An U.S. Air Force pilot was killed following a crash of a F-16 Falcon fighter somewhere in the Middle East on Sunday, according to a Monday release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Read More
Category Archives: Aviation
Document: CNO Greenert’s 2014 Position Report
The following is the recently released CNO’s Position Report 2014, based on CNO Sailing Directions: Warfighting First, Operate Forward, Be Ready. Read More
U.K. Orders First Four Production F-35Bs
F-35 BF-17 from the F-35 Integrated Test Force in Formation with RAF Typhoons, Edwards AFB, Calif. April 4, 2014. DoD Photo
The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) has placed an order with Lockheed Martin for the first four production F-35B Lighting II fighters for the Royal Air Force with options for up to 14 aircraft, Lockheed announced on Monday morning. Read More
What the Navy’s Next Generation Amphibious Ship Could Look Like
An artist’s rendering of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ LPD Flight IIA variant of the San Antonio-class ship design. HII Image
NORFOLK, VA — Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has revised its plan to use the hull form of the San Antonio-class amphibious warship (LPD-17) as a candidate for the Navy’s next generation amphibious warship— LX(R), company officials outlined to USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
Pentagon Taps Director of Navy Staff for Pacific Fleet Command
Vice Adm. Scott Swift, then commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in 2012. US Navy Photo
The Pentagon has nominated the current director of navy staff to take charge of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT), according to a Thursday announcement from the Department of Defense. Read More
Navy Starts Design Work On Next Generation Amphibious Warship
USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on Oct. 31, 2014 as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group following a deployment. US Navy Photo
NORFOLK, VA — Early design work on the Navy’s next generation amphibious warship — based on the San Antonio-class (LPD-17) hull — has begun ahead of a planned 2020 procurement, Navy officials said on Wednesday. Read More
Panel: U.S. and China Differ On Standards of Transparency
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert departs the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship Datong FFG 580 on July 17, 2014. US Navy Photo
The United States and China, “are operating on two different playing fields” when it comes to transparency of their military activities and intentions in the Pacific, a former senior State Department official told a security forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank on Wednesday. Read More
Iran Claims Successful Test Flight of Stealth UAV
Screenshot of Iranian PressTV footage of the Iranian copy of an American RQ-170 Sentinel Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). PressTV via YouTube
Iran claims to have test flown a domestically built copy of a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crashed in country in 2011, according to local press reports. Read More
Work to Congress: Pentagon Not ‘Crying Wolf’ Over Budget Woes
If the Pentagon does not receive financial help from Congress relatively quickly, the department will be compelled to cut modernization spending even further and eliminate infrastructure, the Defense Department’s number two civilian said on Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Read More
New Chinese Stealth Fighter Relies on Russian Jet Engine
An undated photo of the Shenyang-J-31
The Chinese Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter will use Russian-built engines when it enters production. The prototype was known use Klimov RD-93 engines, which were derived from the Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum’s RD-33 afterburning turbofans. Many observers had expected the new Chinese fifth-generation fighter to eventually sport domestically developed engines. Read More
