Belarus Signs Initial Order for Yak-130 Trainers

In accordance with the Agreement on the development of military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus dated December 10, 2009, today in Minsk the contract on 4 Yak-130 combat-trainers delivery in 2015 was signed by the Belarusian Defence Ministry and IRKUT Corporation


defencetalk

Elbit to Upgrade Israeli C-130H Transports

Elbit Systems Ltd. announces that it has been awarded a contract by the Israel Ministry of Defense to upgrade the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) C-130H (Hercules) transport aircraft.


defencetalk

X-47B UCAS-D, Back on Land

Yet another update on the US Navy's X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator - this time unashamedly because I like this picture released by Northrop Grumman.

Northrop says deck trials of X-47B air vehicle AV-2 on the USS Truman from Nov 27 to Dec 17 demonstrated the ability to maneuver the fighter-sized unmanned aircraft on the flightdeck using a wireless handheld controller. Tests included maneuvering the aircraft up to the catapults, taxiing over the arresting cables and moving up and down the elevator.

"The X-47B deck trials proved convincingly that the design and operation of the aircraft are fully compatible with the rhythm and operational requirements of the carrier flight deck," Mike Mackey, Northrop's UCAS-D program director is quoted as saying. Tests proved the aircraft can operate in the hostile electromagnetic environment of a carrier, he adds.

Graham Warwick-aviationweek

Brazil keeps F-X2 fighter contest on hold until economy recovers

Brazil will keep a long-delayed acquisition of 36 fighters on hold until the national economy recovers from an ongoing slump, according to translated remarks by President Dilma Rousseff.

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (below), Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen NG were shortlisted by the Brazilian air force in 2008 for the F-X2 deal.

Méndez Núñez o cómo la Armada Española se batió ante los cañones inexpugnables del Callao

Hay una célebre sentencia entre marinos de bien en España: «Más vale honra sin barcos que barcos sin honra». Una reflexión que la Armada española debe a uno de sus más ilustres marinos, aunque no tan conocido como los Gravina, Churruca o Alcalá Galiano, y que restableció el honor marino de la dividida España del siglo XIX.

Ese fue el gallego Casto Méndez Núñez (Vigo, 1824-Pontevedra 1869), héroe de la Guerra Hispano-Sudamericana en el mal llamado Pacífico en la que la Marina de la Corona se batió contra buques y fortificaciones de Chile y Perú, principalmente, y también Ecuador y Bolivia. Corrían los años 1865-1866 y en la flaca España todo eran pulgas.

abc.es

Australia seeks information for more Super Hornets

Australia has sent a letter of request (LOR) to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency seeking information on costs and availability for a possible purchase of 24 additional Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets.

According to a joint statement from Australia's defence minister Stephen Smith and defence materiel minister Jason Clare, the LOR is the latest step in a process assessing Australia's air combat capability options in the light of delays to the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and the retirement of the Royal Australian Air Force's 71 F/A-18A/B Hornets.

flightglobal By ELLIS TAYLOR

TAI completes Turkish F-16 deliveries

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered its last Lockheed Martin F-16s, completing a manufacturing activity that started with Ankara's Peace Onyx 1 programme in 1987.

TAI built a total of 308 F-16s for the Turkish and Egyptian air forces, with the former having received 270 aircraft. The company's final deliveries were from a 30-aircraft order for Block 50+ fighters and trainers for the former service.

flightglobal by TOLGA OZBEK

Alenia Aermacchi receives first Australian C-27J fuselage

The fuselage of Australia's first Alenia Aermacchi C-27J tactical transport has arrived at the company's Turin factory for final assembly.

In May 2012, Australia placed an order for ten C-27Js through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will receive its first example in early 2015.

The C-27J succeeds the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou aircraft under the AIR 8000 Phase 2 requirement. Although popular with the RAAF, the obsolescent Caribou was retired in 2009. The C-27J's rival for the requirement was the Airbus Military C-295.

flightglobal BY GREG WALDRON

Third Voyager arrives at RAF Brize Norton

The UK's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft fleet modernisation programme has taken another step forward with the delivery of the third modified Airbus A330 to RAF Brize Norton on 19 December.

flightglobal by DAN THISDELL

Italy's Alenia keen for involvement in Franco-British UCAV programme

Alenia Aermacchi is keen to become involved in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) demonstrator programme being jointly developed by the UK and France via their aerospace champions BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation.

flightglobal by Dominic Perry

Oman to obtain 12 Typhoons, eight Hawks

BAE Systems has secured a deal for 12 Typhoon Tranche 3 fighters and eight Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft, with deliveries to start in 2017.

Oman will be the seventh air force to operate the Typhoon, says BAE. Other operators are the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Saudi Arabia.

flightglobal, BY GREG WALDRON

India receives first P-8I Neptune aircraft

Boeing has delivered the Indian navy's first 737-based P-8I Neptune maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft in Seattle.

"India will receive this aircraft and two more of its eight contracted P-8Is in 2013," says Boeing. "The programme is progressing on schedule as Boeing assembles the fourth and fifth P-8Is."

The P-8I will eventually replace the Tupolev Tu-142 aircraft in India's service.

India is obtaining eight P-8Is under a $3.9 billion deal signed in January 2009. The P-8I is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon, which will replace the Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion operated by the US Navy

flightglobal By:GREG WALDRON

Fragata argentina Libertad retenida en Ghana zarpó a su país

La fragata de la Armada de Argentina ARA Libertad que estaba retenida en Ghana a petición de un fondo de cobertura que trataba de obligar a Buenos Aires a pagar unos títulos públicos incumplidos zarpó el miércoles del país africano.

La fragata ARA Libertad, usada para entrenamiento, fue retenida en el puerto de Tema el 2 de octubre después de que NML Capital Ltd, que sostiene que se le deben 300 millones de dólares de bonos incumplidos desde el 2002, logró una orden de un tribunal para determinar su detención.

El Tribunal Internacional del Mar dispuso el sábado que Ghana debe liberar la embarcación después de que Argentina sostuvo que la legislación marítima da inmunidad a las naves de guerra ante demandas civiles en los puertos internacionales.

Se prevé que la embarcación arribe a Mar del Plata el 9 de enero, cuando será recibida por la presidenta Cristina Fernández.

Un avión arribó a Ghana temprano el miércoles desde la capital argentina, Buenos Aires. En él viajaron miembros de la tripulación que reemplazarán a los 326 marinos que evacuaron la embarcación detenida en octubre, dejando sólo a una tripulación mínima para mantenimiento esencial.

podermilitar

CGI of J-20 Fighter Jets Escorting on CV-16 Liaoning Aircraft Carrier

globalmilitaryreview

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Completes First At-Sea Tests

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completed its first at-sea test phase aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Dec. 18.

seawavesmagazine

Chinese rocket launches Turkish satellite

A Chinese Long March 2D, launched on 18 December from Jiuquan in north-central China, has orbited a Turkish government payload.

The Gokturk-2 satellite successfully reached orbit, according to Chinese state media, though no official confirmation has yet been made of contact with the satellite

ZACH ROSENBERG-flightglobal

Boeing delivers two nanosatellites to USAF

oeing has delivered two Space Environmental NanoSat Experiment (SENSE) satellites to the U.S. Air Force that will help assess the value of small satellites in military space operations.

Weighing less than 9 pounds (4 kilograms) each and measuring 30 x 10 x 10 centimeters in size, the nanosats are scheduled to launch on the ORS-3 mission in the summer of 2013 and shortly after will begin collecting and transmitting weather data.
boeing

WZ-10 armed helicopters launch missiles

The Nanjing Military Region of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) held a military drill recently to test and improve the force's combat capability in high-tech warfare.
China's newly unveiled attack helicopter, the WZ-10, was seen in the exercise launching AKD-10 air-to-ground guided missiles and Tianyan-90 air-to-air guided missiles.

nosint

china.org

India planning to procure two more AWACS for IAF

India is planning to procure two more Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) for the Indian Air Force.

nosint
economictimes

Twenty-five percent of India’s Hawk fleet grounded for lack of spares

India’s Defense Minister A K Antony disclosed in Parliament that twenty-five percent of the Hawk advanced trainer fleet has been grounded due to severe lack of spares.

alert5

indianexpress

Iraqi Air Force receives three C130J aircraft

The Iraqi Air Force celebrated an important milestone when they received a third C-130J aircraft at a rollout ceremony held at Lockheed Martin’s factory Dec. 12, 2012.

defencetalk

AETC declares Eglin ready for F-35 training

Following an independent evaluation of Eglin’s capability to conduct F-35A Lightning II pilot training, Air Education and Training Command announced Dec. 17 that the 33rd Fighter Wing can do so starting January 2013.

defencetalk

Peru May Purchase 24 Combat Helicopters from Russia

Peru intends to buy a consignment of 24 combat helicopters and eyes Russia as one of its potential suppliers along with France and the United States.

defencetalk

USAF Finally Begins F-35 Pilot Training

After more than a year-long delay, the U.S. Air Force has begun training its F-35 instructor pilots at Eglin AFB, Fla.
Gen. Edward Rice, who heads the Air Education and Training Center, gave the formal nod to begin pilot training Dec. 17 during a visit to the base, which is where the first F-35 schoolhouse has been established.

Amy Butler-aviationweek

US Navy starts X-47B deck handling trials at sea onboard USS Harry S Truman. High resolution pics

The US Navy has started deck-handling trials for the Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat aircraft system demonstrator onboard the USS Harry S Truman (CVN-75).

Dave Majumdar flightglobal-the-dewline

US Navy delays UCLASS draft RFP

The US Navy is delaying its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft program. The draft request for proposals has been delayed until the first couple of months of 2013, possibly due to the program's requirements being held up at the Joint Requirements Oversight Council.

Dave Majumdar flightglobal the-dewline

GERMAN TIGERS HELICOPTERS ARRIVE TO AFGHANISTAN

The first two German army Unterstützungshubschrauber (UH) Tiger combat helicopters have arrived in Afghanistan. The two helicopters had their rotors and other parts removed for the An-124-100 flight from Leipzig/Halle airport to Mazar-e-Sharif.

Nicholas Fiorenza-Aviationweek

Pentagon, Lockheed Target 4% Drop in F-35 Price

After more than a year of prickly contract talks between the Pentagon and its F-35 prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, the two have finally reached an agreement of terms for the $3.8 billion deal.

Amy Butler aviationweek

Boeing's Reusable, Unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Begins 2nd Flight

Boeing today successfully returned an unmanned U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle to orbit, continuing to demonstrate how the system provides responsive, reusable access to space.

boeing.mediaroom

Boeing Completes Sale of First 777 to Republic of Iraq

Boeing delivered a 777-200LR to the Republic of Iraq, marking the beginning of Boeing’s renewed partnership with the country.

boeing

news.yahoo.