LONDON — The U.S. Air Force is deactivating the last Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron in Europe. The 81st Fighter Sqdn. based at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, will shut down later this year as part of ongoing defense cuts. According to officials, deactivation became official upon “the termination of the continuing-resolution provision that prohibited the ‘retirement, divestiture, realignment and transfer’ of aircraft.”
LONDON — AgustaWestland is pushing ahead with the flight-test program of its AW169 twin-engine helicopter, with the first flight of the fourth prototype. AC4 took to the air on Jan. 31 at the company’s facilities at Vergiate, Italy, and will join the other three prototypes. According to the company, the aircraft performed as expected, with test pilots assessing general handling and basic systems.
LONDON — The Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing is making final preparations to deploy its new Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks for medevac missions in Afghanistan. The April deployment will come just 14 months after the arrival of the first aircraft and just more than two years after the Swedish government placed the foreign military sales (FMS) order with the U.S. government for 15 aircraft in October 2010.
The FAA could begin asking for unmanned aerial system test site proposals as early as Monday, industry officials tell Aviation Week. The FAA was charged with selecting the six sites by the end of 2012, but the process has been delayed by privacy concerns.
The U.S. government spends more on weapons development than any other nation on the planet, but its plans for doing so are caught up in a larger financial debate.
Poland has set its sights on a new fleet of heavy transport and attack helicopters as it renews its rotary-wing assets over the next decade. On top of plans announced by the Polish ministry of defense in 2012 to purchase 70 medium utility helicopters beginning in 2014, Warsaw is planning to purchase a further 130 helicopters to replace its aging fleet of Polish and Russian-built rotorcraft. This helicopter procurement program will be the largest in Europe in more than a decade.
The French request for a British Sentinel radar surveillance aircraft to support Operation Serval in Mali highlights France's shortage of tactical intelligence assets, which have advanced little beyond helicopters and targeting pods on jets, despite years of experience in Afghanistan.
India has moved a significant step closer in integrating its strategic submarines with ballistic missiles after the test launch of a medium-range missile from a submerged platform in the Bay of Bengal. The 10-meter-tall (33-ft.) nuclear-capable missile was launched from a depth of about 50 meters Jan. 27, says Defense Research and Development Organization Director General V.K. Saraswat. It met “every” mission objective, he says.
Crisis is a word often applied to the proposed defense “sequestration” cuts, now set to take effect on March 1. There is no dispute that these budget reductions could send powerful tremors through the U.S. military and defense industry.
Abu Dhabi Tawazun, is to partner with Sweden's defence and security company Saab, to create the Middle East region's first facility for the development, manufacture, assembly and integration of radar systems.
Embraer Defense and Security has delivered the first three light attack and advanced training A-29 Super Tucano turboprops to the National Air Force of Angola.
In a sometimes painful confirmation hearing for defense secretary, former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) waded through questions about his past statements and misstatements as well as legitimate policy differences over nuclear weapons policy.
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s proposed cuts in maintenance to accommodate funding shortfalls caused by the continuing resolution, combined with potential further belt-tightening that could be brought on by sequestration, could not come at a worse time, according to service officials.
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy are ready to flight test the final software load for the X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D), with all the features required to enable operation from an aircraft carrier later this year. Based at NAS Patuxent River, Md., the two X-47Bs are being used for carrier-qualification testing ahead of the at-sea demonstration planned for the summer. Tests have included land-based catapult launches at Pax and deck-handling trials at sea on the carrier USS Truman.
The Senate defeated by a vote of 79-19 an amendment that would have blocked the transfer of F-16 fighters and M1 Abrams tanks to Egypt. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sponsored the amendment, arguing that it is a “grave mistake” to send Lockheed Martin F-16s and General Dynamics tanks to Egypt, now that the government has changed since the political upheaval there generated by the Arab Spring.
