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Kalam to witness Canberra’s final flight Rahul Singh New Delhi, February 27, 2007 Once a formidable workhorse of the Indian Air Force, the Canberra bomber will soon become a relic of history. But before the air force phases out its longest-serving aircraft, the bomber will take to the skies for the last time from Chandigarh on March 7 as part of a 102-aircraft flypast planned for the President’s fleet review. The Canberra’s "final appearance" comes half a century after its induction in the IAF in 1957. The IAF plans to phase out the English bomber by the end of next...

Three generations of Lightnings compared Today's christening of the Lockheed Martin F-35 as the Lightning II marks a perfect opportunity to compare three generations of fighters bearing that illustrious name - the first two with distinguished in-service records behind them. The table below clearly shows the advances that have taken place in technology and capability since World War II, but also illustrates how differing threats breed their own solutions. In particular, the UK's Lightning - designed as the purest of pure air defence fighters to tackle the Soviet threat during the Cold War - stands out for its afterburner-assisted maximum...