Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Y-8 AEW
Another Chinese AEW design has emerged as Shaanxi Aircraft Industry Corporation is testing out a Y-8 with a rotodome design.
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Name for F-35 will soon take flight
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could be named the Lightning II as the USAF narrows down the monikers to six finalists.
President George W. Bush will announce the winning name in a visit to Lockheed's factory on July 7.
The next favourite is Spitfire II while earlier favourite, Fury, was dropped due to concerns that the name will cause a trademark conflict with the Plymouth Fury auto.
Related Article
Is it Phoenix? Maybe a Lynx?
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British blend: UAV X-planes help Boeing with blended wing concept
Flight International looks at the contribution made by British firm, Cranfield Aerospace, in developing the two airframes for the Boeing Phantom Works' X-48B demonstration program.
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Bodies of 2 Marines recovered in Iraq
The U.S. military has recovered the bodies of two Marine pilots that went missing after their AH-1 crashed in western Iraq over the weekend.
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Air force to scale down operations
The South African Air Force plans to scale down operations at certain of its bases, including the two fighter bases at Hoedspruit and Makhado, in a bid to save costs.
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EADS proposes maritime variant of Airbus A319 with bomb bay doors for India
EADS has proposed a new variant of the Airbus A319/A320 to compete with the P-8A for India's eight-aircraft maritime reconnaissance requirement.
The A319 will have a bomb-bay and missile hardpoints similar to the P-8A.
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Northrop Grumman Conducting Flight Tests of New Electro-Optical Surveillance and Detection System
Northrop Grumman has started flight-tests of a new Electro-Optical Surveillance and Detection System (EOSDS) for the U.K. Ministry of Defence's MRA-4 Nimrod.
EOSDS is a gimbal-mounted electro-optical system consisting of a television camera and two thermal-imaging cameras.
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Battle to win Singapore’s trainer contest heats up
Singapore could be the launch customer for the M311 or the Pilatus PC-21 as the two has been short-listed to provide the RSAF with a primary trainer.
Both teams will begin contract negotiations in late June or early July with a winner decided in August.
The new trainer will begin operations at Pearce airbase in Western Australia from April 2008.
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Iranian drone plane buzzes U.S. aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf
An Iranian UAV circled for 25 minutes over the USS Ronald Reagan in the Persian Gulf, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.
Four fighters and two helicopters were scrambled to intercept it but failed as the UAV has crossed the Iranian border.
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BAE Systems: Eurofighter consortium could move into UAVs
BAE Systems believes the four-nation Eurofighter consortium could evolve to produce a multi-role UAV program in the future.
BAE is currently sharing the results of its UAV demonstrators with other partners in the consortium.
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Finnish Navy tests new missile system
The Finnish Navy successfully tested its first Umkhonto surface-to-air missile last Friday.
The South African made missile will arm its Hamina class missile boats.
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Planes' tiny brains could save lives in war
Winnipeg-based MicroPilot Inc. is doing brisk business selling its autopilot system to UAV manufacturers.
Its flagship MP2028g is weighs just 28 grams - four times less than the competitor.
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Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group Concludes Operations in Persian Gulf
USS Ronald Reagan sailed out of the Persian Gulf May 29 starting its journey home from its maiden deployment.
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Air Force News (PDF)
The RSAF's April edition of Air Force News has an interesting article on EX SINDEX 06 held on Jan 3 to 20 this year. Nice picture of the F-16D Blk 52+ at Kalaikunda Air Force Station too.
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After Hawk AJTs for air force, will it be Goshawk for navy?
Boeing is hoping to sell its version of the Hawk to the Indian Navy as well. A high-level delegation was sent to India last week to formally offer the Goshawk together with the Super Hornet.
Last week, we reported that the British is keen to sell its Hawk AJT to the Indian Navy as well.
India currently has an agreement with the U.S. Navy to train 32 Indian pilots on the Goshawk for carrier takeoff-and-landing training at Pensacola, Florida. Indian requires a trainer for its aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
Related Article
Navy makes a crash correction with AJTs
For Gorshkov, Navy pilots head to US for training
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India, Russia to finalise $600 mn fighter deal
India's Air Force chief S P Tyagi is expected to sign a $600 million deal for swapping 18 Su-30Ks for Su-30MKIs during his visit to Russia this week. He will watch a demonstration flight of MiG-29OVT as well.
He is also scheduled to visit MiG and Sukhoi corporations and Siberian plant of Irkut.
Related Articles
India to trade-in older Sukhois for latest MK1s
Belarus to buy 18 Sukhoi jets from India
No problem in Sukhoi upgradation programme: IAF
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First pilot in Air Force Reserve selected to fly F-22
Maj. Randall W. Cason is the first U.S. Air Force reservist chosen to fly the F-22A Raptor.
Cason, an F-16 pilot stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, should be flying his first F-22A sortie in August.
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Monday, May 29, 2006
Changes
There are some slight changes to the way news are being reported from now onwards. News with multiple sources will not have an external link, instead the links to those sources will be posted at the end of the article.
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Top Gun Tasmania
Starting from A$1,995, you get to fly a BAC Jet Provost MK V over the beautiful country side in Tasmania, Australia.
Dan Duggan, a former USMC pilot, operates the aircraft from Hobart International Airport.
He had spent 13 years flying Harrier jump jets with the Marines before marrying an Australian and coming to live in Australia.
Together with his business partner, Hobart man Dave Warren, both hoped to establish Tasmania as an adventure island.
Sources
Tassie jets to a great new G-force - The Mercury
Top Gun Tasmania
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BAE cuts fighter price for radar deal
BAE Systems has cut the price of its Eurofighter Typhoon for Saudi Arabia by 10 percent in return for a stake in the oil-rich kingdom's border security project.
Western diplomatic sources also told The Business that 72 fighters will be purchase for the RSAF.
British Defense Secretary, Des Browne, is expected to be in Riyadh soon to sign an agreement on the Typhoon Acquisition Project with the Saudi defense minister.
The deal includes the construction of a plant to assemble the Eurofighter from components shipped from Europe as well as maintaining the jets over the life of the 25-year contract.
Sources
BAE cuts Eurofighter price by 10% to clinch Saudi deal - The Business
BAE cuts fighter price for radar deal - Telegraph
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RAF to have just nine A330s in core FSTA tanker fleet
The RAF will have just nine modified Airbus A330-200s out of the 14 under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program.
The rest of the fleet will be made available for third-party use but held at short-notice readiness to support surge operations.
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$5b project on rationalising mission
Project Air 9000 could shrink Australia's helicopter fleet from 10 different types down to just four: the Tiger ARH, MRH90, Seahawk and Chinook.
The Army's Black Hawks and the Navy's Sea Kings and Super Seasprites could be retired and replaced with Seahawks and MRH90.
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Joint Strike Fighter F135 Engine Burns Hotter Than Desired
Signs of trouble has emerged in the F135 engine as Pratt & Whitney tries to cut 190F of extra heat in the STOVL engines.
Some propulsion analysts narrow down the problem to the engine's combustor, which they say is too small.
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Indo-UK Naval exercises underway
The Royal Navy demonstrated the EH101 helicopter to the Indian Navy during exercise Konkan 2006.
They hope to get the Indians interested in buying the helicopter.
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Sunday, May 28, 2006
RoKAF F-15K
With Gerry's recent inclusion of the F-15K, we now have pictures of most of the front line U.S. fighters from the F-14 to the F/A-18. Next target, the F-22A.
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繰り返される嘉手納Ｆ１５戦闘機の緊急着陸 (Picture)
Protesters outside Kadena Air Base, Japan watched an F-15 made an emergency landing with its right engine shut down May 18.
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No planes to bring troops home from Iraq on time
British troops in Iraq have to stay longer from six to seven and a half months because the RAF does not have enough transport aircraft to move troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq simultaneously.
The boys from the 20 Armoured Brigade are affected. The RAF has less than five Tristar transports fitted with missile defence system that are need to ferry them out of Iraq.
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U.S. helicopter crashes in Iraq; 2 crew missing
Two U.S. Marines are missing after their AH-1 Cobra helicopter crashed in an insurgent stronghold in western Iraq on Saturday.
The helicopter was on a maintenance test flight and hostile action has been ruled out. A search-and-rescue operation is under way to locate them.
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Lawyers look for way to sue over BRAC ruling
Lawyers are thinking whether Virginia State or Virginia Beach city should sue in order to keep the jets at NAS Oceana.
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Saturday, May 27, 2006
Heritage Flight over New York
A beautiful sight! A P-51 Mustang, an F-16, an F-15 and an A-10 fly over New York City on Thursday, May 25, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker.
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F-22 canopy jam blamed on loose screws
Loose screws were to be blamed for the canopy accident on a F-22A which trapped the pilot for five hours last month.
An unofficial investigation found that mounting screws "backed out" and caused the jam. Lockheed Martin says it will install longer screws and the Air Force will inspect all Raptor canopies.
Related Articles
Rescuers take a chain saw to an F-22 Raptor
Pictures: Pilot trapped for 5h in cockpit of USAF's new $135m F-22A Raptor after canopy jams
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Picture: US air base in Diego Garcia to return to operation after landing gear failure B-1 cleared by crane
The B-1B that made a belly landing at Diego Garcia has been cleared of the runway by the island's port heavy lift crane.
The runway is expected to be operational again this weekend.
Related Article
B-1 makes hard landing
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Missile Parts, 'Dual-Use' Materials Illegally Shipped to Iran Through Turkey
A Turkish government report claims that Iran has obtain guided missile parts as well as "dual use" nuclear-related material through Turkey.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said an Iranian-owned company, based in Turkey, has illegally shipped them to Iran after falsifying documents to hide their nature.
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C-17s to help Australia in East Timor
The USAF has responded to the Australian government's request to send two C-17 cargo planes from Hawaii to help Australia prepare its troops for deployment to East Timor.
The C-17 planes are expected to transport Australian troops from the Solomon Islands to Australia as well as help move troops within Australia. There are on plans to send them to East Timor.
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'No risk' to Greek holiday planes
The Greek Civil Aviation Authority has denied claims by some Greek airline pilots that tourists flying to Aegean islands are being endangered by warplanes.
Deputy governor, Ioannis Andrianopoulos, said there was no risk to civil aviation as the fighters had radar, and military controllers would order them to disengage if there were any civilian planes in the area.
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Academy holds memorial dedication for Navy's Blue Angels
The U.S. Naval Academy on Monday unveiled a memorial plaque paying tribute to Blue Angels who died during team flight operations.
25 Blue Angels pilots and enlisted crewmembers have died in flight operations in the Blue Angels' 60-year history.
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Bush, Blair agree on F-35 fighter technology transfer
The United States has agreed to give Britain access to sensitive technology in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced it in a joint statement issued by the White House on Friday.
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Russia to Sell Anti-Aircraft Missiles to Iran
Moscow will honour its commitment to supply Iran with Tor-M1 air defense missile systems, Sergei Ivanov said on Friday.
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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to fly in IAF's Su-30
An Indian Ministry of Defence press release confirming that President APJ Abdul Kalam would be flying with 20 Squadron in its SU 30 MKI.
The event will take place on Jun. 8 when the squadron celebrates its 50th anniversary.
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French military helicopter crashes in Ivory Coast
A French Gazelle light helicopter crashed in Ivory Coast on Friday while on a transportation mission.
The crash killed one crew and seriously injured the other.
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Friday, May 26, 2006
RMAF supporting Army Parachute Jumping at Melaka
I was richly rewarded during my trip to Melaka, Malaysia last week. An RMAF Casa CN-235 M44-01 was in the same airport carrying Army paratroopers for jumps at a camp nearby. Sorry for the watermarking, I just don't trust that the
Gempur Wira folks will attribute our work.
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Navy makes a crash correction with AJTs
The British government is in talks with the Indian Navy to sell 16 to 18 AJTs for training of naval pilots.
The talks included negotiations for India to buy eight British Sea Harriers that were retired recently.
Three options are being discussed. One is to buy all the eight planes. Second, buying some of these planes and cannibalising them for spare-parts. Third, India buying the store for Harrier spare-parts.
Related Article
India looks to acquire UK Sea Harriers for training
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India to trade-in older Sukhois for latest MK1s
India will exchange its 18 Su-30Ks for Su-30MKIs instead of upgrading them. Irkut has already manufactured 12 of the planes and the remaining six will be completed by December.
An agreement is likely to be signed next week.
Related Article
Belarus to buy 18 Sukhoi jets from India
No problem in Sukhoi upgradation programme: IAF
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Pakistan builds on Chinese missile system
Pakistan is preparing to produce a modified version of the Chinese Qiang Wei-2 man-portable surface-to-air missile system known locally as the Anza Mk III.
Jane's Defence Weekly said that Pakistan modified the system including the firing unit, or 'grip-stock', which in the Pakistani version seems more modern and of the type associated with the Russian Igla missile.
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SAAF takes delivery of first Hawks
THE South African air force took delivery of its first two Hawk Mk 120 lead-in fighter trainers May 24.
The SAAF will receive 10 of the aircraft from Denel and BAE Systems in the next few weeks. A total of 24 Hawks were ordered in 1999.
They will be based at Air Force Base Makhado.
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Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia Wins EA-6B Refurbishment Contract
Aurora Flight Sciences will be fabricating panels for the U.S. Navy’s EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft.
Aurora will develop new tooling from components and drawings supplied by the Navy to create test articles first.
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nEUROn UCAV Project Rolling Down the Runway
Defense Industry Daily takes a close look at the European nEUROn UCAV project.
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Boeing bids to sell P8 aircraft to Navy (Video)
News video from CNN-IBN on Boeing's bid to sell the P-8A MMA to the Indian Navy.
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Raytheon, Rafael Selected for Short-Range Ballistic Missile Defense Interceptor Development
Raytheon Company and Rafael Armament Development Authority have been selected to develop a new terminal missile defense interceptor by the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO).
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S. Korea urged to secure mid-sized aircraft carriers
A group of South Korean scholars called for the Navy to add one or two mid-sized aircraft carriers to its fleet.
This is to prepare for a possible clash over the Dokdo islets with Japan as well as to deter North Korea.
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First at-Sea Demonstration of Sea-Based Terminal Capability Successfully Completed
USS Lake Erie successfully conducted a ballistic missile intercept of a target missile in the terminal phase (the last few seconds) of flight.
A modified SM-2 Block IV engaged a short-range target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii.
The modified SM-2 Block IV has a warhead is similar in concept to that used in the deployed Israeli Arrow system.
The modified Aegis Weapon System, with a modified SM-2 Block IV missile provides a near term, limited emergency ballistic missile defense capability.
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Lockheed Martin's Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods Add Video Down Link Capability
Lockheed Martin has received a USAF contract to upgrade Sniper with ROVER III video down link capabilities.
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Thursday, May 25, 2006
Gripen – The Nordic Solution
Gripen International has unveiled details of its formal offers to Norway and Denmark.
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F-22s arrive at Elmendorf for exercise
Five F-22 Raptors arrived at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska May 23 for Exercise Northern Edge 2006. U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Dave Donovan.
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RSAF's 145 SQN is Fully Operational
The RSAF's 145 Squadron, which operates the F-16D Block 52+, was declared fully operational May 24 at Changi Air Base.
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