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BAE Systems has been awarded an GBP8.6M contract to integrate improved weaponry onto the Tornado GR4 fleet, by the UK Ministry of Defence. Introduction of the Insensitive Munition (IM) variant of the Dual Mode Brimstone guided missile will provide the UK's Royal Air Force with a low collateral, precision attack capability against manoeuvring and fixed targets, in line with operational requirements and forms part of a wider weaponry package known as SPEAR (Selective Precision Effects At Range). A series of flight trials which will commence in 2011 will be carried out at BAE Systems Warton site to provide the necessary...

A RAF navigator gave plane-spotters a chuckle as he held up a sign reading 'I'm with stupid' with an arrow pointing to the pilot. The pair were on a training mission in a £13million Tornado GR4 aircraft, capable of reaching 1,400mph, when the navigator pulled the prank as they jetted through a valley in Wales. Based at RAF Lossiemouth in the Scottish Highlands, the men were flying through Snowdonia, in northern Wales, at the time of the Top Gun stunt. Knowing there would be spotters in the area, the amused navigator produced the homemade sign and sure enough, it was...

The Royal Air Force is likely to reduce the number of aircraft types that it operates as a direct result of the UK's ongoing Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), its senior officer says. "This is a time about real thinking, and of understanding our priorities," says , chief of the air staff. "Resource constraints mean that we simply won't be able to do everything." Outlining his vision for the service, Dalton says that its combat intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (Combat-ISTAR) mission should remain a "core competency and an invaluable capability for future operations". However, he says debate...

London could yet order at least a handful of Tranche 3B Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, if a deal to sell the aircraft to Oman is in place by early 2011. Oman and the U.K. have been discussing Typhoon purchases for more than two years. Industry officials suggest that if the timescale for Oman’s delivery aspirations are to be met, the fighters will likely be drawn from Tranche 2 aircraft now in production for the Royal Air Force. Were Typhoons to be diverted to Oman—officials say an order would probably be for 12 aircraft and potentially include an option for a further...

RAF jets have been scrambled twice this month in response to terrorist alerts on passenger airliners flying over Britain, defence sources have revealed. Eurofighter Typhoons took off from the quick reaction alert base at Coningsby in Lincolnshire – one of two such bases in the UK – minutes after warnings of suspected attempts to hijack American airliners. Procedures were triggered that could ultimately lead to a decision to destroy the aircraft, to avoid mass casualties. That decision would be taken "at the highest levels of government", officials say. Though a decision would be taken by the prime minister, if he...

The dashing young airman who became the poster boy of the RAF during World War II has been revealed – 65 year after the conflict ended.Squadron Leader Ian Blair, now 91, was 22 years old when the famous snap was taken in 1940 after his daring flying in north Africa earned him a medal.But he didn’t realise his fame until two years later when, on a break in Bournemouth, he saw his face on a propaganda notice warning 'Careless Talk May Cost His Life'.     Flying ace: Squadron Leader Ian Blair with the classic World War II poster...

The UK has agreed to buy three Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic intelligence aircraft and related ground equipment from the USA, defence secretary Bob Ainsworth has announced. Confirming the development on 22 March, Ainsworth said the aircraft will deliver a "vital capability for the Royal Air Force to replace the [British Aerospace] Nimrod R1 that will be retired from service in March 2011". The UK Ministry of Defence will introduce the Rivet Joints under Project Helix, a long-running effort to upgrade or replace its Nimrod R1 fleet, which was reduced to two airframes in 2009. Operated by 51 Sqn at...

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...

It is among the U.S. Air Force’s most finite resources, but the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is still growing in capabilities, and it’s an aircraft America is happy to allow an ally to use. A long-standing exchange program that has seen USAF personnel trade places with those from the Royal Air Force was extended to the B-2 in 2004. The offer to open up the secretive B-2 mission to a key ally was made by then-President George W. Bush in an e-mail to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Among the achievements of the first British pilot, Sqn. Ldr. David Arthurton, was...

A dogfight over software is intensifying as the Pentagon reaffirmed that it will not share with partner countries the sensitive code that controls Lockheed Martin's F-35 radar-evading jet fighter, according to an article published by Reuters. Britain, which funded about $2 billion of the F-35, is among eight countries that co-financed the system. Nonetheless, no country will receive the source code or the vital electronics that control everything from weapons integration to radar to flight dynamics, according to the article. The jet, known as the Joint Strike Fighter, can switch between air-to-ground and air-to-air missions in mid-flight, thanks to some...

 EXCLUSIVE Taliban Think They'll Explode As I Roar Over  Ready ... John with jet From DAVID WILLETTS in Afghanistan   Published: Today   AN RAF hero told yesterday how his squadron strikes terror into the Taliban - with fearsome Tornados. Flight Lieutenant John Pingree and his fellow aces roar low across the ground at 600mph, creating a noise so thunderous "it feels like your ribcage is going to explode". The manoeuvre - seen as "an aggressive show of force" - is so threatening they say it makes fanatics scurry into the hills. John, a navigator and weapons system officer known...

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. That's what Winston Churchill said of those whose bravery saved the free world while he served as the British prime minister during World War II. On Saturday, some of those few were remembered at a "Royal Air Force Day" ceremony at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium, 3624 N. 74th E. Ave. During World War II — and even for several months before the United States entered the conflict — thousands of young British men streamed into Oklahoma to receive the...

    Stealthy ... Brit Jon with B2 bomber        Exclusive   RAF pilot is one hell of a guy     By JOHN KAY Published: Today     AN RAF Top Gun known as “Killers” has been recruited to fly the world’s deadliest aircraft for the elite US Grim Reapers squadron.   13th bomb squadron ... badge of the elite Grim Reapers  Squadron Leader Jon Killerby pilots the £1billion state-of-the-art Stealth Spirit B2 bomber. The former Tornado ace, 34, is based with the 13th Bomb Squadron in Missouri, US. His flying overalls sport the squadron’s badge...

RAF to get Star Wars-style helmets By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent  Last Updated: 3:22pm GMT 09/11/2007     Pilots flying the next generation of jet fighters will use futuristic, Star Wars-style helmets, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.The headgear being developed for the new, American-built F35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will display navigation and targeting information on the inside of the pilot’s visor.Precision head tracking software will allow pilots to "see through" the cockpit floor, with infra-red images of the ground below, during day or night time, being beamed in front of their eyes.The advanced helmet mounted display is reminiscent...

A war hero who became the RAF's most decorated air gunner has died at the age of 87. Wallace McIntosh from Aberdeen survived 55 World War II missions as a Lancaster rear gunner in Bomber Command's 207 Squadron. Flying Officer McIntosh is believed to hold the record for downing the most enemy planes from a bomber, with eight confirmed kills and one 'probable'. He died on Monday from Lung cancer at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Mr McIntosh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross twice - the RAF's highest honour for bravery - for bombing raids between...

The Royal Air Force has called in a gay pressure group to help solve its recruitment crisis. The Service will take advice from Stonewall on how to make itself more attractive to homosexual and bisexual men and women, and is aiming to spend tens of thousands of pounds on advertising in the "pink" media. As part of the initiative, the RAF will pay Stonewall an undisclosed sum to join its "Diversity Champions" programme, under which commanders have to demonstrate the Service's commitment to implementing a range of policies to promote "lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equality in the workplace". The...

AN Australian serving with Britain's RAF safely ejected from his fighter jet seconds before it crashed into the sea off England. The pilot and the Australian navigator of the Tornado GR4 fighter bomber were forced to bail out during a bombing practice run over the Holbeach range - a stretch of beach in the northern English district of Lincolnshire - on Tuesday. The RAF has set up a board of inquiry to find out what went wrong. British media reported that both airmen were "fine" but had been taken to a hospital to check they had not sustained spinal injuries....

A ROYAL Air Force Eurofighter crashed on landing in eastern England when its front wheel failed to descend properly, the Ministry of Defence in London said. The Typhoon jet suffered damage following a malfunction of its landing gear as it touched down at the RAF Coningsby base in Lincolnshire, eastern England, on Monday, an MoD spokesman told AFP. No one was hurt and an investigation was now under way into what caused the problem, he said. The Typhoon Eurofighter is produced by a consortium of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), BAE Systems and Italy's Alenia/Finmeccanica. It is...

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Two British Royal Air Force jets were dangerously low on fuel over Iraq when a crew from Travis Air Force Base risked their lives and their refueling tanker to save them, the military says. The four crew members were recently awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses for their bravery. The incident occurred during last year's invasion of Iraq, when the two British Tornadoes were within two minutes of running out of fuel. The Travis-based members of the 6th Air Refueling Squadron dropped their KC-10 Extender tanker to a lower altitude and dumped some of their...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/16/03 -USS T.Roosevelt, USS Kitty Hawk, B-2, GR7, A10, AV-8B, leaflets BREAKING: US SEEKS PEACE ---- BUT IS READY - GOOD MORNING BAGHDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAKING: USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Kitty Hawk BREAKING: B-2, 'Spirit of Oklahoma', 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, BREAKING: Harrier GR7, A10, Harrier AV-8B, Living Support Area 7, 633 Squadron Royal Air Force BREAKING: Nutcakes in Saddam City BREAKING: Leaflets dropped BREAKING: B-1 JDAMs in measured response ========= USS Kitty Hawk ========= Somewhere near Iraq, heroes on the USS Kitty Hawk prepare. ========= USS Theodore Roosevelt =========...