
Taiwan monitored Sino-Russian war game: report
United Daily News said a Taiwan C-130 flew to Okinawa and landed at a U.S. air base. It was there to monitor the joint China-Russia war games.
This is the first time a Taiwan warplane has landed on Japanese soil and on a US military base in Okinawa since Washington recognise China in 1979.
| | |
|
Aviation Transformation includes new aircraft, upgrades
The U.S Army's new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters will bring about many changes for Army Aviation.
The Future Cargo Aircraft will also replace the C-23 Sherpa.
| | |
|
Audit: Paint stripped too often from Hill F-16s
Inspectors from the U.S. Air Force Audit Agency found that F-16s at Hill Air Force Base were stripped and repainted so often that “the structural integrity of the aircraft may have been compromised.”
Hill officials countered that recent studies have shown the stripping process, which uses a high-powered stream of small, soft plastic beads, is safer than inspectors assume.
The Agency fount that the planes were stripped and repainted every time during scheduled maintenance because customer wings “wanted aircraft to look new when they returned.”
| | |
|
Pilot gets to fly fighter jet home
Kelly Ladd a USN fighter pilot gets to fly a Super Hornet home for the weekend as part of a promotional activity.
| | |
|
Monday, August 29, 2005
'Delaying Attack Chopper Project Will Open Defense Gap'
South Korea's National Assembly’s Budget Office reported that a delay of plans for attack helicopters could open a four-year hole South Korea's fighting strength after 2012.
The report mention that if attack helicopters are developed only once the transport chopper project is judged successful, their actual deployment would not happen until 2016. Most of the attack choppers currently in service retires in 2012.
| | |
|
Keeping Cannon now means finding new mission
Local officials are confident that a new mission can be secured before the Dec. 31, 2009 dateline for Cannon Air Force Base.
| | |
|
Guard found errors, saved C-130 unit
Delaware Air National Guard's 166th Airlift Wing was saved because they discovered that the USAF had made serious errors when calculating the military value of the unit and its base.
They discovered that the Air Force personnel who had calculated the estimated cost savings of moving the 166th's aircraft had used wrong assumptions.
The Air Force assumed the crew would move to a new location like regular Air Force units when in reality the pilots, navigators and air crews would have to be retrained.
| | |
|
India to keenly watch PAF's `coming of age'
Pakistan Air Force's war game next month is being seen by the Indian Air Force as “coming of age” of the PAF's tactical air doctrine.
The exercise will involve 350 military aircraft and 20 air bases, including those on the frontier with India.
| | |
|
Bigger French role against terrorism signals better ties
French Mirage-2000 fighters have been flying alongside U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs to assist American and Afghan ground troops again.
| | |
|
'Mustang Ace' did what he had to do during World War II
Robert Goebel shot down 11 German planes during WWII but he never forgot the one flier whose parachute didn't open.
Goebel tracked down the German fighter group the pilot had flown with and found out his name.
Goebel wrote a letter to his surviving niece a few months ago, apologizing for the pain he had caused her family. She wrote back in German: Both you and Herbert were trying to do your duty.
| | |
|
Yemeni military plane crashes
A Yemeni MiG-29 crash in al-Duha near the Red Sea.
| | |
|
A legend in the air
Former Blackbird pilot, Brian Shul, talks to a group about his 24 years of experience flying the SR-71 at the Wah Chang Northwest Art & Air Fair.
| | |
|
Sikorsky wins U.S. approval to sell helicopter without export clearance
Sikorsky can now export their helicopters overseas without special export clearances required for military aircraft.
The ruling could free the company to sell the S-92A to China, which is building up a maritime search-and-rescue fleet.
| | |
|
Snowbirds cancel two shows, crash investigation continues
The Snowbirds have cancelled two of their upcoming shows while investigators continue to probe why one of the team’s CT-114 jets crashed earlier this week.
| | |
|
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Unidentified drone crashes in Iran, ministry says
An Iran Interior Ministry official said that an unmanned “drone” aircraft has crashed into mountains in the central Iranian province of Lorestan.
The spokeman added that the drone has not been identified yet.
| | |
|
Japan, U.S. eye Iwakuni Megafloat
Yomiuri Shimbun said that Tokyo and Washington are considering building a giant floating runway on the sea off Iwakuni.
This will allow U.S. forces' to carry out night-landing practice in an effort to reduce noise pollution.
About 70 fighter jets aboard the USS Kitty Hawk are being considered to move to the facility.
The Megafloat structure is to be built about four kilometers from a new offshore runway at Iwakuni Air Station.
Japan tested a one-kilometer long Megafloat off Yokosuka in 1999 and 2000.
| | |
|
Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
Ok, no more BRAC news. If you want to know more, go to the BRAC website and click on the two pdf files, Air Force Reserve Aircraft Laydown - Commission Recommendation and Air National Guard Aircraft Laydown - Commission Recommendation that will show the changes.
| | |
|
OTIS dealt critical blow
Otis Air National Guard Base will close and 18 F-15 Eagles should be redeployed to Barnes Air Base in Westfield.
| | |
|
Panel votes to keep Niagara Falls base open
BRAC strips the 107th Air Refueling Wing of its eight KC-135 tankers but keep the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station opened.
The commissioners also rejected the move of 914th Airlift Wing's C-130s to Little Rock Air Force Base.
| | |
|
Guard tankers escape U.S. ax
117th Air Refueling Wing will stay in Birmingham after BRAC rejected Pentagon's recommendation to disperse it.
| | |
|
Langley to get 18 F-15s
Langley Air Force Base will get 18 additional F-15s instead of 24.
The Pentagon had recommended giving Langley 24 planes but the BRAC decided to give six of those planes to the Air National Guard.
Some of the planes will come from Elmendorf Air Force Base.
| | |
|
Air Guard may get replacement F-15 jets
Montana Air National Guard will trade in their F-16s for F-15s.
The F-15s are coming from Lambert Field in Missouri and the Portland International Airport Air Guard Station in Oregon.
| | |
|
183rd losing its jets
Base Closure and Realignment Commission agreed to transferring the 183rd Fighter Wing's F-16s from Springfield to Fort Wayne.
| | |
|
148th to keep flying mission
Duluth's Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing gets to keep their F-16s.
BRAC voted 8-0 to reject the U.S. Air Force recommendation to mothballed the 15 aircraft starting as early as 2006.
| | |
|
Lawyer for missile plot defendant claimes juror was coerced
The lawyer for the Briton convicted of trying to smuggle shoulder-launched missiles into the United States is asking a federal judge for a retrial.
He argued that the 70-year-old British businessman's conviction came after 11 jurors coerced a lone holdout.
| | |
|
