AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy–F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 555th Fighter Squadron participated in a training flight over the Adriatic Sea on Oct. 25, 2016. Pilots from the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons train regularly to ensure they can deter aggression, defend U.S. and NATO interests, and develop Aviano through superior combat air power. The two squadrons fly more than 20,000 hours a year combined to ensure they can provide combat airpower to U.S. and NATO combatant commanders and the National Command Authority to meet national security objectives.
Russia’s upgraded Mi-28NM Night Hunter helicopter gunships will soon bristle with an array of longer-range guided antitank missiles.“
We are updating Ataka and Khrizantema missiles for the Mi-28NMs to increase their range of target detection, lock on and destruction. The helicopter’s onboard fire control system will likewise be adapted for the use of these new missiles,” Valery Kashin, chief designer of the Kolomna-based Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau, said.
The Night Hunters will be able to use their new weapons round the clock and in any weather. For example, the modernized Ataka guided antitank missiles will have their range increased to 8 kilometers from 6 now. Early this month Russia tested out an upgraded version of the Mi-28 attack helicopter.
Dubbed Mi-28NM (NATO reporting name “Havoc”), it features a 360-degree radar and advanced weapons guidance system that ensures faster target acquisition and its downloading to the helicopter’s fire control system.
Unlike its predecessor, the Mi-28NM can be piloted also by the gunner and is better suited for the use of high-precision ordnance. The Mi-28NM is a modernized version of the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter that is being upgraded to a fifth-generation aircraft, which has been in development since 2008.
Charles D’Alberto At least 17 people, including some students, were injured when a Royal Malaysian Air Force helicopter, carrying more than a dozen personnel on board, crashed into a school in Tawau, Sabah, yesterday
TAWAU • A military helicopter crashed into a school in the town of Tawau, Sabah, yesterday morning, leaving at least 17 people hurt, including several students, Malaysian media reported.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) helicopter was carrying 14 personnel on board when it crashed into the area between the canteen and a hall building under construction within the secondary school compound, the New Straits Times reported. Other reports, however, said there were 13 RMAF personnel on board the aircraft.
The paper said the aircraft clipped the roof of the school’s main building before it lost altitude and crashed at about 9.35am.
The RMAF headquarters in Kuala Lumpur said the helicopter had been on a routine training flight.
Tawau police chief Fadil Marcus said the aircraft had taken off from Tawau airport, located about 10km from the school.
He said 14 RMAF personnel on board, including the pilots, were hurt, The Star reported.
There were conflicting reports about the number of students injured, with some saying at least four students had been hurt.
All those injured were rushed to a nearby clinic. Some of them were later transferred to the Tawau district hospital, The Star said. The school was closed temporarily after the crash.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has ordered the RMAF to carry out investigations, Bernama reported.
Greek authorities say two crew members were rescued after their helicopter suffered an engine failure and fell into the sea near the coast in northern Greece during a training exercise.
Military authorities said the Apache attack helicopter splashed down Tuesday close to the shoreline east of the northern city of Thessaloniki.
The crew members were apparently not injured but were transported to a military hospital in Thessaloniki as a precaution.
This has to be both the scariest and most brilliant piloting i have EVER seen… This guy is NUTS!!!
How did the organizers of the event even allow this to happen, with all those people in the stands? A power or engine failure would of been catastrophic…Watch the video, and you be the judge!
Two F-35B aircraft fly in formation over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. | Lockheed Martin photo
An F-35B just carried out a remarkable test where its sensors spotted an airborne target, sent the data to an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense site, and had the land-based outpost fire a missile to defeat the target — thereby destroying an airborne adversary without firing a single shot of its own.
This development simultaneously vindicates two of the US military’s most important developments: The F-35 and the Naval Integrated Fire Control Counterair Network (NIFC-CA).
Essentially, the NIFC-CA revolutionizes naval targeting systems by combining data from a huge variety of sensors to generate targeting data that could be used to defeat incoming threats.
So now with this development, an F-35 can pass targeting data to the world’s most advanced missile defense system, an Aegis site, that would fire its own missile, likely a SM-6, to take out threats in the air, on land, or at sea.
This means that an F-35 can stealthily enter heavily contested enemy air space, detect threats, and have them destroyed by a missile fired from a remote site, like an Aegis land site or destroyer, without firing a shot and risking giving up its position.
The SM-6, the munition of choicefor Aegis destroyers, is a 22-foot long supersonic missile that can seek out, maneuver, and destroy airborne targets like enemy jets or incoming cruise or ballistic missiles.
The SM-6’s massive size prohibits it from being equipped to fighter jets, but now, thanks to the integration of the F-35 with the NIFC-CA, it doesn’t have to.
The SM-6, as effective and versatile as it is, can shoot further than the Aegis sites can see. The F-35, as an ultra connective and stealthy jet, acts as an elevated, highly mobile sensor that extends the effective range of the missile.
This joint capability helps assuage fears over the F-35’s limited capacity to carry ordnance. The jet’s stealth design means that all weapons have to be stored internally, and this strongly limits the plane’s overall ordnance capacity.
This limiting factor has drawn criticism from pundits more fond of traditional jet fighting approaches. However, it seems the F-35’s connectivity has rendered this point a non-issue.
Demonstration shows capability to extend the battlefront using Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA). | Lockheed Martin photo
Overall, the F-35 and NIFC-CA integration changes the game when it comes to the supposed anti-access/area denial bubbles created by Russia and China’s advanced air defenses and missiles.
“One of the key defining attributes of a 5th Generation fighter is the force multiplier effect it brings to joint operations through its foremost sensor fusion and external communications capabilities,” said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement.
“NIFC-CA is a game changer for the US Navy that extends the engagement range we can detect, analyze and intercept targets,” said Dale Bennett, another Lockheed Martin vice president in the statement.
“The F-35 and Aegis Weapon System demonstration brings us another step closer to realizing the true potential and power of the worldwide network of these complex systems to protect and support warfighters, the home front and US allies.”
Trigana Air Service plane lies on the tarmac after skidding for just under a mile.
It was a bit of a rough landing.
An Indonesian cargo plane slammed into the runway and skidded for just under a mile (1 kilometer,) tearing off its landing gear, while attempting to land on Tuesday morning.
The Trigana Air Service plane was touching down at Wamena airport in West Papua, Indonesia, at about 7.30am when things started to go wrong.
Plane lands at 0:20 seconds
Pilot Matt Dearden, who has been flying in Indonesia for seven years, told CNN that the plane was in low cloud when he attempted to land early on Tuesday.
“They touched down very hard in a nose high attitude which instantly collapsed both main gear. The left gear was ripped from the airframe as it skidded along the runway,” he said.
“It came to a rest a long way from the impact point and skidded just off the right side of the runway, scattering debris as it went.”
The torn off landing gear from Trigana PK-YSY.
No lives were lost in the crash, marketing director for Pertamina Ahmad Bambang told online news portal detik.com. The pilot, co-pilot and technician were able to escape.
On his Twitter account, Bambang said the state-owned energy company had hired the plane to deliver fuel supplies to Jayapura and Wamena — two small towns in Papua.
“We are sorry for fuel supply disruptions,” he said, adding they were looking for more ways to deliver the goods.
Fire crews attend to a Trigana Air Services flight which violently skidded off the runway.
Dearden said there had been no injuries but it would take a while to remove the plane’s wreck from the runway.
“Sadly this happens far too often out here,” he said. “There was an almost identical crash here in Wamena almost exactly a year ago.”
Wamena airport is surrounded by high mountains and often has cloud at unusually low levels, Dearden added. “There is no instrument landing equipment here either so all landings are hand flown visually,” he said.
Trigana Air Service didn’t immediately respond for a request for comment.
The Marines believe one day, a laser-armed F-35 will see the light of day. Image source: Lockheed Martin.
It’s been nearly two years since we first caught wind of a new project, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (DARPA), to put laser guns on warplanes. Two years since “the Pentagon’s mad scientists department” announced they had hired Lockheed Martin(NYSE: LMT) to develop a means to “counteract the effects of turbulence caused by the protrusion of a turret from an aircraft’s fuselage,” and permit a fighter jet to fire a laser weapon with precision.
Two years later, the U.S. military has still not given up on its dream.
Last year, we updated you on the military’s decision to begin installation of laser guns on Lockheed Martin AC-130 gunships by 2020.
The theory then was that a 200 kilowatt laser canon wouldn’t take up much more room than a standard issue M102 howitzer — which the AC-130 is already equipped with. And the Allison engines on the AC-130 put out plenty of juice that could power a high-energy laser. And so, with just a little rejiggering, the Air Force thought it should be possible to switch out the howitzer, and replace it with a laser cannon.
If that works out well, then the Air Force would see about shrinking the laser down in size, and perhaps putting it aboard a smaller warplane. And now we learn that the Marine Corps is on board with this plan as well.
As website PopularMilitary.com. revealed last week, the Marine Corps has plans to install laser weapons on F-35 fighter jets — indeed, that it is “absolutely” committed to doing so.
As with the Air Force, the Marines’ initial intention is to mount laser weapons aboard large planes such as the KC-130 (an armed version of Lockheed’s C-130 Hercules, similar to the Air Force’s AC-130). But “as soon as we could miniaturize them,” says USMC Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, the Corps would plan to begin installing lasers aboard F-35s, Cobra attack helicopters, and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft as well.
The reason: Economics.
Projectile-based weapons — be they guns, missiles, or cannons — imply by necessity ordnance to fire from them. That ordnance must be transported to the battlefront (which costs money), loaded aboard a plane (which costs space), and then carried in flight (which costs fuel … which in turn costs both money and space). In contrast, a laser is powered by the airplane’s own engines, and its own fuel load. While that fuel certainly costs money, it’s so efficient at creating destructive energy that even today, laser weapons are estimated to cost only about “a dollar-a-shot. ” to operate.
And that’s a whole lot cheaper than a missile.
So first the Air Force, and now the Marines — that’s two-thirds of the operators of Lockheed’s F-35 that are now on record and on board with the idea of arming warplanes with laser guns. (And we already know that the Navy has its own fondness for lasers. ). But who will be building these weapons for the military, and which companies should you be looking to invest in to profit from the transition from projectile weapons to lasers?
Lockheed Martin is the most obvious candidate. Not only is it working on laser weapons for DARPA, it also builds the plane most people are saying will be the first platform to carry them — the world-famous C-130 Hercules — as well as the F-35 stealth fighter that the Marines hope will be the vehicle that laser guns eventually end up on.
However, you also need to keep an eye on Boeing(NYSE: BA), which ran the Pentagon’s last large-scale airborne laser project., and on Raytheon(NYSE: RTN) and Northrop Grumman(NYSE: NOC) as well. Both Raytheon and Northrop partnered with Boeing on the Airborne Laser project before its cancellation in 2009. And then there’s Kratos Defense(NASDAQ: KTOS), a small company that’s been making a lot of news in the drone space. lately — and also coordinated the Navy’s effort to put a laser cannon on one of its warships.
Basically, it’s hard to name a company in the defense industry today that isnot actively researching laser weapons. But the place to start your research is still Lockheed Martin. With a hand in both the development of the laser gun itself, and the platform(s) it will be mounted on, Lockheed is the single company burning this candle at both ends — in a good way.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity
The world’s biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn’t miss a beat: There’s a small company that’s powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors!
An updated version of China’s WZ-10 combat helicopters will soon be assigned to all ground force aviation units, according to the China Daily.
In service since 2012, the WZ-10 is designed for anti-tank warfare. It can be outfitted with cannons and machine guns, as well as guided missiles. Upgraded versions of the WZ-10, however, have also been equipped for air-to-air combat.
These state-of-the-art choppers will now be given to every aviation unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army.
“Several WZ-10s have been delivered to an aviation brigade of the PLA’s 13th Group Army under the Western Theater Command, meaning that all of the army’s aviation units now have the aircraft,” IHS Jane’s reports.
Combined with the Chinese military’s WZ-9 and WZ-19, the PLA Army now has a strong combat helicopter force, according to Wu Peixin, an aviation specialist in Beijing. “The Army now needs more medium-lift, multipurpose helicopters such as the US Army’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk,” he added. “This helicopter is capable of performing both combat operations and transport tasks.”
Current estimates suggest that the PLA Army has 1,000 helicopters in its fleet. Gao Zhuo, a military observer in Shanghai, said the government would like to see that number to increase to 3,000.
China has also been testing its J-20 stealth fighter, which will soon participate in patrols in the Pacific.
“There are a lot of specifics to operating technical equipment at high altitude,” military expert Vasiliy Kashin told Sputnik.
“A lot of systems may not work properly in conditions of thin air and low temperature. Above all, this concerns equipment used for the technical maintenance of military equipment – the military equipment itself is usually better adapted to extreme conditions.”
As part of its growing military prowess, China has already built two J-20s, with six more known to be in development. Beijing may have as many as 36 stealth fighters by early 2018.
The US Air Force is expected to fly its “radiation sniffer” jet off the Korean Peninsula to take air samples to determine if a nuclear event occurred in North Korea.
The Air Force WC-135 jet, dubbed the “Constant Phoenix,” will look for distinctive elements a nuclear test of any type would emit into the air. The collected samples can be analyzed to determine exactly what occurred.
Japan’s Air Self Defense Force also said it was sending four jets to collect airborne dust for radiation samples.
The US Air Force’s four-engine Boeing jets are equipped with external devices that collect radioactive material from the atmosphere on filter paper. The planes also have “a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres,” according to an Air Force fact sheet.
The Air Force has two of the WC-135 jets that operate out of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
The United States also has ground stations in the area that will also be taking samples.
The Constant Phoenix program originated with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1947. The then-Army Air Forces, which would later become the Air Force, used WB-29s, variants of the B-29 bomber model, to try to detect evidence of Soviet nuclear tests, according to the Air Force.
The WB-29s were replaced by WB-50s beginning in 1950, with the current WB-135s coming on line in 1965.
The radiation-sniffing planes have been used to monitor compliance with nuclear weapons treaties, and also monitored effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the Soviet Union, the Air Force says.
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