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SEVILLE, Spain — The A400M military transport plane that has been causing Airbus and European defense ministers budgetary and logistical headaches finally took to the skies for its maiden flight on Friday. But even as the hulking gray airlifter took off from the Spanish city of Seville, defense officials are meeting on the sidelines of the event to decide how to continue with the much delayed and over budget project. Louis Gallois, head of Airbus parent EADS, said he found the takeoff "more moving than I expected. It's enormous. We've been waiting a long time." [...] The 127 ton (140...

It flies! Airbus' hulking A400M has maiden flight The A400M military transport plane that has been causing Airbus and European defense ministers budgetary and logistical headaches finally took to the skies for its maiden flight on Friday. But even as the hulking, gray airlifter took off from the Spanish city of Seville, defense officials were to meet on the ground to decide how to continue with the much delayed and over budget project. The A400M program was launched six years ago with an order for 180 planes from seven governments — Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey. The...

Mirage math: Israel better than France SUJAN DUTTA New Delhi, Dec. 10: Israel is close to swinging an order to upgrade French-origin Mirage 2000 aircraft with the Indian Air Force (IAF) despite France’s charm offensive in hosting the Indian military on the Champs Elysees. Tel Aviv has offered to upgrade the frontline fighter aircraft, of which the IAF has three squadrons, at rates nearly 40 per cent less than the price quoted by the French. Israel, whose chief of defence staff returns to Tel Aviv after visiting New Delhi this week for the first time since diplomatic relations were established...

PAF gets first airborne early warning aircraft By Iftikhar A. Khan Wednesday, 09 Dec, 2009 ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force on Tuesday received first of its four Saab-2000 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft from Sweden. According to an official announcement, the aircraft landed at one of main operating bases, marking a major milestone in PAF’s overall modernisation plan. With the induction of the Swedish system, PAF has become one of the few air forces in the world to have Airborne Early Warning capability. Besides detecting high- and medium-altitude aircraft, this state-of-the-art system is also capable of detecting low-level flying...

East meets West – Pakistan‘s Fighter Aircraft US-built fighter aircraft operating next to Chinese combat jets 08:02 GMT, December 8, 2009 defpro.com | Not many modern armed forces unite in their inventory, and particularly among their key assets, technology from two – in political terms – entirely opposite origins. It is more common in the countries of the former Soviet bloc where, since the fall of the iron curtain, Western technology slowly but ever increasingly found its way into countries primarily equipped with Russian weapon systems. In the past two decades the Middle East and southern countries of the Asian...

What's blue and white, squiggly and suddenly appears in the sky? If you know the answer, pop it on a postcard and send it to the people of Norway, where this mysterious light display baffled residents yesterday. Curiously, it appears to be unconnected with the aurora borealis, or northern lights, the natural magnetic phenomena that can often be viewed in that part of the world. . . . The mystery began when a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain in the north of the country. It stopped mid-air, then began to move in circles. Within seconds...

People are freaking out all over Norway because of what you are seeing here. According to Norwegian news outlets, the spooky giant spiral was seen, photographed, and recorded on video from all over the country. Updated with video. Could it all be a hoax? Maybe it's a massive joke, but all kinds of Norwegian news sites are reporting on it. According to NKR—Norway's national TV channel—it could be related to a rocket fired from a Russian submarine in the White Sea. The Russians are denying any part on it at this at the moment. Nick Banbury, a witness located...

The U.S. Air Force has acknowledged that it is developing and testing a new, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — a drone with a sleek, stealth design that will be deployed for military reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Aeronautics fans have nicknamed the aircraft "The Beast of Kandahar," as it was apparently spotted over the skies of Afghanistan. Industry observers speculate it is sophisticated enough to gather aerial intelligence over Iran without detection, perhaps keeping track of the Islamic Republic's emerging nuclear program.

New Missions for Pilotless Aircraft by W. Thomas Smith Jr. (more by this author) Posted 12/09/2009 ET Two-and-a-half years ago when I was in Iraq, I remember -- among the sound of mortars, crackling gunfire, thundering helicopters, roaring jets, and the occasional (thankfully distant) IED explosions -- the somewhat-comforting sound of the remotely piloted little reconnaissance airplanes we’ve come to know as UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Comforting, I say, because I knew that as long as those UAVs were up there, bad guys on the ground (who I and others could not see) were either being watched, having their freedom-of-movement...

MiG Corporation is 70 years old On December 8, the Russian aircraft corporation MiG, formerly called the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau, celebrates its 70th anniversary. MiG, one of the most popular Soviet aircraft brands, was known all over the world and came to symbolize just about any Soviet warplane, except long-range bombers, in the West during the Cold War. And in fact, MiG's glory was well-deserved. The MiG Design Bureau pioneered the development of post-war turbojet fighters in the Soviet Union. Its first jet fighter, the I-300 later designated the MiG-9 Fargo, performed its maiden flight on April 24, 1946 and...

The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, "Thunderbirds," has announced its 2010 air show schedule. The team's 57th show season is scheduled to take them to more than 65 shows in 27 states and Canada. The 2010 schedule is as follows: March 20-21: Davis Monthan AFB, AZ 27-28: Maxwell AFB, AL April 10-11: Eglin AFB, FL 17-18: Lakeland, FL 24-25: Barksdale AFB, LA May 1 Dyess AFB, TX 2 Altus AFB, OK 8-9 Shaw AFB, SC 15-16 Columbus AFB, MS 22 Grand Forks AFB, ND 26: USAFA, CO 29-30 Janesville, WI June 5-6 Ocean City, MD 12-13 Quebec City, Canada...

SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and its mothership, VMS Eve (WhiteKnightTwo) herald a new era in commercial space flight with daily space tourism flights set to commence from Spaceport America in New Mexico after test program and all required US government licens Virgin Founder, Sir Richard Branson and SpaceshipOne (SS1) designer, Burt Rutan, today reveal SS2 to the public for the first time since construction of the world’s first manned commercial spaceship began in 2007. SS2 has been designed to take many thousands of private astronauts into space after test programming and all required U.S. government licensing has been completed. The unveiling represents...

Israel to India: Buy F-16s, not Swedish Gripen fighter jets By YAAKOV LAPPIN Over the past year, Israel has advised India to purchase American F-16 fighter jets rather than Swedish-made Gripen warplanes. The F-16 has been in direct competition with the JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft and India has been mulling over which plane to purchase for the Indian Air Force (IAI). Israel defense officials advised their Indian counterparts to purchase the F16s, telling them that the US warplane performed better and was better priced.

Lockheed Martin has marked successful entry into low rate initial production on the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The first production units have been delivered to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, TX, for integration onto the aircraft. Embedded into the F-35's fuselage with an innovative faceted sapphire window, the low-drag, stealthy EOTS is the world's first and only sensor combining forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality. The F-35 EOTS will provide Lightning II pilots with significant air-to-air and air-to-ground situational awareness in a single compact and completely passive sensor. "Our team looks forward to meeting...

It's been a long wait—in some ways, more than 50 years—but in April 2010, the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to launch an Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the newest U.S. spacecraft, the unmanned X-37, to orbit. The X-37 embodies the Air Force's desire for an operational spaceplane, a wish that dates to the 1950s, the era of the rocket-powered X-15 and X-20. In other ways, though, the X-37 will be picking up where another U.S. spaceplane, NASA's space shuttle, leaves off.

This column is the third in this series on the best fighter ever put in service by any country at any time in history, the F-22 Raptor. To briefly summarize the first two columns: The F-22 Raptor is the most superior fighter in the world. Its key feature is its stealth quality, which allows it to run undetected by enemy radar. Its primary purpose is to gain control of the sky above a battlefield and hold it. It can opportunistically attack ground targets, although that mission is the main role of the currently planned multi-service, multi-purpose stealth F-35 Lightning II...

THE elite RAAF jets used by Kevin Rudd and other VIPs have suffered mid-air emergencies, catering bungles and mechanical mishaps. Senior ministers have faced delays of up to five hours because of on-board fires, "errors" with aviation fuel and even bogged aircraft. Confidential briefings obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Governor-General Quentin Bryce and other VIPs have suffered a litany of problems with the VIP fleet. Families Minister Jenny Macklin was involved in a mid-air emergency last December when her VIP jet was forced to abort a Canberra to Sydney flight. Another time, a bouquet...

The secret is out. The U.S. Air Force has confirmed the existence of the “Beast of Kandahar” UAV that was seen flying out of Afghanistan in late 2007. The jet aircraft – a tailless flying wing with sensor pods faired into the upper surface of each wing – is the RQ-170 Sentinel, developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. An Air Force official revealed to Aviation Week Friday afternoon that the service is “developing a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces.”

Tanker Wars: Round 3 Starts by Jed Babbin, Human Events, 11/19/2009 Last year, the Government Accountability Office overturned the Air Force’s decision to buy the replacement for its aged KC-135 airborne tanker from the European Air Defense Systems (EADS)-Northrop Grumman consortium that offered the French Airbus-330. The GAO’s decision, as I wrote extensively then, was based in large part on the Airbus’s physical limitations. The aircraft simply cannot fly the tanker mission in accordance with longstanding Air Force requirements (read why). The Air Force’s decision to buy the Airbus despite those failures was such an incident of intellectual whoredom that...

The existence of a new secret plane photographed this week has been confirmed by the United States Air Force. The secret aircraft now has an official denomination: The RQ-170 Sentinel, a flying wing developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. The RQ-170 is a stealthy unmanned aircraft designed to "provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces." It's flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, under the Air Combat Command's 432d Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The aircraft has a 65-foot wingspan, with a fat body and a blended wing design. It's...

When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hangar. But according to multiple sources, White House aides demanded the plane be changed to an older F-15 fighter because they didn't want Obama speaking in front of the F-22, a controversial program he fought hard to end. "White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form," one source close to the unit relayed. Stephen Lee, a...

What's wrong with IAF's Sukhoi? New Delhi December 4, 2009 Even if temporary, the grounding of Sukhoi- 30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force ( IAF) has opened up a huge gap in the country's air defence system. Our Sukhois are currently located in the following manner - two squadrons in Pune, Maharashtra, two in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, and one in Tezpur, Assam. A sixth squadron was forming up in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and it was from this squadron that the aircraft that crashed this week belonged. Each squadron has roughly 20 aircraft and the total India has is about 105...

When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger. But according to multiple sources, White House aides demanded the plane be changed to an older F-15 fighter because they didn't want Obama speaking in front of the F-22, a controversial program he fought hard to end. "White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form," one source close to the unit relayed. Stephen Lee, a...

EXCLUSIVE: Raytheon adapts AIM-9X for air-to-ground mission By Stephen Trimble Raytheon has adapted the heat-seeking AIM-9X to strike moving targets on the ground or in the water, adding another new capability for the formerly air-to-air-only missile. The modification allows the same AIM-9X to strike both air and ground targets. Jeff White, Raytheon's business development manager for AIM-9X, declines to describe the modification in detail, but says it involves only software changes. The AIM-9X infrared seeker, proximity fuse and blast/fragmentation warhead remain unchanged. During a 23 September Gulf of Mexico test, a US Air Force F-15C fired the air-to-surface AIM-9X and...

‘Natasha’ alerted Sukhoi pilots of fire Rahul Singh, Hindustan Times The second-ever crash of a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet in Rajasthan on Monday may have been caused by engine fire, air force sources said, ruling out the possibility of human error. A female voice warning system in the twin engine Su-30 cockpit, called Natasha in the Indian Air Force, alerted the pilots about the engine fire. The air force sources said on Tuesday, “The pilots also spotted the fire and took a decision to eject. The cause of the fire will be established by a Court of Inquiry.” The plane’s flight...

Passenger Jets Were 200 Vertical Feet Apart. the FAA is investigating a Nov. 23rd incident where two passenger jets nearly collided in the airspace over Colorado. the two planes merged on Air Traffic Control radar at the same altitude and in the same moment. "They were within a blink of an eye of colliding," and "It was the ugliest thing I've ever seen in all my years." The incident is classified as an "operational error" ...a mistake made by an air traffic controller. Several planes were en route to Denver on an arrival path from the northeast, called "Sayge Six."...

The Australian defense department’s uphill struggle to control acquisition programs is progressing, but it is far from reaching fruition. The government’s decision to go ahead with the purchase of up to 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will test what lessons have been learned from delays on airborne early warning aircraft, tankers and helicopters. Schedule performance has long been a thorn in the side of the department, which in recent years has rolled out a range of reform measures to try to curb these costly failings. Even more efforts are on the drawing board, in large part out of concern that...

When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger. But according to multiple sources, White House aides demanded the plane be changed to an older F-15 fighter because they didn't want Obama speaking in front of the F-22, a controversial program he fought hard to end. "White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form," one source close to the unit relayed. Stephen Lee, a...

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has grounded its entire fleet of Sukhoi fighter jets after one crashed during a routine training exercise in Rajasthan state. > Monday's crash was the second such incident involving a Sukhoi fighter jet this year. >

<p>WAUKGAN -- A historic World War II F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane was raised from Lake Michigan on Monday and was greeted by the CEO who financed the operation, the grandson of the pilot and the son of the man who built the airplane to challenge Japanese Zeros.</p>

Chinese aero manufacturers open up to engage export market By Reuben F Johnson 30 November 2009 Over the last month China's National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), the state-licensed aircraft export sales monopoly, along with its industrial partner, Aviation Industries of China, have both demonstrated an unusual degree of openness in displaying data on their products. This willingness of Chinese officials to speak at length on both of these areas seems to have coincided with the 60th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) on 11 November. China's military aircraft industry has been steadily developing a line...

As if Airbus and Boeing didn’t have enough to worry about already, the looming debt crisis in Dubai has cast a shadow over a backlog of aircraft orders, worth more than $60 billion, from Dubai, Inc. The biggest – but by no means the only – example is Emirates, Dubai’s government-controlled carrier. It has more than $30 billion worth of planes on order from Airbus, including 53 of the double-decker A380, for which Emirates is by far the largest customer. Emirates also has placed 70 orders for Airbus’s forthcoming A350 widebody. And Airbus has outstanding orders from state-controlled leasing outfit...

For the inspiration behind the next generation of avionics, just look around you; it is to be found in the consumer electronics we use every day. The touchscreen interactivity and broadband connectivity of today’s smart phones and laptops is poised to enter the flight deck. The signs are already here. Garmin International has introduced touchscreens with its G3000 integrated flight deck, selected for the HondaJet and PiperJet light business jets. In addition to wide-screen liquid crystal displays, the G3000 has a pair of vehicle management system controllers with touch-sensitive screens and desktop-like menu icons. Garmin says the user interface draws...

This autumn, China and the U.S. began moving toward greater cooperation in space. As China lifted a little more of the veil covering its space program, U.S. officials expressed a greater desire to work together in exploring space. Presidential science adviser John Holdren floated the idea of increased cooperation in human spaceflight last spring. The Augustine committee raised the idea again, and Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao pledged to deepen space cooperation last week . Unfortunately, there are ample reasons for the U.S. to keep its distance. While the U.S. explicitly decided to separate its space exploration activities from...

Rolls-Royce Offers to Power Korean Trainer, Fighter UK-led Global Engine Giant Seeks Broader Ties With Korea By Jung Sung-ki Korea Times Correspondent BRISTOL & DERBY, United Kingdom ― When it comes to fighter aircraft or warships, ordinary people, in general, first think of their design, speed and armament. At least for experts and operators, however, the engine is the most important part, as it accounts for about 30 to 40 percent of the performance. Due to super-sophisticated engine technologies, just a couple of companies in the world are able to build and provide engines, and Rolls-Royce, the U.K.-led global power...

China Promises New, Advanced Fighter David A. Fulghum/Washington Douglas Barrie/London China has the resources and technology--some of it obtained quasi-legally and illegally--to build a fifth-generation fighter, say U.S. Air Force and intelligence officials. But Beijing's aerospace industry may be missing key skills needed for it to match the performance of advanced, Western-built combat aircraft. What neither Beijing nor the Western defense community yet knows is whether Chinese technicians can generate the systems engineering and integration capabilities required to actually build in large production numbers and arm advanced aircraft with features similar to those of the aging B-2 and F-22 or...

Indian president becomes first woman leader to fly fighter jet Indian President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday became the first woman leader in history to fly in an Air Force fighter jet. Patil, 74, left the Lohegaon Air Force base near Pune in western India on a two-seat Su-30MKI for a 30-minute flight, where she was decked out in a G-force grey suit for her 0.9 Mac (700-800 km/hr) flight. Patil's fighter jet was escorted by two additional fighters so she could get a feel of how the planes fly and look in tactical operations. Her flight was broadcast live over...

The U.S. Air Force has backed away from developing a new electronic warfare aircraft. Now it will rely on UAVs equipped with jammers, and electronic jamming pods on non-specialized (as jamming aircraft) warplanes. This was not the preferred approach. Last year, the air force revived a program to convert some of its B-52 heavy bombers into radar jamming aircraft. This would be done by equipping the bombers with jamming pods (that are similar in appearance to large bombs). The air force planned to buy 24 sets of pods, for a force of 34 B-52s. Each pair of pods would cost...

Pakistan rolls out jet fighter produced with Chinese assistance Islamabad - Pakistan on Monday celebrated the rollout of a multi-purpose jet fighter manufactured in the country under a joint venture with China. The first locally produced JF-17 Thunder made its debut at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, a small garrison town some 65 kilometres north-west of Islamabad. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani described the launch as "a milestone" that placed Pakistan among an elite club of nations that manufacture fighter aircraft. Pakistan had signed a development contract with China's Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation in June 1999, and the co-produced...

Indian Navy keen to buy newer generation aircraft By Gulshan R. Luthra New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) The Indian Navy has floated a Request for Information (RFI) for a newer generation of aircraft which can operate from the two indigenous aircraft carriers it will commission over the next 10 years. The Ministry of Defence and industry sources indicate that the RFI, issued recently, is of a “generic” nature, looking for newer platforms and airborne technologies and what is on offer from some of the well-known manufacturers. The US Boeing and French Dassault have confirmed receipt of the RFI for their...

RESCUE: Snowmachiners come to aid of passengers, including infant twins. Without a word, with the plane at 4,500 feet, pilot Bradley Amos tapped something on the instrument panel. Seven passengers -- including twin 8-month-old girls -- were in the cabin. Soon came a loud popping sound. The plane's single propeller suddenly stopped turning and the smell of engine smoke filtered past the seats. The Cessna 207 glided without power above the tundra in Southwest Alaska. That was the low point of the Wednesday night flight. Here's the highlight: Within what felt like two minutes, the plane was on the ground....

One of the few concrete signs of cooperation to emerge from this week's U.S.-China summit could boost Beijing's drive to become a global aircraft maker. President Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to push for closer technical collaboration and eventual U.S. safety approval for China's ARJ21 commuter jet. That amounts to both a symbolic and practical step to counter Beijing's growing frustration with U.S. aviation policy and U.S. restrictions on the purchase of certain technologies. The high-profile U.S. initiative is especially significant because China's own safety regulators are still a year or more away from approving the 70-to-100-passenger aircraft being developed by...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 18, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] in May demonstrated the ability of mobile laser weapon systems to perform a unique mission: track and destroy small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). During the U.S. Air Force-sponsored tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, Calif., the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), which was developed by Boeing under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory, used a single, high-brightness laser beam to shoot down five UAVs at various ranges. Laser Avenger, a Boeing-funded initiative, also shot down a UAV. Representatives of the...

Now that the V-22s have landed in Afghanistan, it’s time to take a look at how they will be used. Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who works for the Marines — among other clients — got a chance to interview the flight crews of VMM-261, headed by Lt. Col. A. J. Bianca, about the concepts of operations they expected to follow. We’ve got links to the interviews, an interview with Laird and links to video of the V-22 teams undergoing deployment to Afghanistan and some of their training. The top benefit of the V-22 in Afghanistan is a simple one,...

Dubai 09: Lockheed adds probe to F-16 to attract India By Stephen Trimble Lockheed Martin is to add an all-new capability for the F-16 specifically to entice a massive order by the Indian air force. Lockheed has designed and demonstrated a probe refuelling system that extends from the right conformal fuel tank of the F-16IN, a proposed variant of the Block 60 tailored for India's 126-aircraft medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement. The new probe-and-drogue refuelling capability was demonstrated to Indian pilots during flight trials performed in September in India, said Rick Groesch, Lockheed's regional vice-president for Middle East international...

In conjunction with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. Pacific Fleet ships and crews successfully completed a series of exercises to test the second generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system, Aegis BMD 4.0.1. This set of four exercises, designated FTX-06 Events 1-4, involved the tracking and simulated engagements of a variety of ballistic missile targets launched over the past several months from the Kauai Test Facility, co-located on the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands, Kauai. The Aegis BMD system is a critical component of the nation’s overall Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). FTX-06 Event 1, conducted...

MoD may sell aircraft carrier to India to limit cuts Sale would leave Royal Navy with just one replacement Tim Webb The Observer, Sunday 15 November 2009 Article historyOne of Britain's new £2bn aircraft carriers could be sold off under cost-cutting plans being considered by the Ministry of Defence. India has lodged a firm expression of interest, the Observer has learned. The sale of one of the two 65,000-tonne vessels would leave the Royal Navy with a single carrier and could force Britain to borrow from the French fleet, which itself has only one carrier and is reluctant to build...

China Close To Testing Next-Gen Fighter Bradley Perrett/Beijing A Chinese fighter of nominally the same technology generation as the Lockheed Martin F-22 will soon enter flight testing, while a jet airlifter larger than the Airbus A400M should be unveiled by year-end. Beijing’s fighter announcement suggests a serious failing in U.S. intelligence assessments, mocking a July 16 statement of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that China would have no fifth-generation fighters by 2020. Industrial competition looks more remote than strategic competition, however, since China will want to fill domestic requirements before offering the aircraft abroad, even if it judges export sales...

While Israel is interested in purchasing the fifth-generation stealth Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin, it will likely hinge its order on US acceptance of its demand that Israeli defense industries be allowed to participate in the aircraft's production, senior defense officials said Thursday. On Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and discussed potential Israeli involvement in the production of the JSF, also known as the F-35. In the past, Israeli aerospace companies have been integrated into the production of aircraft purchased by the IAF. During their meeting, as well as a meeting...

A former engineer for defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. claims in a federal whistleblower lawsuit that the company knowingly used "defective" stealth coatings when building its F-22 Raptor stealth jets. Darrol Olsen, a stealth engineer who was fired by Lockheed in 1999, claims Lockheed "falsely certified" the coatings between September 1995 and June 1999, saying they had passed stealth tests and concealing results that showed otherwise. Olsen said in the lawsuit he was told to "stay out of it" when he complained to his superiors. The whistleblower suit was originally filed in October 2007 in California and was unsealed earlier...