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Two Kenyan jet fighters have crashed after colliding over southern Somalia, Press TV reports. The two fighter planes crashed between the towns of Kismayu and Qooqani, a Somali military officer told the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu on Tuesday. The jets were heading to the southern port city of Kismayu after targeting the positions of al-Shabab fighters in southern Somalia, the officer added. On Monday, a Kenyan jet bombed an al-Shabab base near the port in Kismayu, an al-Shabab stronghold. Kenyan troops began an air and ground offensive against al-Shabab in southern Somalia last week after Nairobi accused the militants...

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States has refused Taiwan's request for 66 new F-16C/D fighter jets that China warned Washington would risk inflaming tensions between the two big powers, Defense News reported, citing a Taiwan defence official. Taiwan has repeatedly asked Washington to agree to sell the advanced F-16 fighter jets, citing the need to counter the growing military strength of China, which deems the island an breakaway province that must eventually accept reunification, by force if necessary. Neither Washington nor Taipei has made any formal announcement about the latest call for the fighters, but Defesce News (http://www.defensenews.com) said on...

A commercial flight from Phoenix to Sacramento this afternoon had to be diverted to an airport in Yuma due to rapid cabin decompression that may have been caused by a hole in the jet’s fuselage. The Southwest flight landed safely at 4:07 p.m. at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station/International Airport. One of the passengers told CBS13 about the frightening emergency. “They had just taken drink orders when I heard a huge sound and oxygen masks came down and we started making a rapid decent. They said we’d be making an emergency landing,” said Cindy. “There was a hold in...

India's contract process to buy 126 fighter jets valued at about $11 billion is "going smoothly" and is expected to be completed in the fiscal year ending March 2012, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said on Wednedsay. Saab's JAS-39 Gripen is competing with Boeing's Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Lockheed Martin Corp's F-16 and Russia's MiG-35 to win a contract from India for the fighter jets. Cassidian, the recently renamed defence arm of EADS and a partner in the Eurofighter Typhoon, is also vying for the Indian fighter award. Eurofighter is a four-nation consortium of EADS, representing Germany and Spain, Britain's BAE...

Bulgaria has approached Western powers over the potential acquisition of fighter jets. Sofia approached the United States, France, Germany and Sweden over the supply of eight new or used fighter jets, Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said in a statement released Wednesday. It added that the financial circumstances of a deal had to be decided after information is sent by the four countries, in 2012, at the earliest

The costs of the Joint Strike Fighter, the US fighter jet which is to replace the ageing Dutch fleet of F-16s, will be 1.4 billion euros higher than the original estimate. This is an increase of 20 percent over the amount of 6.2 billion euros which the government initially expected would buy 85 JSF planes. Parliament expressed shock at the increase, particularly at a time when the government has announced 18 billion euros’ worth of budget cuts. On Thursday, Defence Minister Hans Hillen wrote in a letter to parliament that the higher costs are partly due to delays in the...

The U.K.’s decision to drastically alter its fast-jet fleet plans introduces new uncertainties into the global fighter market. In a two-pronged move, London is trimming its buy of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and changing course on the model. Financial pressures are also triggering angst beyond the U.K. Lt. Col. Rickard Nystrom, head of aircraft programs at the Swedish armed forces headquarters, says it is “a pretty stressful environment [here] right now.” With various big-ticket spending items looming in the next decade, there is renewed debate over plans for a 100-aircraft Gripen fleet. The timing and scope of the...

By backpedaling on a campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine Corps airbase from Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have nonetheless secured additional airborne cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile defenses for Japan. China is seen as the cruise missile threat since it has developed a new, faster, long-range weapon that can be launched from its Su-27MKK strike fighter fleet. North Korea has the greater fear factor, however, because of its suspected nuclear ballistic missile capability and its government’s erratic behavior and apparent aggressions, such as the alleged sinking of a South Korea warship. Okinawa is already home...

The U.S. Air Force has decided that its looming fighter shortage, caused by delays in the F-35 program, and the aging of its F-16 and F-15 fleet, is not as bad as they believed. Two years ago, before the F-35 development got delayed even more, the air force predicted being short 800 fighters in the next decade or so. But now the shortage is believed to be no more than 185 (in 2024), and this could be avoided if production of F-35s was speeded up. The F-35 delays have been growing over the last few years, and the air force...

Russia to help Vietnam build submarine base Tuoi Tre Russia will provide technical assistance to build a base for the six diesel-electric Kilo-class submarines Vietnam has ordered, the Voice of Russia quoted Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying Thursday. Russia would also help Vietnam build a repair dockyard for Russian ships, he said after returning from a three-day trip to Hanoi March 25. He pledged Russian support to modernize Vietnam’s Air Force, including multibillion-dollar contracts for military equipment, he told the radio station. Military cooperation between Moscow and Hanoi has increased in recent years along with Vietnam's arms purchases from...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Russia has offered to help Venezuela set up its own space industry, including a satellite launch site, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the South American country on Friday. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Russia's offer before Putin arrived, saying officials would discuss the possibility of setting up a "satellite launcher and a factory." The two countries are also discussing new weapons deals, Chavez said Thursday night in televised remarks, without giving details. Chavez has built close ties with Russia, buying more than $4 billion in Russian weapons since 2005, including helicopters, fighter...

Brazil plans to announce in early April the winner of a multi-billion-dollar competition for modern fighter jets meant to cement its new role as Latin America's preeminent military power. The tender, though, has been marked by infighting between Brazil's air force and government, and fierce rivalry between the three nations vying to score the deal. The finalists now comprise France's Rafale made by Dassault, Sweden's Gripen NG by Saab, and the F/A-18 Super Hornet by US giant Boeing. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's stated preference for the ultra-sophisticated, semi-stealth Rafale jet annoyed the air force, which preferred the much...

A multi-billion-dollar deal to supply Brazil with sophisticated fighter jets was in its high-stakes final phase Wednesday, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva under intense pressure ahead of his decision. Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors called on Lula in Brasilia to make an ultimate push for Swedish aircraft to win out over French and US rivals in the tender. Brazilian officials say the contest should be decided by the end of next week. Lula has already expressed a strong preference for France's Rafale jet in the competition. But he said after his meeting with...

Taiwan's air force said Sunday that it had received more than three million dollars' worth of parts and maintenance service because of a flaw in the island's French-made Mirage fighter fleet. A fully armed French-made Mirage fighter jet patrols the sky above Hsinchu, Taiwan. Taiwan's air force said Sunday that it had received more than three million dollars' worth of parts and maintenance service because of a flaw in the island's French-made Mirage fighter fleet. The air force had been effectively compensated in November over cracks in the blades of several Mirage engines which had prompted the air force to...

Russia will build more than 1,000 stealth fighter jets within four decades, including at least 200 for its traditional weapons buyer India, the head of plane maker Sukhoi said on Friday. Sukhoi test-flew its long-delayed fifth-generation fighter at the end of January, and Moscow said it would be able to compete with its U.S. F-22 Raptor rival built more than a decade ago. Sukhoi said last week it hoped the fighter, codenamed T-50, would be ready for use in 2015. "If you talk about warplanes of this type, there is definitely a market for it if we produce more than...

The Middle East newsline has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has advanced in negotiations to purchase a fighter jet from the United States. The Saudi leadership, in wake of receiving the first Eurofighters, has been examining the U.S.-built F-15 for a procurement contract in 2010. They said Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz has supported the prospect of an additional purchase of at least two squadrons of F-15s in a deal that could top $5 billion. “The assessment is that the Royal Saudi Air Force requires a platform that it is comfortable with, yet much more advanced than...

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, the Chief of the Air Staff, insisted that air power must not be seen as an “optional luxury” when Britain’s future defence capability is considered. Both Labour and the Conservatives are committed to strategic defence review after the election, and both acknowledge that cuts will need to be made to bring down the Government deficit. This has raised questions about high-price defence procurement projects. One of the most costly is the plan to buy more than 120 new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the RAF and Royal Navy, which will cost at least £10...

THE Joint Strike Fighter program will cost Australia more than originally planned and be delayed by about a year, the US government says. Australia will buy 14 of the jets from the US and may purchase up to 100, but the Pentagon said today the price - as much as $100 million each - would rise. The US government has withheld performance fees to lead contractor Lockheed Martin and sacked General David Heinz, who was in charge of the program. US Deputy Secretary of Defence Bill Lynn said on Monday the steps would strengthen the program. "When we looked at...

The Indian Navy will formally induct the Russian-made MiG-29K naval fighter jets for deployment on Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier on February 19 in the western state of Goa. The first four of the 16 MiG-29Ks that India had bought from Russia in 2004 along with Gorshkov were delivered at the INS Hansa naval base in Goa in a knocked-down condition on December 4 last. Senior Indian Navy officers said the jets have been assembled and the Russian pilots are flying them as a standard procedure before Indian Navy pilots takes over from them. "The formal induction ceremony has been fixed...

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – An unruly passenger aboard a Hawaii-bound airliner on Wednesday prompted the pilot to return the plane to Portland, Oregon, escorted by two military fighter jets, in the latest of several U.S. aviation security scares this week. The Hawaiian Airlines jet en route to Maui's Kahului Airport turned back because of "a suspicious passenger who made threatening remarks and refused to store his carry-on bag," said Suzanne Trevino, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The plane, escorted by two F-15 fighters scrambled out of Portland International Airport, landed there without further incident, and the man,...