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In 1971, Indian Air Force Gnats fought Pakistan’s Sabres in ferocious bloody dogfights. Despite only weighing the same as a a Dodge Durango, the tiny jet fighter proved a formidable machine. We spoke to IAF Wing Commander Sunith Francis Soares about flying and fighting in the Gnat. The Gnat was conceived by the British designer, ‘Teddy’ Petter. One of the greatest aircraft designers was lived, his other creations included the Lysander, Lightning and Canberra. Countering the trend for ever larger, more costly, fighter aircraft the Gnat was a ‘pocket rocket’. It first flew in 1955. Though relegated to training duties...

The Egyptian Ka-52 variant is an export derivative of the Kamov Ka-52 Alligator – known to NATO as the ‘Hokum-B’. The Nile Crocodile name was apparently proposed by Dmitry Rogozin, the then Russian deputy prime minister in charge of the defence industry. It is not certain that the name has been officially adopted. The Kamov Ka-52 announcement was made on December 6 during Egypt’s first International Defence Expo – EDEX 2018. At least 12 Ka-52s were visible in satellite images of the airbase at Wadi al Jandali (Al Qatamiyah/Al Khatamia) published in late 2018, suggesting that the first Ka-52 squadron...

Egyptian Navy Gowind Corvette El Fateh (971). Source: Ahmed XIV/Wikimedia Commons The United Arab Emirates has reportedly finalized a contract for the procurement of at least two Gowind corvettes. On June 7, French publication La Tribune reported that the UAE had completed a deal for two Gowind corvettes. The agreement, valued at around EUR750 million, was reportedly signed in March of this year, but was not announced. The Gowind corvettes, which are built by France’s Naval Group, are to come equipped with Raytheon’s RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles to protect from aerial threats as well as MM40 Exocet anti-shipping missiles, produced...

The German Navy submarine U36, an U-212A class submarine displacing 1,800 tonnes submerged, returns to her homeport on Friday, after an 8,800 nautical mile cruise during which she sailed 5,000 nautical miles while submerged. (GE Navy photo) ECKERNFÖRDE, Germany --- Submarine U36 returns to her home port of Eckernförde on Friday, June 7, at 10:00 am from a sea voyage of about five months. During her 136 days absence, the Delta crew participated in several international exercises. The joint training sessions over the past five months have further strengthened German-Norwegian cooperation. At all levels there was a lively exchange between...

Accompanied by marching music and tearing waves, a huge warship with the hull number 101 sailed into view out of heavy fog during the maritime parade on April 23 in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province to celebrate the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's 70th anniversary. Those not lucky enough to experience this at the scene and were eagerly waiting to see it on television were disappointed when state broadcaster China Central Television was unable to provide a live feed of the parade, possibly due to the bad weather and sea conditions. But that did not stop them from enjoying...

As the U.S. Navy gets closer to issuing the final request for proposals for its future frigate competition, or FFG(X), one particularly notable design, BAE System's Type 26, has largely been absent from the discussion. It seems particularly curious given that the British-designed ship is well on its way to becoming one of the most popular warships in its class among some of America's closest allies, with 32 examples in various configurations on order for the U.K. Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy. BAE did propose a variant of the Type 26 to the Navy...

A Swedish aerospace firm that hopes to supply Canada’s new fleet of fighter jets says it could build the aircraft in this country, making maximum use of the expertise of domestic firms and creating high-tech jobs. Saab’s pitch to build its Gripen E fighter jet in Canada further ups the ante on the $19-billion competition that will see the federal government purchase 88 new aircraft. The Liberal government has been emphasizing the transfer of new technology and expertise to Canadian aerospace firms as well as the creation of high-tech jobs as among its key goals for the fighter jet program....

On February 1, two experienced Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots died when their newly upgraded Mirage 2000-I fighter crashed while taking-off in Bengaluru. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) investigating the accident is now confronting the worrying possibility of a glitch in the Mirage 2000’s flight computer that kicks in without warning, causing the aircraft to behave unpredictably. IAF flight records examined by the CoI have revealed at least four such incidents in the past. In each of these, a flying Mirage 2000 has, suddenly and without command from the pilot, jerked its nose towards the ground. Then, as spontaneously, the...

I-Derby-ER missile will replace Russian R-77 in the Indian Air Force fleet. NEW DELHI: In two years from now, the Indian Air Force's frontline Sukhoi-30 fighters may be re-armed with Israeli Derby air-to-air missiles after the jet's Russian-made R-77 missiles were found wanting in air combat operations over the Line of Control on February 27 this year. Sources in the Indian Air Force told NDTV, "We already have the missile as part of the SPYDER (Surface-to-Air Missile) system. Integration (with the IAF's Su-30s) is the next step.'' Retaliating to the IAF strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility in Balakot on...

Ka-52M ‘Alligator’ combat helicopter © Artur Lebedev/TASS MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. The upgraded Ka-52M ‘Alligator’ combat helicopter will get more capabilities for using weapons against targets in the air and on the ground, the press office of Russian Helicopters rotorcraft maker said in a press release circulated on Tuesday. "Work is underway to further increase the range of detecting and identifying targets and, correspondingly, to boost the capabilities of employing weapons against both ground and air targets," the press office quoted Russian Helicopters CEO Andrei Boginsky as saying in a comment on improvements in the upgraded version. On the instruction...

© Ladislav Karpov/TASS MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. The Russian engineering company Tecmash and the state hi-tech corporation Rostec are considering replacing 30mm guns with 57mm weapons in Russian armored vehicles’ munitions systems. Russia’s Defense Ministry is also studying this possibility, Tecmash Deputy CEO Alexander Kochkin told TASS on Tuesday. "We are carrying out an assessment together with Rostec State Corporation and the customer represented by the Defense Ministry is conducting the relevant work," Kochkin said, replying to a question about the possibility for Russian armored vehicles to switch to the 57mm caliber. Today the 30mm caliber is the basic diameter...

The INS Magen, the Navy’s first Sa'ar 6 corvette, was officially named at a ceremony held at the Kiel shipyards in Germany. The ceremony was headed by Navy Commander Maj.-Gen. Eli Sharvit, Defense Ministry Head of Procurement Avi Dadon, Navy Material Command head Yossi Ashkenazi, project head Brig.-Gen. Erez, as well as the Commander of the INS Magen Lt.-Col Baruch. Commanders and soldiers who took part in the project and shipyard employees also attended the ceremony. The ceremony included the customary breaking a bottle of champagne on the ship's bow by the navy commander's wife, Etti Sharvit. The construction of...

The Australian Army has entered a new era with the deployment of four Airbus Helicopters Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters (ARH) aboard the navy's HMAS Canberra as part of the vessel’s voyage through Southeast Asia. While the deployment marks the third time that the combat rotorcraft has been operated from the Canberra, it is the first occasion that an operational unit has done so. With 80 army personnel – of whom 12 are flight crew – the army and navy are focused on developing a seaborne attack helicopter capability. FlightGlobal toured the Canberra recently as it visited Singapore as part of...

Lockheed Martin and RAFAEL have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop, manufacture, market and support RAFAEL’s Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective (SPICE) missile guidance kits to Lockheed Martin’s platforms. RAFAEL already subcontracts about 80 percent of SPICE subassemblies to US manufacturers in eight states. The agreement will enable Israel to buy SPICE kits from the USA, using US military support funds. The agreement follows a market assessment evaluation done by the two partners in the past year. “Access to GPS is becoming increasingly limited in contested environments,” said Mr. Yuval Miller, executive vice president, and general manager of Rafael’s...

The Indian Navy announced on Friday that it had achieved a “significant milestone” in its anti-air warfare capabilities by having one of its warships control missiles fired from two ships. The Indian Navy announced that, with the test of this cooperative engagement system, “it has become a part of a select group of navies that have this niche capability. This capability significantly enhances the combat effectiveness of the Indian Navy, thereby providing an operational edge over potential adversaries.” A press release by the Indian Navy described the test as its “maiden cooperative engagement”, for which the Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM),...

Two jets from different eras, with different missions, strengths, and weaknesses, face off in a battle for today’s funds. The F-35 Lightning has been the Air Force’s sole new fighter program since 2009, when the F-22 Raptor program was prematurely terminated. While behind schedule, the program has been a top Air Force priority for more than a decade and until recently, was expected to remain USAF’s only fighter program until a future capability, still undefined, comes online. Now the F-35 faces a new challenge from an old jet design, a variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle; an airplane from an...

Italy's Fincantieri Marine Group's entrant into the FFG(X) is one of the most promising in the field of five contenders as it is based on the successful and modern Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM)—or European Multi-Mission Frigate in English—that will serve a number of multi-national users, already including NATO allies France and Italy. While we know what the existing ships look like in their various configurations, which includes anti-submarine, general purpose, and air defense variants with various other customizations based on the user's demands, we haven't really seen what a U.S. version would look like in tangible form, that is until...

A Saudi F-15SA on the flight line at Nellis during Red Flag 19-2. The aircraft have been flying in the U.S. since handover and will be delivered to the Kingdom after the exercise. (Photo: DVIDS) The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) deployed six of its new Boeing F-15SA Advanced Eagles to participate in the latest Red Flag exercise (Red Flag 19-2) at Nellis AFB, Nevada. This afforded the U.S. Air Force its first close-up view of the latest variant of the second-generation F-15 Advanced, since the decision to include the similar F-15EX in the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request....

Earlier, it was reported that a prototype Mi-28NM was deployed to the Hmeymim Airbase in Syria's Latakia province to conduct field testing in high temperature and desert conditions, and to test out a new mobile radar complex. A video purportedly showing the Mi-28NM gunship, operating in tandem with a Russian military Mi-24 in Syria's Hama province, has surfaced online. In the footage, which has yet to be verified or commented on by the Russian Defence Ministry, the new helicopter, distinguishable by its unique ball-shaped radar installed above its main rotor, is seen making repeated passes over a local settlement thought...

Fighter Weapon Systems Officers (WSOs) from Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) 102nd (Flying Tiger) Squadron are undergoing training on the use of the ‘Delilah’ cruise missile. The officers are graduates of Flight Course 177 and are taking part in a week-long seminar at the Aerial Munition Center (AMC) in Hatzor Air Force Base (AFB). The Fighter Division aircrews make use of several simulators at the AMC to drill use of electro-optical guided munitions. As part of the exercise, aircrews will be trained on the detection of targets using the Delilah missile. Personnel will undergo basic drills during the initial part of...