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The U.S. Navy has been nervously watching as the costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff and F-18C fighter aircraft. It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (which will replace the F-18C) and the F-35B (which will replace the AV-8). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) Like the F-22, which recently had production capped at less than 200 aircraft,...

Israel has completed tests on its Iron Dome anti-missile system, designed to provide a response to the thousands of rockets fired at Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah, the defence ministry said. The system, which can intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells, underwent its final tests in the past 48 hours, a statement said. "For the first time, Iron Dome faced multiple threats simultaneously. All the threats were intercepted with complete success," the statement said. The next phase in the development of the system was to integrate it into the army, the statement said. Israel hopes the system will provide it...

The US Defense Department has approved the sale of upgraded missile equipment to Taiwan, a Taipei-based US official said Thursday, risking the ire of the island's rival China. The sale of the Patriot missile equipment is part of a package passed by the US Congress more than a year ago, said a spokesman with the American Institute in Taiwan, the US de facto embassy in the absence of formal ties. "The US Defense Department awarded Lockheed Martin Corp the contract to provide Patriot missile defence systems to Taiwan as part of a big arms deal approved by Congress in 2008,"...

Raytheon, the world's largest missile maker, has won a $1.1 billion order from Taiwan for new Patriot missile systems. The order covers an initial ground-system hardware contract valued at $965.6 million and a $134 million contract for spares. The order, according to a statement by Raytheon, will include advances in technology, improved man-machine interface and reduced lifecycle costs. The deal has been in the making since October 2008 when the U.S. Defense Department proposed a $6.46 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, including the most advanced Patriot anti-missile system. Raytheon said the new Patriot fire units will be produced in...

The Chinese Air Force is satisfied enough with its locally made WS10A jet engine, to put it into production. This can be seen from that fact that the WS10A is now powering some of their J-11B fighters. Originally, the J-11 used a Russian AL-31F engine, but China has been working for a decade to manufacture their own version of this, the WS10A. The WS10A is something of an acid test for China, as it is a powerful military engine, and a complex piece of work. Russia refused to license China to produce the AL-31F, so the Chinese stole as much...

US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is to sell 24 F-16 jet fighters to Egypt in a 3.2 billion dollar deal, a company spokesman said Tuesday. "We understand that the governements of the United States and Egypt have reached an agreement over a contract for military sale to provide 24 F-16s to Egypt," Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout told AFP. The company hoped to get the contract signed "early next year," he said, adding that the 3.2 billion dollars "was the amount in the agreement between the two countries." The F-16 is flown by 25 nations, according to the company. More than...

Ongoing problems with the Minotaur 4 rocket will delay by 14 months the launch of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite, government documents show. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center planned to launch SBSS in October 2009 with what would have been the first launch of the new Minotaur 4 rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The service announced that month the launch would be indefinitely delayed with technical problems, though no further explanation was given. The Minotaur 4 relies on retired U.S. Peacekeeper missile motors for its first three stages...

The United States is considering allowing Japan to take part in a multinational project to develop the F-35 next-generation stealth fighter, a press report said Tuesday. Washington may allow Tokyo to participate in the project even without assurances from Japan that it will procure the F-35, Kyodo News reported, quoting sources from both governments. The move is intended to clear the way for Japan to introduce the F-35 as its future mainstay fighter as countries not participating in the joint development would not be allowed to acquire it at an early date, Kyodo said. Tokyo's participation would be limited to...

Pentagon officials are keeping an eye on a delivery by the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association in Russia of three new Su-34 “Fullback”, two-seat, fighter bombers last week. It is part of an effort to create an operational force of 24 aircraft by the end of 2010. Future goals are a complete air regiment of 44 aircraft by 2010 and a total force of 200 Su-34s by 2020. Borts 04 and 05 went to Lipetsk AB combat training center – Russia’s “Top Gun” school – which is 270 mi. southeast of Moscow. Their arrival was the subject of a Russian television...

Russia has delayed, for at least a few months, starting construction of their fourth Borei class SSBN (ballistic missile nuclear subs, or "boomers"). Russia wants to have the new Borei class boats replace the current Delta IV class SSBNs. The first Borei is already in the service, but not yet commissioned, and two others are under construction. The problem, and unofficial reason for the delay, is the inability to make the new Bulava SLBM (Sea Launched Ballistic Missile) work. The latest Bulava test was a spectacular failure (which lit up the pre-dawn sky of northern Norway, for all to see)....

Iran claims its new solid-fuel ballistic missile can evade radar detection. The Defense Ministry said the Sejil-2 was coated with an unidentified material that could foil detection by long-range radar. A senior official said the coating was one of several elements added to the intermediate-range ballistic missile to prevent radar detection. U.S. government sources have dismissed the Iranian claim. The sources said the U.S. intelligence community tracked the flight of Sejil-2 from launch without disruption.

Three years after deciding to start production, the Russian Air Force received the first two production models of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The original plan was to put 24 aircraft into service by 2010. It was hoped that they would eventually be able to buy a hundred. Apparently one goal of undertaking serial production was to encourage foreign purchases. No luck there yet. The 45 ton Su-34 is a replacement for the 43 ton Su-24 bomber, which is beginning to show its age (over twenty years). There are 300 Su-24s on the books, but most of these are not fit for...

The U.S. Air Force appears to have halted the forthcoming competition to build C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kits, a sign that this program could be terminating in the coming budget request for 2011. On Dec. 16, the Air Force program office overseeing the C-130 AMP program issued a statement noting that the "government is finalizing the way forward on the C-130 AMP program" and the solicitation is "cancelled." The statement adds that "the government will readdress the [issue] once a way forward for the AMP program has been determined." This is the latest chapter in the troubled $5.8 billion...

The HMAS Melbourne has demonstrated the navy's updated naval air defense capability with the firing of a Standard Missile (SM-2) off Jervis Bay. Minister for Defense Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet said in a written statement that the SM-2 would be further enhanced throughout 2010. "This missile firing was the first time an SM-2 has been fired from an Adelaide-class frigate," Combet said. "The missile was prepared, launched and supported in flight before engaging a target." Combet said Melbourne is now equipped with two modern missile systems to combat anti-ship missiles and aircraft. "HMAS Melbourne is an Adelaide-class guided-missile...

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has signaled its intent to consider a rash of foreign military sales to Egypt, including the transfer of anti-tank missiles. The government of Egypt has also requested anti-ship missiles, engine upgrades for its fleet of F-16 jet fighters and Fast Missile Crafts worth an estimated $1.18 billion. The proposed sale is expected to "contribute to the foreign police and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the...

Two missing US-made fighter jet engines, worth 29 million dollars and stolen from a Malaysian military airbase, have been traced to Argentina, police said Thursday. Police chief Musa Hasan said officers were checking with their counterparts in Buenos Aires to confirm if the missing engines are still in the country. "The stolen engines have been taken to Argentina," the police chief told AFP. "We have to check if the engines are still in that country." Musa told the Star newspaper that several top airforce officers, including generals, are expected to be questioned in connection with the theft. Four people, including...

Russia will press ahead with its Bulava missile programme, the country's defence minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, despite another failed test launch earlier this month. "We are certainly not going to cancel Bulava," Anatoly Serdyukov told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview to be published Thursday, parts of which were obtained by Interfax news agency. "There's a whole series of problems and unfortunately we can not resolve them as quickly as we would like," he added. "Nevertheless, I believe that the missile will fly." The latest test over Russia's White Sea on December 10 ended in failure, owing...

Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29 fighter planes to military-run Myanmar, the daily Kommersant reported Wednesday. The contract was signed a few weeks ago and came to nearly 400 million euros (570 million dollars), according to a source close to Russian arms sales company Rosoboronexport quoted by the paper. The Southeast Asian country is under Western sanctions but human-rights campaigners complain that its ruling junta has received a steady supply of arms from neighbours China and India, as well as from Russia. A source close to Rosoboronexport said the Russian offer beat one by China which offered...