Free Republic

Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, the F/A-18 fighter family has come to dominate Navy carrier decks — and supported a base of more than 200 military contractors in Southern California. With a stealthy replacement rolling off assembly lines, though, its days seemed to be numbered. Now, thanks to an unexpected lift from the Trump administration, the latest version of the fighter jet could catch a second wind. President Trump has requested $2.32 billion for 24 new F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft in a supplemental budget request for fiscal year 2017. That comes after months of Trump tweets and...

A French Cold War nuclear bomber has begun a four-day journey to its new home at an English air museum. The 31-tonne Dassault Mirage IVA has been donated to the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Elvington near York, by the French government. It is the only Mirage IV aircraft to be given to an independent museum and the only one outside France. The 77ft-long (23m) plane is travelling 527 miles (848km) by road and sea and is due to arrive on 30 March. The Mirage IV was built as part of France's independent nuclear deterrent during the Cold War. Around 60...

Sweden will equip its future fleet of Gripen E fighters with an extended-range version of the Saab/Diehl Defence-produced RBS15 anti-ship missile, under a project worth SKr3.2 billion ($358 million). Announced on 31 March, the deal will deliver weapons with “greatly improved capabilities to engage any target, in all [weather] conditions”, says Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe. Equipped with an upgraded seeker, the RBS15F ER will have a reduced launch weight and increased range compared with earlier versions of the maritime- and land-attack missile. The extended-range design will be among a variety of weapon types to be carried by the Gripen...

Photo Credit Dmitri TEREKHOV Today was the first appearance of en egyptian Mig29/35. The picture showing the Mig in sand colors with the egyptian markings and 811 as a serial number, was taken in Jukhovsky airbase south of Moscow. Egypt ordered 42 Mig29/35 the first deliveries are expected on Q2 2017. Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow April 1st

F-35 Continues to Stumble By: Dan Grazier | March 30, 2017 Quick LinksElectronics Used to Justify Cost Not Delivering CapabilitiesIneffective as a FighterIneffective as an Interdiction BomberIneffective as a Close Air Support PlatformNavy’s F-35 Unsuitable for Carrier OperationsPrice Tag Is the Only Thing Stealthy about the F-35Combat Effectiveness at RiskCan the F-35 Be Where It’s Needed, When It’s Needed?F-35 Reliability ProblemsOfficials Hiding Truth about F-35’s Problems and Delays from TaxpayersMoving ForwardConclusion The F-35 still has a long way to go before it will be ready for combat. That was the parting message of Dr. Michael Gilmore, the now-retired Director of Operational...

The USAF is quick to tout that the F-22 Raptor fleet has been finally upgraded to use the AIM-9X Sidewinder—a long awaited move that will allow the most advanced air superiority fighter in the world to ditch the relatively ancient AIM-9M version of the iconic short-range air-to-air missile. But even with this new capability, F-22 pilots still lack a helmet mounted display (HMD) to take advantage of the missile's high-off boresight (HOBS) abilities, and there doesn't seem to be much talk about fixing this long standing deficiency in the near term. You can read all about the F-22's short-range missile...

@aleklicho art Argentina was almost the first country to develop a small, supersonic cruise missile. Way back in 1960. On May 30 of that year, Dr. Reimar Horten — a former warplane designer for Nazi Germany — met with officials at the Aerotechnical Institute of Argentina’s Military Aircraft Factory, or FMA, to propose what he described as “supersonic flying bomb.” Horten had emigrated to Argentina after World War II, leaving behind his brother, an equally accomplished aeronautical engineer. Although Horten cast his flying bomb as a logical evolution of Germany’s wartime V-1 buzz bomb, in concept it had more in common with today’s supersonic...

China's militarization of its man-made islands in the South China Sea and the resulting anti-access/area-denial bubbles that will cover massive swaths of that body of water in the not-so-distant future, has Vietnam shopping for weaponry that can counter Beijing's grand plans. Hanoi has already forward-deployed Israeli-built GPS-guided Extra multiple launch rocket systems to their own islands in the South China Sea—a weapon system that could rain down rockets on China's outposts with little warning. Now, Vietnam is looking towards Israel once again for its weapons needs, this time to provide an standoff multi-role cruise missile that can strike targets over...

Addressing the growing domestic and international demand for the French fighter aircraft, Dassault and the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) will soon begin a six-year development phase of the next-generation Rafale F4. The French Minister of Defense, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, authorized the start of development of the next generation variant of the Rafale. The aircraft will introduce new capacities empowered by the modern missile and engine technologies. The new variant will follow the Rafale F3-R currently in development and scheduled to complete the qualification testing next year. Dassault now produces Rafales to fulfill French orders for 180 aircraft, along...

This startling news came during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the current state of the U.S. Air Force. Chairman Joe Wilson asked right out of the gate about a previously unknown USAF plan to retire the F-15C/D Eagle fleet and replace them with F-16s. The subject of the question itself seemed to be big news to the committee with Congresswoman Vikki Hartzler later asking about what upgrades the F-15C/D was going to get so it could meet modern threats. Obviously the answer is not many if the Air Force is going to retire the jets in the relatively...

<p>MOSCOW: A top official of Russia's space agency has been found dead in a prison where he was being held on charges of embezzlement.</p>

Northrop's F-20 Tigershark, an evolution of the company's highly successful F-5E Tiger II—which itself was an evolution of the F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and The T-38 Talon—never made it into production, but many thought it should have. The aircraft provided high performance and multi-role capability on the cheap, both in terms of procurement and operating costs. But the Reagan administration's loosening of export rules on military equipment, including fighters, allowed the already deep into production, larger and more advanced F-16 to edge out the F-20 on the world-wide fighter jet marketplace. There were still a few opportunities for Northrop to get...

Goodyear has let the helium out of the last of its fabled fleet of blimps, but the company's flight program will continue. About two dozen employees were on hand early Tuesday to witness the deflation of California-based Spirit of Innovation. But shed no tears, blimp fans, you'll still see a familiar blue-and-gold form floating over your favorite sports event or awards show. Although the blimp's replacement, Wingfoot Two, will look about the same when it arrives at Goodyear's airship base in Carson later this year, it will be a semi-rigid dirigible.

Russian Helicopters is on track to deliver this year the first examples of the Kamov Ka-52 attack rotorcraft to export customer Egypt. Parent company Rostec confirms that the first of an eventual 46 Alligators will be handed over to Cairo this year. Dating from an order revealed in December 2015, the helicopters will operate from a pair of French-built Mistral-class amphibious assault ships acquired by the Egyptian navy. Russian Helicopters Flight Fleets Analyzer lists Algeria as the only other export buyer for the Ka-52, with an order for 12 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2019. Russian Helicopters holds...

SpaceX may launch the EchoStar 23 communications satellite from historic Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:35 a.m. EDT (0535 GMT) on Thursday (March 16). The mission was originally scheduled for Tuesday (March 14), but cloudy skies and high winds forced a scrub; Thursday is the next available opportunity, SpaceX representatives have said. If EchoStar 23 does fly Thursday, the launch webcast will begin at about 1:15 a.m. EDT (0515 GMT), and can be seen in the window below. Our preview story: (SpaceX to Launch EchoStar 23 Satellite Early Tuesday: Watch It Live)

China has put into service its fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter that many experts say will give the PLA Air Force a massive firepower boost, state media reported on Thursday. The fighter was earlier thought to be combat ready only by 2019. But the secretive J-20 stealth fighter - a fifth-generation jet that Chinese analysts claim is on a par with the US F-22 - had entered service, an official military channel reported late on Thursday, Reuters reported. In September, Chinese social media websites showed photos of the J-20 being deployed in southwestern Sichuan province on the Tibetan plateau - not...

Have Israel’s new F-35s seen combat? According to a French journalist, Israel’s newly received F-35A Adir stealth fighters have already seen combat. Reportedly, a first air strike was flown against targets in Syria in January – less than a month after the jets first touched down in Israel. Georges Malbrunot, who writes for French newspaper Le Figaro, cited French intelligence sources. He posted on Twitter today that examples of the Israeli F-35 – two of which have been delivered to the country to date – took part in a raid over Syrian territory on the night of January 12-13. The...

Israel is likely to buy a squadron of Boeing's upgraded F-15s and must choose between Sikorsky-Lockheed Martin's CH-53 K helicopters or Boeing's CH-47 Chinook. The IDF is preparing for two major deals with the US, including the procurement of aircraft designed to renew its stock of warplanes and transportation helicopters. It has been decided to purchase two air force squadrons, following the establishment of a squadron of F-35 Adir fighters, the world's most advanced stealth aircraft. The IDF received its first F-35s in December. Most of the money for the procurement will come from $3.33 billion US aid money allocated...

For some time now, various news outlets have claimed that Israel is already using its pair of recently-delivered F-35I Adirs in a combat role even before they've been declared operational by the Israeli Air Force. But today, military aviation journalist Thomas Newdick conveyed a report by a French journalist that not only claimed the F-35Is have been active over Syria, but also details what targets they specifically took out on their mission there. Additionally, the writer claims the Adir's first combat missions occurred in January, just a month after the aircraft arrived on Israeli soil. Thomas Newdick skeptically summarizes the...

Since January 2017, low levels of radioactive Iodine-131 contamination have been detected over various European countries. Highest levels have been detected in Poland. The radioactive particles were first detected in Finland. Source is anyone's guess, but the initial area of detection and area of highest concentration point to Russia. I disagree with the blog's conclusion that this is likely to be a nuclear test since I-131 has a short half-life of 8 days. More likely, there's an ongoing issue with a Russian nuclear reactor. (Doesn't have to be a power station - could be a sub or other naval reactor.)