Military Aviation

Military aviation news - September 2005


Lockheed Martin F-35 to bring 5th generation capabilities to Turkish Air Force

ANKARA, Turkey, September 29, 2005 -- Turkey is positioning itself to take delivery of the world’s most advanced, international multi-role fighter. The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is nearing completion and is preparing for its first flight next year. The program continues to meet milestones on schedule as evidenced most recently on Sept. 7, when electrical power to the aircraft was switched on for the first time.

Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 JSF program integration, Tom Burbage, told reporters at the International Defence Industry Fair in Ankara, Turkey that the F-35 defines all the advancements of a true fifth-generation fighter. Turkey is a critical alliance member and an international partner on the F-35, playing a vital role in the development of the world’s fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter.

Lockheed Martin has been providing Turkey with fighter jets since 1951 and the F-35 is the next step in enabling the Turkish Air Force to share logistics, training systems, tactics and strategies with the alliances and coalitions of tomorrow. Full story at Lockheed Martin.

Posted: Fri, Sep 30, 2005 2:48 PM (CET)

Lockheed Martin delivers 50th F/A-22 Raptor to the U. S. Air Force

MARIETTA, Ga. , September 28, 2005 -- Lockheed Martin delivered the 50th F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter to the U.S. Air Force today, marking another milestone in this revolutionary stealth aircraft program. The Raptor can dominate airspace anywhere around the globe, around the clock, and survive in contested airspace better than any other aircraft in the world. Full story at Lockheed Martin.

Posted: Fri, Sep 30, 2005 2:48 PM (CET)

DoD approves V-22 full rate production

The once-troubled Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor has crossed one of the last hurdles before entering full service with the US armed forces. The Department of Defense today granted approval for full rate production (FRP) to Bell Helicopter. Full story at Flight International.com.

Posted: Thu, Sep 29, 2005 5:55 PM (CET)

US F-16 fighter planes to patrol airspace of 3 Baltic nations

USAFE F-16s will take over the duties from the German air force to patrol the airspace of three Baltic nations starting from the end of this month, the US embassy in Lithuania said Wednesday. Full story at F-16.net.

Posted: Fri, Sep 23, 2005 11:48 PM (CET)

F-35 JSF looking toward production, operational capability

As the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter moves toward its inaugural flight next year, the program continues to meet milestones on schedule and is planning for initial production and operational capability for the armed services. Full story at F-16.net.

Posted: Wed, Sep 14, 2005 8:53 PM (CET)

Near accident between two spanish fighters and one passenger jet

Thursday 08.09.2005: A passenger jet on it's route from Værnes(Norway) to Aberdeen(Scotland), was only a few seconds from a mid-air disaster with two spanish fighters. The fighters were on a direct course against the passenger jet and on the same altitude. The planes came as close as only one nautical mile before the fighters did a collision avoidance manoeuvre . The two spanish fighters were part of the NATO Air Meet 2005 taking place over Ørlandet in Norway. They have now been grounded depending investigation.

Posted: Fri, Sep 09, 2005 1:55 PM (CET)

A Belgian F-16 crashes in the North Sea

A Belgian F-16 went down today outside the island Vlieland of The Netherlands. Three helicopters and four rescue boats are on their way to the scene. Latest: The pilot CDT Fabrice Massaux did not survive.

Posted: Fri, Sep 09, 2005 1:05 PM (CET)

NATO Air Meet 2005

From 3 September there will be intensive air activities for two weeks in the airspace over Ørland MAS, which is situated at the Fosen peninsula in Sør-Trøndelag, in the middle of Norway. A total of more than 100 aircraft from 16 of NATO’s 26 member nations will participate in the exercise. In addition to the long-standing NATO nations, the new member nations Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and Romania will participate in this year’s exercise.

Flying will be conducted in two periods. Between 5 and 9 September there will be operations during the day. Night flying will occur during the second period from 12 to 15 September.

The official NAM 2005 site with all the info and pictures can be found here.

Posted: Tue, Sep 06, 2005 4:40 PM (CET)

A russian Su-33 goes down in the Norwegian Sea *updated 09-07-2005*

The russian fighter was expected to land on the aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" at 2:27 PM local time (09.05.2005), during a russian exercise in the norwegian sea. The aircraft did manage to land on the carrier deck but the cable broke and the aircraft skidded off the deck and into the sea. The pilot, Yuri Korneev, managed to eject safely and was later picked up by a Ka-27PS helicopter along with the flight recorder.

Su-33 'Flanker'A russian Su-33 "Flanker".

Sources claim the plane was equipped with special devices that are considered state secrets, including a recognition system and early speculation would have it that the russian military would try to use depth charges to blow the plane up. The latest news now however is that they won't blow it up or even try to salvage the wreckage. The plane is resting at the bottom of the ocean at over 1000m below the surface.

Posted: Tue, Sep 06, 2005 3:15 PM (CET)

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