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A model of China's J-15 carrier-based fighter displayed by an unknown ship design & research institute indicates has revealed that the PLA Navy is modifying the landing gear of the fighter for future aircraft carriers designed with catapults, reports the state-run Global Times. The landing gear retraction jack of the new J-15 seems to be thicker compared to earlier models, said the report. The nose gear seems to be designed for catapults and arresting gear. Since the Liaoning, China's only carrier in service, is not equipped with a catapult, all J-15 fighters have to be pulled to the afterdeck for...

Austria is a tiny, politically neutral country with no nearby enemies. And yet the Austrian air force possesses 15 high-performance Typhoon jet fighters. Not only are the twin-engine, supersonic warplanes arguably unnecessary in light of Vienna’s defense needs—they’re also too expensive for the government’s modest military budget. The 15 Typhoons rarely fly. And when they do, they carry only a tiny fraction of the weaponry that other Typhoon operators—the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia—routinely hang on the high-tech fighters. And in stark contrast to other countries—which usually employ twice as many pilots as they have fighters, thus ensuring...

The Hornet Ball (Strike Fighter Ball Pacific) is an annual event consisting of all the West coast Naval F/A-18C Legacy Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet squadrons, their pilots and guests. Each year the event features a video, produced by “Wingnut”, a Hornet pilot himself, compiled from all the squadrons’ last year of flying in both combat and training missions: catapult launches, trap landings, aerobatics, dogfighting against Su-30s and Mig-29s, live firing of air-to-air missiles, HARM anti-radion missiles, LGBs (Laser Guided Bombs), cluster bombs, low level flying in the desert, ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) pod clips, and much more.

<p>NASA and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] have completed final assembly and testing of the Orion spacecraft. The spacecraft will remain inside NASA's Launch Abort System Facility at Kennedy Space Center until it rolls to launch pad 37 in November.</p> <p>"An empty shell of a spacecraft arrived to Kennedy Space Center two years ago, and now we have a fully assembled Orion standing 72 feet tall," said Michael Hawes Lockheed Martin Orion program manager. "We're ready to launch it into space and test every inch."</p>

Virgin Galactic said its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane suffered an "in-flight anomaly" during a powered test flight on Friday that resulted in the loss of the aircraft. #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October

Virgin Galactic is reporting that there has been an "in-flight anomaly" aboard SpaceShip Two. There are unconfirmed reports that one of the two pilots is dead.

AeroMobil. Beautiful flying car. Beautifully integrated. Transforms in seconds from an automobile to an airplane. Gives you freedom to move.AeroMobil is a flying car that perfectly makes use of existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes, and opens doors to real door-to-door travel. As a car it fits into any standard parking space, uses regular gasoline, and can be used in road traffic just like any other car. As a plane it can use any airport in the world, but can also take off and land using any grass strip or paved surface just a few hundred meters long.

The video says it all.

The findings are according to a new study conducted by military experts for the publication Business Insider. Israel’s military is the most powerful in the Middle East while its air force ranks second to none globally, according to a new study conducted by military experts for the publication Business Insider. The publication ranked the 15 strongest armies in the region while noting the size of the countries’ respective defense budgets as well as the latest geopolitical tumult and its impact on military strength. “A close defense relationship with the US and an energetic domestic defense industry give Israel a qualitative...

For decades, the Pentagon has been toying with the idea of upgrading the B-52 bomber, first built in the mid-1950s. Will they finally get around to it, this time? The U.S. Air Force is taking a serious look at overhauling the nearly 60 year-old B-52 bomber—including a new engine for the ancient plane. The question is not whether it makes sense, but why it hasn’t been done before. The answers include poor planning, budgetary procedures that defied economic logic, and at least one bone-headed accounting error. The B-52 first entered service in the mid-1950s. Putting new engines on the “Buff,”...

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the first time in 35 years, Boeing has sold aircraft components to Iran. Breaking the news, the industry itself stated that it has sold "aircraft manuals, drawings, and navigation charts and data" to Iran Air. The sale, which has yielded Boeing 120 thousand dollars, is the first since 1979, the year of the "hostage crisis" which was followed by United States sanctions on all trade useful to aviation. The sale, said the company, took place between June and September this year, producing 12 thousand dollars in profits and was possible thanks to a US...

The upcoming Zuhai airshow taking place in China next month will provide an opportunity to get first impressions of the new stealth jets and modernized fighter aircraft currently under development or recently delivered to the People's Republic of China Army, Air Force, Navy. China is expected to unveil its newest stealth fighter next month at the 10th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition to be held next month in Zuhai. The J-31 stealth fighter will be shown to the public in demonstration flight, Chinese officials informed. China is intending the J-31 for export markets, initially as a land based fighter,...

Art presented by COPAC showing a Wide Area Display integrated to Gripen NG cockpit. In the art HUD is not presented. Art - FAB Gripen NG fighter contract, currently being dealt between Swedish SAAB company and Coordinating Commission for Combat Aircraft Program (Comissão Coordenadora do Programa Aeronave de Combate - COPAC), representing Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is in the last stages, one year after the formal announcement in December 18th, 2013. One relevant detail was defined by FAB. DefesaNet obtained from two sources near to negotiations that Gripen NG, Brazilian Version, will have a Wide Area Display. This is a...

India has opted to buy Israel's Spike anti-tank guided missile, a defence ministry source said on Saturday, rejecting a rival U.S. offer of Javelin missiles that Washington had lobbied hard to win. India will buy at least 8,000 Spike missiles and more than 300 launchers in a deal worth 32 billion rupees ($525 million), the source said after a meeting of India's Defence Acquisition Council. "National security is the paramount concern of the government," the source quoted Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the finance portfolio, as telling the procurement panel. "All hurdles and bottlenecks in the procurement process...

(Reuters) - India has opted to buy Israel's Spike anti-tank guided missile, a defence ministry source said on Saturday, rejecting a rival U.S. offer of Javelin missiles that Washington had lobbied hard to win. India will buy at least 8,000 Spike missiles and more than 300 launchers in a deal worth 32 billion rupees ($525 million), the source said after a meeting of India's Defence Acquisition Council. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's five-month-old government wants to clear a backlog of defence orders and boost India's firepower, amid recent border tensions with China and heavy exchanges of fire with Pakistan across the...

OKINAWA, Japan—Swooping down to 500 feet over the western Pacific, Cmdr. Bill Pennington pilots his U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft toward an unidentified vessel off southern Japan. In the back of the plane, a heavily modified Boeing 737, the crew homes in on the vessel using a barrage of surveillance equipment, including radar, GPS and infrared cameras. Further down the fuselage stand rows of tube-shaped sonar buoys that the crew can catapult into the sea and that float for up to eight hours as they track objects underwater. This is a dummy run: Today’s target is a Singaporean container...

Raytheon's Standard Missile-6 had a pair of successful intercepts during recent testing highlighting the system's ability to use targeting information provided from a remote source. The "engage on remote" scenario involved two SM-6s launched from the USS Chancellorsville against anti-ship and cruise missile targets. The scenario included the SM-6s being launched prior to its own radars detecting the incoming threats, and instead using targeting information from the USS Sampson, another Aegis ship in the area. The first SM-6 intercepted a low-altitude, short-range supersonic target while the second intercepted a low-altitude, medium-range subsonic target. The SM-6 and Standard Missile-3 are produced...

Picture courtesy of Kongsberg. Australia’s new fighter jets could be armed with controversial robot-controlled missiles that critics claim can “make decisions to kill without human interference”. The Joint Strike Missile is close to final development by Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen. It’s a $1.3 billion bet by the country to make it the standard weapon for the F-35. Back in June, Australia was one of the first countries to express interest in arming its F-35 fleet with the JSM. It’s also been pitched to Japan and South Korea but now it’s close to completion, it’s looking increasingly likely to become the missile...

Israel's Elbit Systems announced yesterday that it was awarded contracts from an Asian country in a total amount of approximately $85 million. A pilot of the Royal Thai Air Force preparing for a mission in an upgraded F-5T, wearing a DASH helmet. Note the Python IV missile on the wingtip. Israel’s Elbit Systems announced yesterday that it was awarded contracts from an Asian country in a total amount of approximately $85 million; the majority of the amount will be for an avionic upgrade of F-5 aircraft, to be performed over a three year period. The balance is for the supply...

Lockheed Martin and Turkish missile manufacturer Roketsan signed an agreement Wednesday to produce and sell Turkey's SOM-J air-launched cruise missile for the F-35 Lightning II combat jet, the companies said. The agreement, signed in the Turkish capital Ankara, envisages the development, production, marketing, selling and supporting the SOM-J for internal carriage on the F-35 or external carriage on other aircraft."Lockheed Martin has a long history of partnership with Turkey, and we look forward to working closely with Roketsan on this very important project," said Rick Edwards, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. Edwards also said the...