France on June 21 successfully test-fired an intercontinental missile that will be outfitted to its new class of nuclear submarines in 2010, Defence Minister Herve Morin said.The M51 intercontinental missile was fired from the Biscarosse launch site in the Landes region of southwest France and splashed down in the North Atlantic “far from the American coast,” said a defence ministry …
Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos announced June 25 he would be cutting the number of Eurofighter jets that the country was ordering from European aerospace giant EADS.The order as it stands is for 18 of the fighters, under a contract signed in 2003 by the then conservative OVP government. But the deal has since come under scrutiny amid allegations of …
Russia’s state arms exporter denied a newspaper report Tuesday that it planned to supply jet fighters to Syria and Iran.br /Russian daily Kommersant quoted unnamed sources in the military-industrial complex as saying Moscow had begun shipments of five MiG-31E interceptor fighters to Syria and that Iran would benefit from the sales.br /”Russia has no plans to deliver fighters to Syria …
JERUSALEM: Israel is concerned about reported Russian deliveries of advanced MiG-31 fighter planes to its enemy Syria as part of an armaments drive, the top-selling Hebrew daily reported on Tuesday.The MiG-31, considered one of the best fighters in the world, can carry guided missiles with a range of more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) and is capable of striking 24 …
Aurora also known as SR-91 Aurora is the popular name for a hypothesized American reconnaissance aircraft, believed by some to be capable of hypersonic flight at speeds of Mach 5+. According to the hypothesis, Aurora was developed in the 1980s or 1990s as a replacement for the aging and …
Japan on Wednesday extended its controversial air mission to Iraq for two more years, with the upper house of parliament giving final approval.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition voted to pass the bill despite criticism from the opposition, which has pledged to pull out the troops as part of its platform for elections expected next month.The extension, which cleared the lower …
A French Navy Rafale aircraft dropped two AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire) air-to-ground modular weapons in early June, the second and final integration firing, it was announced June 21 here. Developed by Sagem Défense Sécurité, the AASM includes guidance and range-extending kits that can be bolted onto bombs.The Rafale dropped a salvo of two AASMs over the Landes test range, after …
Two fighter planes, a Turkish F-16 plane and a Greek F-16 collided in mid air and crashed into the Aegean Sea.The location of the crash is approximately 10 miles east of Karpathos, a Greek island in the southern part of the Aegean Sea.br /Yiannis Papageorgiou a spokesman for the Greek Air Force says that the Greek F-16 was dispatched to …
nEUROn (formerly spelled “Neuron”) is the “European UCAV technology demonstrator”. This delta wing stealth Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) project is the final phase of the French Dassault Aviation LOGIDUC 3-step stealth “combat drone” programme. Until June 2005, the UCAV nEUROn design was a full scale evolution of the twin-engine …
Estonia lodged a protest with Moscow on Wednesday, saying a Russian aircraft had violated the Baltic country’s airspace, the foreign ministry said.“We have issued a diplomatic note to the Russian foreign ministry, asking for explanations over why a Russian airplane violated Estonia’s airspace,” Estonian foreign ministry spokeswoman Ehtel Halliste told AFP.A Russian Tu-154 jet, en route to the Russian Baltic …
