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ANKARA — Turkey said Jan. 11 it has postponed an order to purchase its first two U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets due to technical problems and rising costs, but said it still intends to buy 100 more in the long run.
As the U.S. Air Force begins to prepare for potential budget cuts in March, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said he remains “deeply concerned” about the impact of sequestration on the service.
BEIJING — Beijing sent fighter jets to the East China Sea after Japanese aircraft followed a Chinese plane in a territorial dispute, the defense ministry said Jan. 11, according to state media.
Determined not to be labeled as the villain in a report on how the British Ministry of Defence managed its major equipment programs, in-flight refueling contractor AirTanker has released an open letter to the government’s spending watchdog distancing itself from accusations that its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program is responsible for a hike in overall procurement spending.
PARIS — French President Francois Hollande will head to the United Arab Emirates next week, where he will push the Gulf state to buy Rafale fighter jets, a French diplomatic source said Jan. 9.
TOKYO — Japan plans to spend $2.1 billion on its military over the next few months as part of a huge stimulus package, a defense ministry official said Jan. 9, amid growing concerns over a rising China.
Army officials hoped to have a decision in hand on its stalled Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) helicopter program in mid-December, when officers briefed vice chief of staff of the Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III on the results of last summer’s visits with potential competitors in the quest to upgrade or replace the service’s aging Kiowa Warrior fleet.
PARIS — European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Jan. 7 that it has won a tender to supply India with six A330 air refueling tankers, a deal potentially worth more than $1 billion (770 million euros).
On June 11, a massive Navy surveillance drone plummeted into swampland on an island in the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland’s eastern shore. The unmanned aircraft had a 45-foot fuselage — as long as a luxury motor coach — and a wingspan of more than 100 feet.
VICTORIA, British Columbia — Canada will rely on either private companies or its allies for midair refueling if it decides to purchase F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to replace its CF-18 fighter aircraft.
The United States launched 59 attacks from remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in Afghanistan in December, according to new Air Force statistics.
MANILA — A U.S. drone believed to be used for reconnaissance was recovered Jan. 7 in waters off the central Philippines, police and naval authorities said.
IZMIR, Turkey — The U.S. deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey began Jan. 5 to help the country defend itself against any threat from neighboring Syria which is in the throes of a deadly 21-month civil war.
TAIPEI — The U.S. military must consider both conventional and nuclear capabilities to “neutralize” China’s underground nuclear weapons storage facilities, according to a Pentagon authorization signed into law.
TOKYO — Japan is considering introducing U.S. spy drones to boost surveillance of its territorial waters near islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a bitter dispute with Beijing, Kyodo News said Dec. 31.
TEHRAN — Iran on Jan. 2 said it had shot down two U.S.-made RQ-11 reconnaissance drones in the past 15 months, adding to a ScanEagle drone and RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft it already claims to have captured.
TEL AVIV — Israel’s Elbit Systems reported Dec. 31 some $315 million in orders from its primary customer, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, for a variety of systems, including Hermes 900 (UAVs).
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract to produce two Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites, a deal that will net the company nearly $2 billion.
TAIPEI — Taiwan plans to complete the first stage of an ambitious plan to upgrade its fighter jet force by the end of 2013, in an effort to maintain a credible deterrent against China into the 2030s. Some 60 of Taiwan's Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDFs) will be upgraded and ready for deployment within 12 months, according to a report submitted to Parliament by the defense ministry.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has recovered what it believes to be debris from the engine of the long-range rocket launched by North Korea this month, the South Korean defense ministry said Dec. 28.
As the Air Force adapts to the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and flat defense budgets, the commander of the Air Education and Training Command is looking to revolutionize the way the service approaches training.
SEOUL — South Korea is not necessarily committed to buying U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drones, a spokesman said Dec. 26, after the Pentagon requested congressional permission for such a sale.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan on Dec. 26 mourned the deaths of 27 people in one of its worst aviation disasters, a tragedy that wiped out much of the top echelon of the state border service, including the acting chief.
NEW DELHI — India has contracted weapons purchases worth around $3 billion from Russia during Russian President Vladmir Putin’s Dec. 24 visit to New Delhi.
LONDON — BAE Systems has sealed a 2.5 billion pound deal with Oman to supply Typhoon fighters and Hawk jet trainers to the strategically important Gulf state.
While the role of UAVs is expected to grow in future operations, one senior U.S. Army official says manned aircraft won’t go away any time soon.
LONDON — AgustaWestland has secured a 258-million-pound ($419 million) deal with the Defence Ministry to keep Britain’s nearly 90-strong fleet of Sea King helicopters flying until 2016.
LONDON — BAE Systems is preparing to close a deal with Oman to supply Typhoon fighters and Hawk jet trainers to the country’s air force.
ISTRES, France — French defense officials were in the United States recently for talks on a possible procurement of the Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV, a defense official here said Dec. 19.
NEW DELHI — India is considering buying additional airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft.
SOFIA — Bulgaria’s government has approved plans to buy new or used fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of Soviet-built aircraft, DefenSe Minister Anyu Angelov said Dec. 19.
Sikorsky appears to be the last company standing in the contest to build the U.S. Air Force’s new combat rescue helicopters (CRHs) after a trio of competitors declined to participate in the program.
As NATO allies move troops and Patriot missile batteries into Turkey, heating up an already dicey situation on the Syrian border, experts are pointing to an alarming possibility: Most NATO countries might be ill-equipped to intervene in the ongoing conflict in Syria.
NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force will install anti-collision technology in all aircraft procured from now on, according to Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
VICTORIA, British Columbia — Analysts are questioning whether the Canadian military will have enough fighter aircraft to perform its missions following an audit that warned the country’s Department of National Defence could order 10 fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and that the projected cost of that program had risen to more than 40 billion Canadian dollars ($40.6 billion).
While the role of UAVs is expected to grow in future operations, one senior U.S. Army official says manned aircraft won’t go away any time soon.
MOSCOW — Russia is developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the military announced Dec. 14, in an apparent attempt to remind the United States of Moscow’s rocket capacities.
LONDON — British defense group BAE Systems has won a $400-million (306-million-euro) aircraft maintenance contract with the U.S. Navy, the company said Dec. 13.
The Pentagon has notified Congress of its intent to sign a multibillion-dollar deal with Lockheed Martin for 32 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, according to a senior defense official. The actual inking of the contract is expected on Dec. 14.
The president of SpaceX said the U.S. domestic space launch market has “changed dramatically” in the last two weeks as a result of a U.S. Air Force decision to award the upstart company its first military contracts.
NEW DELHI — India and Israel are discussing broader cooperation in joint weapon development, with India also seeking to purchase and produce the Iron Dome short-range surface-to-air missile defense system.
SEOUL — North Korea fired a long-range rocket Dec. 12, days before the first anniversary of its former ruler’s death, magnifying the threat posed by the nuclear-armed state and provoking outrage from the U.S.
A trio of competitors for the U.S. Air Force’s new Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) have decided not to bid on the program, leaving a clear path for Sikorsky to land the nearly $7 billion contract.
NEW DELHI — Responding to an earlier U.S. investigation about the possible use of defective parts from China in military equipment, the Indian Defence Ministry has said that no Chinese suppliers were among the companies providing parts to aircraft sold by the United States to India.
PARIS — Brazil is to take “some time” to decide on whether it will choose French Rafale fighter jets to modernize its air force, President Dilma Rousseff said Dec. 11 during a visit to Paris.
Rolls-Royce has completed flight testing for their Series 3.5 T56 engine modification program, a major step for the new engines the company believes could expand the life of the U.S. Air Force's C-130 fleet through 2040.
TEHRAN — Iran has in the past shot down more spy U.S. ScanEagle drones, a model of which it claimed to have captured recently, media reports said Dec. 11, quoting a senior military official.
PARIS — Airbus Military is on track to deliver the first A400M airlifter in the second quarter of 2013, following completion of 300 hours of flying function and reliability tests, a key part in the flight test program, the company said Dec. 10.
BRUSSELS — EU foreign ministers said Dec. 10 that a planned missile launch by North Korea would be a “provocative act” in breach of U.N. resolutions and require an international response.
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