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At the 13th Baltic Military Fair BALT-MILITARY-EXPO 2014 currently held in Gdansk, Poland, Kongsberg shows for the first time a concept of a submarine launched variant of its NSM (Naval Strike Missile). The missile is based on the JSM (the variant specifically designed to fit inside the F35 JSF jet's weapons bay). Kongsberg with its partner Nammo will design a specific booster to launch the missile after breaking out of the water. Navy Recognition learned that the missile itself may be longer in size than the JSM in order to give it more range. This will be decided during the...

Lockheed: Marine Joint Strike Fighter on Final Approach to Initial Operational Capability By: Dave Majumdar Published: June 10, 2014 6:25 PM Updated: June 10, 2014 6:26 PM A Marine F-35B joint strike fighter lifts off from the runway during the first short take-off and vertical landing mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on Oct. 25 2013. US Marine Corps Photo A Marine F-35B joint strike fighter lifts off from the runway during the first short take-off and vertical landing mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on Oct. 25 2013. US Marine Corps Photo Lockheed Martin has begun testing...

Sikorsky and Boeing Team Submit New Army Helicopter Design By: Dave Majumdar Published: June 17, 2014 2:00 PM Updated: June 17, 2014 2:00 PM A joint Sikorsky-Boeing team has submitted their initial design for a new high-speed compound helicopter called the SB-1 Defiant to the U.S. Army. “Last week we submitted our initial design and risk report to the customer,” said Doug Shidler, one of the two co-program directors for the industry team, during a Tuesday teleconference. “Next week we will be conducting our initial design and risk review with them.” The high-speed compound helicopter design is the team’s entry...

Eurofighter will by year-end make is final proof-of-concept test flight on an aerodynamic modification kit that promises to improve the combat aircraft’s subsonic turn rate by 15%. Adding leading edge root extensions and extended trailing edge flaps, and reshaping the side-of-cockpit ILS antennae covers as 70° delta strakes should improve the aircraft’s agility for close-quarters combat. Laurie Hilditch, head of future capabilities at Eurofighter, says the modification kit should give the aircraft the sort of “knife-fight in a phone box” turning capability enjoyed by rivals such as Boeing’s F/A-18E/F or the Lockheed Martin F-16, without sacrificing the transonic and supersonic...

Boeing is formulating a concept for a hybrid variant of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet equipped with the electronic signal detection capabilities of the EA-18G Growler as it seeks to attract orders for new aircraft and upgrades to older models. The resulting aircraft would resemble an E/A-18G that lacks ALQ-99 jamming pods for electronic attack, preserves the ALQ-218 electronic receiver and adds weapons now only carried by the F/A-18E/F, says Boeing vice-president Mike Gibbons. “That hybrid just starts with the simple notion of take the sensor suite of the Growler and move it to a basically strike platform and then you...

Blue Angels report calls out fighter pilot culture Jun. 25, 2014 - 04:04PM | The unique structure of the Blue Angels, who fly without an executive officer and vote to select new members, may have contributed to the lewd behavior outlined in a Navy report, experts said. Here, then-Cmdr. Greg McWherter, center, leads the team after its return to Pensacola, Fla., from training in California in 2009. (Katie King/Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal) By Meghann Myers Staff writer When news broke that Capt. Gregory McWherter’s high-flying career had essentially ended, support came flooding in from thousands of sailors and civilians who...

Turkey has requested bids from global motor companies GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney to present bids to power TurkeyÂ’s future fighter jet. The defense authorities, who mull to complete the program by 2023, see the engines as the first step for the ambitious program TurkeyÂ’s aerospace industry and procurement authorities have decided to first choose a foreign-made engine for the indigenous fighter jet that the countryÂ’s local industry will develop, and then finalize its design. A senior aide of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan said Turkish scientists had decided that choosing the engine and then proceeding with the program...

China’s first aircraft carrier—the refurbished Ukrainian-built flattop Liaoning—entered testing in 2011. The People’s Liberation Army Navy is building a second carrier itself—a conventionally-powered vessel like Liaoning. A third carrier currently in the planning stage could be bigger than her two predecessors—as big as an American Nimitz-class supercarrier, in fact—plus nuclear-powered, just like U.S. flattops. Atomic propulsion confers greater sailing range and supports more sensors, weaponry and other systems. Lots of countries have one or two aircraft carriers. But none build flattops as big and capable as America’s 11 Nimitzs and new Ford-class CVNs. Evidence indicates that’s about to change. In...

ISIS has shot up dozens of helicopters, so Baghdad is going shopping In the span of a few short years, Iraq went from having a nonexistent air force to having one just barely getting on its feet. Now Baghdad’s shaky flying corps is getting into real trouble as it tries to contain a worsening civil war. Iraq’s front-line helicopter gunships are taking so much punishment, the government is growing desperate for replacements. On June 20, the Czech defense ministry revealed that Iraq approached Prague with an offer to buy up to seven Mi-35M Hind gunships—the export version of the famed...

The U.S. House on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted an amendment to the 2015 defense appropriation bill that would prohibit the Pentagon from spending any money to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II jet — a mainstay of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. But the fate of the venerated “Warthog” close-air-support jet remains far from certain, as the Senate still must act, and the issue will likely be hammered out in conference committee. The amendment’s bipartisan adoption was a victory for Rep. Ron Barber, a Tucson Democrat, and other A-10 supporters, who were chagrined when the House Appropriations Committee left A-10 funding out of...

Following doubts over the timeline for the integration of MBDA-developed Brimstone 2 missiles on the Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoons, the UK Ministry of Defence has contracted BAE Systems to study the possibility of accelerating the process. In February the National Audit Office released its Major Projects Report 2013, which claimed the integration of the air-to-surface Brimstone 2 on the Typhoon would not come to pass until 2021. This would result in a two year capability gap, following the retirement of the Panavia Tornado GR4 in 2019. The £5 million ($8.5 million) contract for an initial study will facilitate an...

The French air force has retired its last squadron of Dassault Mirage F1s from operational use, with the type due to make its final appearance during Bastille day celebrations next month. Mont-de-Marsan-based reconnaissance unit 2/33 “Savoie” staged a farewell event on 13 June, with four of its 14 aircraft appearing with retrospective colour schemes or special tail markings. The squadron’s 11 single-seat Mirage F1CRs and three two-seat F1Bs are to be transferred to Châteaudun for storage and eventual disposal, with six to be maintained long enough to allow four to participate in a Bastille day flypast over Paris. France had...

Su-30s would beat F-15s every time. ButÂ….. We recently explained how, 10 years ago, Exercise Cope India put the Indian Air Force Su-30 against U.S. Air Force F-15C jets with results that are still open to debate: since the drills took place during F-22 budget reviews, some analysts affirm the Air Force intentionally accepted the challenging ROE (Rules Of Engagement) to gain more Raptors. Others claim this version of the story was invented to try to save face after the Indians achieved an impressive 9:1 kill ratio. Even if we might never know the truth, itÂ’s undeniable that, at least...

<p>A North Korean propaganda film has revealed footage of a newly developed cruise missile, according to experts.</p> <p>The missile is believed to be similar to the Russian KH-35 missile, which came into service in 2003.</p> <p>Cruise missiles are short-range weapons guided by on-board computers, used to attack specific targets. The majority of the North's known missiles are much larger, longer-range missiles.</p>

Saab believes co-developing Tejas Mark II would end need for Rafale More than two years after India's ministry of defence (MoD) chose to buy 126 Dassault Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF), the world's biggest fighter contract swings in the wind. With no deal in sight after 28 months of haggling with Dassault, two of the losing vendors -Eurofighter and Saab - believe they could yet come out tops. Eurofighter GmbH, whose Typhoon fighter narrowly lost out to the Rafale, still retains a senior executive in New Delhi. This is to allow Eurofighter - the official runner-up -...

The government has approved the raising of three squadrons of the iconic American-made Apache attack helicopters for the Indian Army. This marks a big win for the Army in its epic war with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the control of helicopter gunships. "The Army will get 39 Apache attack helicopters at an estimated cost of over $2.5 billion after the first tranche of 22 of these gunships, currently being negotiated with the US, is delivered to the IAF," disclosed an exultant officer at Army Headquarters. All future acquisitions of attack helicopters will thereafter be for the Army, an...

Tupolev is upgrading Tu-22Ms for ops in Russia’s expanding sphere of influence There’s no bomber quite like a Backfire. In many ways, Russia’s Tu-22M3 is a Cold War throwback. An intermediate-range, variable-geometry machine, the Tupolev design really gave NATO planners headaches in the 1970s and ’80s. If the Cold War had turned hot, Tu-22Ms would have attacked high-profile targets including American aircraft carrier battle groups in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The bombers also would have struck European ports and key airfields, with the aim of severing supply routes to the U.S. Today, the Backfire is the only supersonic bomber in...

The Boeing B-52 - sometimes known as the Stratofortress - is a long-range, jet-powered strategic bomber which is widely expected to prop up the US Air Force well beyond the year 2045 Before our marathon eight-hour flight Captain Thomas Hyde, the commanding officer of one of the B-52 bombers, briefly describes the mission. He says we will be doing a number of simulated bombing runs around what he calls "the island". He makes it sound like a short training flight over a remote abandoned outcrop of rock somewhere in the North Sea. But the island he is referring to is...

IAI's refuel tanker By Jun Ji-hye Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is moving to join the competition to win a contract to supply the nation's Air Force with four in-flight refueling tankers. IAI's participation is creating a three-way battle, along with Boeing and Airbus, who are also bidding to win the 1.4 trillion won ($1.4 billion) acquisition project. The Israeli company held a media briefing session in Seoul Wednesday and stressed that its B767 MMTT (Multi Mission Tanker Transport) is the comprehensive solution to the air ability of the Air Force. "The IAI is proposing the pre-owned B767-300ER to be the...

The U.S. Air Force has sent its most advanced bomber to Europe for the first time, amid the still-festering Ukraine crisis. Two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, the most sophisticated warplanes ever employed in combat by the U.S., will be based for a "short-term deployment" at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England 90 miles (150 km) west of London -- just three hours flight away from the Russian border.