Free Republic

Many countries express interest in JF-17 Thunder Numerous countries are interested in obtaining a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China, said a senior officer of the Pakistan air force. "We've been receiving inquiries and expressions of interest on the JF-17 Thunder from many countries in the Middle East, Africa and even as far as South America," Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, told China Daily on Thursday. The JF-17 Thunder - or the FC-1 Fierce Dragon as it's known in China - is a third-generation multipurpose combat jet co-developed by Aviation Industry...

France in talks with US, Israel to buy drones Paris looks to modernize fleet, seeks to purchase drones from Washington, J'lem "straight away," says French defense minister. PARIS - France is in talks with the United States and Israel to buy intelligence-gathering drones to build up a modern fleet, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday. France's existing hardware is outdated and its military intervention in Mali this year has exposed its shortage of surveillance drones suitable for modern warfare. The United States provided French commanders with intelligence from its drones based in Niger. "We need this capacity in...

S.Korea deploys Israeli missile on border with North Satellite-guided Spike missiles can "destroy North Korea's underground facilities," South Korean army official says. South Korea deployed Israeli precision-guided missiles on Yellow Sea islands bordering North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday. "Dozens of Spike missiles and their launchers have recently been deployed on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands," a South Korean army official said. "They can destroy (North Korea's) underground facilities and can pursue and strike moving targets," he continued. The satellite-guided Spike anti-tank missile has a range of 20 kilometers and weighs 70 kilos, Yonhap cited military officials as saying....

Exclusive: U.S. Air Force to move forward target date for F-35 use WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force plans to start operational use of Lockheed Martin Corp.-built (LMT.N: Quote) F-35 fighter jets in mid-2016, a year earlier than planned, using a similar software package as the Marine Corps, two sources familiar with the plans said on Monday. The Air Force's decision to accelerate its introduction with a slightly less capable version of the F-35 software package means the planes will carry fewer weapons at first, although the software will later be upgraded to the final version, said the sources,...

Report: Russia sends Assad 'ship killing missile' Russia delivers Yakhont missiles, warships to Assad; Lavrov: Arms deal won't change regional balance of power Russia sold advanced Yakhont antiship cruise missiles to Syrian President Bashar Assad, outfitted with an advanced guidance system that makes them more effective than the older version of the missile Russia sold to Syria, The New York Times cited two American officials as saying on Thursday. These missiles will allow Syria to thwart any attempt by international forces to reinforce Syrian rebels by imposing a naval embargo or no fly zone, Nick Brown the editor in chief...

'Two of the surviving Dambuster airmen have attended a ceremony after a flypast to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War II raid on German dams. Hundreds of onlookers gathered as a Lancaster bomber flew over Derwent reservoir - one of the practice sites used ahead of the top-secret mission. More than a third of the men never returned from the raids, when they had to fly just 60ft above ground. RAF Scampton later hosted a sunset service. The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and 617 Squadron flew over the dam in Derbyshire's Hope Valley on Thursday lunchtime....

A private space exploration company's plans to build a novel moonship to return human explorers to the lunar surface has moved one step closer to reality. Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman has completed a lunar lander feasiblity study for the Golden Spike Company, which aims to begin ferrying paying customers to the moon and back by 2020. Click to enlarge:

A Fighter With Naval DNA By Romulo Sobral Besides Brazil, Saab identified future demand for naval fighters in countries like India, Italy and the UK, which, in the coming years will be commissioning new aircraft carriers in their navies. According to Saab, there is a real and viable market for this type of aircraft. Aiming this market, the company is already developing a naval version of JAS-39 Gripen, which aims to be a variant of its newest product, the Gripen NG (Next Generation). This new version was named Sea Gripen. According to Saab, the requirements established by the Swedish Air...

Algerian Military Testing An A330 MRTT at Boufarik (Source: Le Matin DZ; published May 13, 2013) (Published in French; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com) Just weeks after the C17 evaluation that took place in Boufarik and the air force test center at Tamanrasset, an Airbus A330 MRTT tanker landed last week at the main air transport base in Boufarik. According to the “secret difa3” blog, the Algerian Air Force is in the process of finalizing a contract to acquire three A330 aircraft to reinforce its tanker and long-range transport fleet. Besides their ability to refuel in-flight fighter and attack aircraft, the...

5 Questions on Russian S-300 Missile System Sales to Syria MOSCOW, May 14 (Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti) – If fresh media reports are true, Russia, Syria’s longtime supplier of military equipment, may soon provide Damascus – or already has – with advanced S-300 air defense systems, tipping the balance in the devastating 26-month conflict in the Middle Eastern country. But the “if” is a big one. The missile batteries would give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime a powerful weapon against foreign air strikes – one of the options being bounced around as a form of international intervention – and could...

Navy tones up muscle with MiG-29K fighters Rahul Singh , Hindustan Times Dabolim (Goa), May 11, 2013 Defence minister AK Antony on Saturday commissioned the navy’s first squadron of Russia-built MiG-29K maritime fighters, laying the groundwork for the induction of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (formerly Gorshkov) in December this year. The 16 fighters in the newly-raised Black Panthers squadron will operate from ashore till such time as the 45,000-tonne carrier - currently being refurbished at Sevmash shipyard in Russia - arrives. The navy also plans to deploy these maritime fighters - 29 more have been ordered - on the indigenous...

Boeing aims to keep building F/A-18 jets through 2020 By Andrea Shalal-Esa Published May 10, 2013 Reuters WASHINGTON – Boeing Co could keep building its Super Hornet fighter jet and a modified electronic attack version through 2020, the company said, given prospects for over 200 foreign sales and what it sees as up to 150 more sales to the U.S. Navy. Michael Gibbons, Boeing vice president for F/A-18 and EA-18 programs, spent part of this week pitching additional sales of Boeing's last fighter jet to congressional staffers in a triple-wide trailer packed with simulators, displays and souvenirs. His mission? To...

5/3/2013 - TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) -- An Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed May 3 in northern Kyrgyzstan. Emergency response crews are on scene. The status of the crew is unknown. The crew and aircraft are assigned to the Transit Center at Manas near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Direct YouTube Link Shocking new footage has surfaced that appears to show a 747-400 cargo plane crashing at Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield. The crash reportedly left all seven Americans aboard the plane dead. The Taliban took responsibility for the crash shortly after it occurred yesterday, but NATO told the Associated Press that these claims were false. One army spokesperson said the crash occurred due to low altitude after takeoff. The plane, run by Florida-based National Airlines, a subsidiary of National Air Cargo, was reportedly carrying vehicles and other cargo and was bound for Dubai. We've embedded the footage below, which...

Here’s how a Typhoon multirole aircraft can hit two targets at the same time with a single targeting pod The recent article about the Typhoon fighter jet performing first laser guided, self designating, simultaneous guided bomb drops sparked some debate. Although other aircraft are known to have similar capabilities, some readers asked how a combat plane could hit two targets at same time with only a single laser designator of the Litening pod. I asked Andrea Kay, Senior Communications Advisor at BAE Systems, one of the companies of the Eurofighter consortium, to shed some light on the matter. Andrea inquired...

This piece of the History of the Lockheed A-12 is dedicated to the memory of Dorsey G. Kammerer. Dorsey was a part of the Lockheed SkunkWorks from its inception. He was an "inside" man on the team that built the P-38 Lightning, the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter, the U-2 Angel and the A-12 Archangel and the other versions, the YF-12 and the SR-71. Dorsey that had the foresight to save the photos that help document this story. Dorsey's family found these gems and made them available for this story. This story has never really been told in much...

The US Marine Corps' VMFAT-501 training squadron, which is assigned to the US Air Force's 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, launched its first F-35B eight-ship earlier today. The unit flew one mission and then conducted a hot pit refueling before going back up again.

The F-35 Lighting was the first choice of the Australian air force. But several thunderbolts have struck the stealth aircraft, including the arrival of new generation Sukhois that are skewing the odds against the Australians. Sometime by the middle of this year, Australia will have to make a stark choice. Its defences vulnerable and budget in tatters, the country will announce whether it will buy another squadron of 24 F-18 Super Hornets, or that Australia will stick with the original plan to buy 100 units of the F-35 Lightning – America’s joint strike fighter. Trouble is neither option adds to...

Russian T-50 Fighter Jet to Start State Flight Test in 2014 MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will start state flight tests of its fifth-generation T-50 fighter jet in 2014, United Aircraft Corporation's President Mikhail Pogosyan told reporters on Tuesday. “In 2013 we are expected to wrap up its preliminary tests and start operational testing. In 2014, we are planning to start official state tests,” Pogosyan said on Tuesday, adding "the first stage of the state trials should be complete by 2015." The test program involves six prototype airframes, including four flying, one static and one systems test airframe....

China to build second, larger aircraft carrier, says report China will build a second, larger aircraft carrier capable of carrying more fighter jets, the official Xinhua news service reported late Tuesday, quoting a senior officer with the People's Liberation Army (PLA ) Navy. The report comes after Chinese officials denied foreign media reports in September 2012 that China was building a second carrier in Shanghai. "China will have more than one aircraft carrier ... The next aircraft carrier we need will be larger and carry more fighters," Xinhua quoted Song Xue, deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy, as...

Don Tuite reviews the National Transportation Safety Board's report on the Li-Ion battery fire aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Logan Airport, Boston, and Boeing's proposed modifications to the battery and battery system. I’ve been tracking Boeing’s and the aviation authorities’ responses to the events I originally wrote about in the blog titled; Dreamliners Shouldn’t Smoke.  In the follow-ups, I’ve been helped considerably by a friend who is also an FAE at a company I report on, but he asks not to be identified, so I won’t, even though he’s the guy who came up with a key piece of...

Rare glimpse of life aboard the aircraft carrier Liaoning Naval experts say latest pictures of nation's first aircraft carrier, released by the PLA, show how it has been transformed from its original design Beneath the expansive decks of the aircraft carrier Liaoning, facilities enjoyed by the ship's crew include a canteen, medical centre and on-air studio. Photos: SCMP The People's Liberation Army Daily has revealed what China's first carrier, the Liaoning, looks like on the inside. Western naval and shipbuilding experts say the hull's design is totally different from that of the ship from which it was adapted, the Soviet...

Flying the Flanker A few years ago, Tactical Air Support was, for a brief period, an operator of a pair of privately-owed Soviet-built Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers. The company's senior vice president and chief operating officer Gerry Gallop, who previously served as a US Navy instructor pilot at TOPGUN and who has flown the F-4 Phantom II, F-14A and B, F-15, F-16, the F/A-18 series and the A-4, a recalls some of his initial transition flights in the Flanker. One sortie that stands out in Gallops' mind was a combination functional check flight and navigational training sortie over the Ukraine. "I...

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Friday that it has formally approved Boeing’s design for modifications to the 787 Dreamliner battery system, clearing the way to end the plane’s three-month grounding. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency hasn’t changed the Dreamliner’s ETOPS (“extended operations”) certification, which means the 787 will have continued approval to fly up to three hours away from the nearest airport. Michael Huerta, head of the FAA, told a Senate hearing Tuesday that ETOPS approval was under review. The decision not to reduce the three-hour limit is crucial to the jet’s use for flying long routes...

LAAD Defence and Security 2013: US mulls P-3 MPA sale to Vietnam By Gareth Jennings 4/12/2013 The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is expected to request from the US government the sale of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), a senior company official told IHS Jane's on 10 April. Speaking at the LAAD Defence and Security 2013 exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Clay Fearnow, director maritime patrol programmes, said the Vietnamese Navy was keen to buy up to six surplus P-3s to help patrol the country's nearly 3,500 km coastline and 1,396,299 km2 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). "The Vietnamese...

Germany 'may buy weaponised drones from Israel' (AFP) – 13 hours ago BERLIN — Germany is in talks with Israel to buy weaponised drones for its military that are seen as more technologically advanced than US ones, the weekly Der Spiegel reported. The news magazine's Monday edition said the German defence ministry had already held two meetings with Israeli military officials, in November 2012 and February 2013, on the proposed purchase. The chief of Germany's air force, Lieutenant General Karl Muellner, was said to have recently gone to Israel to attend a presentation of Israel's Heron TP drone, Der Spiegel...

MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Air Force is hoping to receive a new long-range fighter-interceptor by 2020 and retire its existing fleet of MiG-31 interceptors by 2028, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said on Thursday. “We have started development of a new aircraft of this type and I think we can develop this plane before the state armament program ends in 2020,” Bondarev said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers. “The new plane should replace the existing fleet by 2028,” he said. Bondarev spoke out against restarting production of the MiG-31, which was stopped 20...

BAE checks Harpoon fit for anti-ship Typhoon BAE Systems has conducted first windtunnel tests to assess the suitability of integrating Boeing's AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile with the Eurofighter Typhoon. An image released by the UK company showing a model of the Typhoon reveals the combat aircraft carrying three of the air-launched weapons. In this configuration, one would be carried on the aircraft's centre-fuselage stores station - ordinarily reserved for an external fuel tank - and two more beneath its wing. BAE Systems BAE says the test activity is intended to assess the aerodynamic characteristics of carrying the Harpoon. "This testing...

Hsiung Feng I anti-ship missiles have been retired TAIPEI, Taiwan -- All Hsiung Feng I anti-ship missiles (雄風一型�艦飛彈), a derivative of the Israeli Gabriel missile Mk II, were officially decommissioned from Taiwan's military late last year, the Navy said yesterday. The last batch of Hsiung Feng I missiles, the first generation anti-ship missile used by the Navy, were sent to the military's chief research facility, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (中山科學研究院) (CSIST) to be destroyed by the end of 2012, the Navy Command told the Chinese-language United Evening News yesterday. They are replaced by the latest generation Hsiung...

MBDA courts Middle Eastern partner for Marte missile The on-going efforts of MBDA to expand the capabilities of its anti-ship missiles could reach an important milestone in the coming months through a potential partnership in the Middle East. During the European consortium's 2012 results conference in Rome on 22 March, Antonio Perfetti, managing director of the MBDA's Italian branch and executive group director sales and business development, revealed that a Middle Eastern country is interested in the joint development of a Marte ER (extended range) version. "The growth potential of [the] Marte anti-ship missile family has attracted the interest of...

LAAD 2013: DCNS reveals Brazilian carrier design DCNS is offering an adapted version of its PA2 design for a future Brazilian aircraft carrier. A model of a 60,000t displacement 285m-long PA2 carrier is being shown by the company at the LAAD exhibition in Rio de Janeiro. Eric Perrot, DCNS surface ships project director, told Shephard that the Brazilian Navy had plans to acquire one or two new aircraft carriers to replace their existing carrier, NAe Sao Paulo, after 2025. The Brazilian Navy released a request for proposals (RfP) in 2012 for specifications for aircraft carriers and Perrot said that DCNS...

The Blue Angels, the Navy's revered aerial acrobats, have been grounded for the rest of the year due to sequestration cuts.

Airbus is beginning construction on a new assembly plant in Mobile that could mean jobs for South Mississippi residents. The groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday morning at the 1,650-acre Brookley Aeroplex industrial park, site for the new plant. The $600 million factory is expected to employ 1,000 people once production of the Airbus A320 jet begins around 2015.

Boeing unveils updated F/A-XX sixth-gen fighter concept Boeing The Boeing concept also features canards, which is somewhat of a surprise because the motion of those forward mounted control surfaces is generally assumed to compromise a stealth aircraft's frontal radar cross-section. But the lack of vertical tail surfaces suggests the aircraft would be optimized for all-aspect broadband stealth, which would be needed for operations in the most challenging anti-access/area denial environments. Also of note in the manned version of the company's F/A-XX concept is the placement of the cockpit-rearward visibility appears to be restricted without the aid of a sensor apparatus...

Boeing said its flight of a 787 on Friday should wrap up the testing for its fix of the battery problems that have kept the plane grounded. Boeing called the flight "the final certification test for the new battery system." The next step will be for the Federal Aviation Administration to decide whether Boeing's battery fix is good enough for airlines to safely fly it again. Friday's flight took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. It returned one hour and 49 minutes later. The test was "to demonstrate that the new system performs as...

Report: SA to give Saudi Arabia killer drones A Paris-based journal has said Denel intends to sell Saudi Arabia drone aircraft capable of firing missiles. This has been a capability the United States has denied the Middle Eastern nation and would thrust South Africa into a politically-fraught market. In 2010, Denel started dropping hints that the new version of its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Seeker, could potentially offer more than just reconnaissance. Now it seems the weapons manufacturer has found its first customer for drone aircraft capable of blowing up a house or vehicle with few unintended casualties. According...

S.Korea to buy bunker busting missiles from Europe (Reuters) - South Korea is to buy Taurus bunker-busting air-to-ground long range missiles for its F-15K strike fighters in a move to boost its strike power amid rising tensions with North Korea, its defence minister told a parliamentary committee on Thursday. The decision to pick a European supplier is due to Washington's unwillingness to supply Seoul's first choice missile, the U.S. made JASSM, a person familiar with the plans later told Reuters and is a rare decision for a military that primarily picks U.S.-made equipment. The decision comes as South Korea is...

US reveals details of F-15SE, F-35A bids for South Korea The US Department of Defense formally notified the US Congress of potential sales of the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to South Korea on 29 March. The two aircraft are on offer to the Asian nation as part of South Korea's F-X III fighter competition. The Eurofighter Typhoon is a third contender for the 60 aircraft tender. For the potential F-35 sale, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says that South Korea could order 60 conventional A-model aircraft and associated support equipment for $10.8...

Japan unveils new antisubmarine patrol planes English.news.cn 2013-03-26 21:03:13 TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) received the first two of a fleet of next generation P-1 antisubmarine patrol aircraft on Tuesday, with the planes scheduled to be deployed at Atsugi Air Base in Kanagawa Prefecture later this month, local media reported. The official delivery ceremony held earlier in the day in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, heralds the beginning of the JMSDF's plans to acquire seven of the high-tech planes to be deployed by March 2014 and a total of 70 P-1s in the long-run, officials said....

Cancelled: BritainÂ’s High-Mach Heartbreak The TSR-2 bomber was a case of aeronautical genius foiled by political foolishness. For an American teenager, 1963 was a great year to be living in London. Thanks to my dadÂ’s job in international marketing, I was a Beatles fan six months before my pals back home knew there was such a thing as a Beatle. And as a budding airplane buff, I had a front-row seat for the emergence of another symbol of British national pride: the TSR-2 supersonic bomber, a twin-engine, low-level hotshot that I thought was the coolest-looking airplane ever. Shivering in my...

Embraer Officially Opens A-29 Assembly Facility in Florida Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other political leaders joined Embraer president and CEO Frederico Curado on March 26 to cut the ribbon on a 40,000-sq-ft hangar at Jacksonville International Airport that Embraer will use to assemble the A-29 Super Tucano for the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) program. The Air Force awarded Embraer and its teammate Sierra Nevada, the U.S. proponent for the LAS bid, a $427 million contract on February 27 to supply 20 Super Tucanos for light air support, reconnaissance support and training of the Afghan military. The...

Turkey to replace F-16s with local jets Turkey eyes replacing F-16s with locally produced fighter jets by 2023, Turkey’s defense undersecretary said yesterday. “We’re working on the conceptual design of a new fighter jet that will replace our F-16 fighters,” Defense Industry Undersecretary Murad Bayar said yesterday on the sidelines of the two-day International Air&Space Power (ICAP) Conference being held in Istanbul. Recently, Turkish arms manufacturer TAI has signed a technical assistance deal with Swedish Saab on technical assistance to build a fighter jet, as Daily News reported. Turkish officials have been in talks with Saab (and with Korean Aerospace...

Japan's military chief says F-35 is "best fighter" (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighters are the best choice for Japan's future operational needs, the nation's highest-ranking uniformed officer said on Wednesday, in a vote of confidence for the state-of-the-art U.S. warplane. His comments follow reports that some nations that have placed orders for the F-35s may reconsider their plans. Shigeru Iwasaki, chief of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces' Joint Staff, also said advancement of North Korea's arms technology in a series of nuclear and missile tests posed a serious threat to Japan, but its missile defense system should provide the country...

Ten years ago today: the U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat’s attack on Saddam’s yacht Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was a huge success for the U.S. Navy’s F-14 squadrons: over Iraq, Tomcat pilots and radar intercept officers (RIO) flew different kinds of missions such as air defense, precision bombing, FAC (A) – forward air control airborne, strike coordination and reconnaissance (SCAR) and photo-reconnaissance. Among the squadrons that took part to OIF there was the VF-2 “Bounty Hunters” that were embarked on the USS Constellation (CV-64). Some of their Tomcats were equipped with the Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) for recce missions,...

China eyes $3.5 billion Russian arms deal despite ire over Sukhoi copy (Reuters) - China is seeking renewed deliveries of advanced weapons from Russia with a $3.5 billion deal for fighters and submarines in the pipeline despite lingering resentment in Moscow over Chinese copying of its military technology. China's state media reported this week that Moscow had agreed to supply 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and four Amur-class conventional submarines to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which would make it the first major arms deal between the two nations in almost 10 years. Russia has not yet confirmed the deal and...

Bangladesh Plans to Buy 24 Russian Jet Trainers LANGKAWI (Malaysia), March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Bangladesh is planning to buy 24 Yak-130 Mitten jet trainers on $1 billion credit from Russia, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday. “Bangladesh has a whole list of arms it wants, but so far that is a state secret. I will reveal one little secret: The purchase of Yak-130 warplanes is a very significant subject of negotiations between Russia and Bangladesh,” Rosoboronexport Deputy Chief Viktor Komardin said at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition (LIMA-2013) that opened in Malaysia on Tuesday. He...

Seoul faces tough choice in fighter procurement Lockheed Martin hints at less than $125m price tag for Korea, confident of F-35’s delivery time FORT WORTH, Texas ― A decade ago, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 was the world’s most sought-after warplane in the making for its all-aspect stealth and next-generation capabilities. But that confidence has been eroded by the discovery of defects, surging costs and delays in its development. Skepticism has grown in the U.S. over the $60 billion acquisition program, with some deriding it as a money-guzzling project kept alive partly due to the more than 130,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs that...

India to get US-2 seaplanes, but for civilian use Kyodo Mar 27, 2013 Japan is arranging to approve the export of amphibious search and rescue aircraft for civilian use to India, a move aimed at skirting the nation’s arms-export ban, government sources said. The move represents Japan’s efforts to promote exchanges with India — one of the region’s emerging powers — while putting pressure on China, another Asian power, as Beijing seeks to boost its military clout in regional waters. It would be the first export of the US-2, which is manufactured by ShinMaywa Industries Ltd. and used by the...

The Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II aircraft will be based at RAF Marham, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed, securing the future of the station. But other stations will be affected in a "rationalisation" of the defence estate, ministers have said. The fighter aircraft, which has continued to hit recent headlines due to design issues, is to be the most advanced jet ever delivered to the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence said. RAF Marham will now receive additional investment and infrastructure so that it can become the main operating base for the aircraft which will also operate from the...