Free Republic

Some 50 air forces and air arms around the world operate different variants of the famous Mil Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter. Market for upgrades of this type is therefore huge – and the competition is correspondingly fierce. The best-known upgrades for Mi-24s are offered by different Russian and Czech companies, but also by the Israeli Aircraft Industries, WZL in Poland and SAGEM in France. However, one of the least-well-known yet biggest and most successful upgrades of Mi-24s ever was launched by the South African company called Advanced Technologies and Engineering. The Super Hind upgrade in question resulted in spectacular modifications...

The UAE is the launch customer for Sikorsky's armed Black Hawk. Sikorsky (a unit of Lockheed Martin, Chalet CS02) has completed the six-year development and qualification program for its weaponization kit, tailored for the S-70i/UH-60M Black Hawk. The qualification involved around two years of live firing trials conducted at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Using the Black Hawk’s existing digital avionics, the kit allows a range of weaponry to be launched and fired, including precision-guided Hellfire missiles and laser-guided rockets. The system also provides accurate aiming for unguided weapons such as Hydra 70 rockets carried in seven- or 19-round...

The Hawker Hunter (top) and F-15SG. (Photo: Mindef) SINGAPORE: Back in the day, a bombing run with the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) earliest fighter jet, the Hawker Hunter, meant first completing a math exercise. Before setting off, pilots would bury themselves in charts and tables, manually calculating the perfect trajectory for the bomb drop. They must consider the day’s wind and humidity, then figure out how high the aircraft should fly and how much it will drift. Once airborne, they intentionally aim off target and release the bomb. “One degree off your dive angle and the bomb will...

2-min YouTube video showing V-280 Valor well out of hover. Nacelles are not yet fully rotated forward, as pictured above, but clip shows project coming along nicely. Nacelles feature rotational gear overlaid with video MOSAIC, apparently this feature is still technically sensitive; Osprey nacelles rotate as an integrated unit, Valor nacelles are bisected into fixed and rotational subcomponents.

Elon Musk is the world’s greatest showman. His Tesla Roadster and a dummy astronaut blasts off on a super-giant rocket called Falcon Heavy, headed for Mars orbit with David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” blaring on the car radio. The astronaut is dubbed “Starman”, after another Bowie song. The words “Don’t Panic!” are on the dashboard. Musk said that it took his team over three years to develop the space suit, because it not only had to be functional, it had to “look good”. To Musk, the spectacle is as important as the accomplishment. He understands that to be truly successful, you...

The maiden flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster, slated to launch tomorrow (Feb. 6), comes factory-equipped with a Tesla Roadster as a part of the payload/ballast, and is meant to be hurled toward a solar orbit that could take it as far out as the orbit of Mars. But what's the point of sending a car into space? Is it bound to become just more space junk? We asked spaceflight experts to weigh in. ... "He is shipping it out of Earth orbit, so I do not think that there is any risk here," said orbital-debris expert Darren McKnight, technical...

Save PHOENIX — An Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) used for public safety flew above the capitol grounds in Phoenix on Wednesday, Jan. 17, during the 13th annual Aerospace Days at the Capitol. Hosted by the Aerospace States Association and Aerospace Arizona, the goal of the event was to educate legislators on the commercial uses of UAS, including agriculture, ranching, mining operations, inspecting large aircraft, and real estate. Demonstrations and displays regarding UAS uses, legislation, regulation, safety and technical issues, adorned the capitol lawn as legislators and citizens learned about the uses and economic impact of the aerospace industry, specifically as...

Federal officials are testing the government's ability to identify gyrocopters and other small aircraft over Washington, D.C., nearly three years after a Florida mailman flew undetected past the White House before landing his 350-pound rotorcraft at the U.S. Capitol. The Air Force will fly a gyrocopter above the capital area at between 500 and 2,500 feet off the ground, and will fly Cessna and Sky Arrow aircraft between 500 and 8,000 feet above the ground, according to a Tuesday press release. “Using Cessna, Sky Arrow and Gyrocopter aircraft, a variety of flight patterns will be flown five to nine times...

EXPERTS are baffled after large steel balls appeared to fall from the sky, terrifying thousands living in nearby neighbourhoods. Reports have emerged that the mysterious object disintegrated above eastern Brazil and northern Peru. The bizarre incident was accompanied with loud booms. People living in Larancahuani, in the region of Puno, Peru, were reportedly left terrified when three metallic spheres crashed down. SHOCK: The mysterious spheres were found by peasants in southeastern Peru _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BIZARRE: The mysterious objects may have been from a satellite ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The unexplained incident unfolded on January 27. Video footage from the day appears to show a...

Vladimir Putin today vowed to create a son of Concordski - a jinxed Soviet airliner now in the scrapyard - to fly VIPs around the world. He is basing his ambitious vision of new luxury passenger high speed jet on the fearsome Tu-160 nuclear bomber which sends shivers throughout the West. The Kremlin leader wants a civilian version of the long range strategic bomber to earn roubles to support the low-flying Russian economy. The Tu-144, nicknamed Concordski and made by Tupolev, became a laughing stock in the Soviet era, and never rivalled the Anglo-French Concorde which had a successful lifespan...

An Israeli Air Force F-15 on an exercise. Ilan Assayag The Israel Air Force is to decide in a few months between purchasing a third squadron of F-35 fighter jets or the F-15I, which, while less advanced, has other advantages. The acquisition requires the approval of the General Staff and a ministerial committee, but the recommendation of the air force generally carries the day. IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, who reportedly is leaning toward the F-15, is to submit a recommendation in May. Israel and the United States agreed last year on the purchase of 50 F-35 fighters, two...

A commercial space company seeking to shine among the satellite launch industry has secretly sent its own "star" into orbit. Rocket Lab on Wednesday (Jan. 24) revealed to the world that "The Humanity Star" is circling Earth and is expected to become the brightest object in the night sky. Covered in 65 highly-reflective panels, the satellite is rapidly spinning, reflecting the sun's light back onto the planet, much in the same way that a disco ball casts light onto a dance floor. From the ground, the geodesic sphere-shaped satellite will appear as a bright, glinting star quickly traversing the night...

Swedish airplane manufacturer Saab could cancel its contract to supply Gripen jet fighters to the Brazilian Air Force if it believes that an eventual tie-up between American company Boeing and Brazilian company Embraer could put technological secrets of its aircraft at risk. Folha has learned that this is the message that Saab is going to deliver on Tuesday (the 23rd) in a meeting scheduled with Defense Minister Raul Jungmann. The Swedish delegation will be headed up by the company's President, Hakan Buskhe. In 2013 the Swedish aircraft won a long running international competition against the French Dassault Rafale and the...

USN The French Navy will reportedly retire the last of its Alouette III light helicopters after more than 55 years of service and at least a decade before its scheduled replacement arrives, as the Cold War-era helicopters have become a nightmare to maintain. The service plans to lease Airbus Helicopters AS365 Dauphins to fill the resulting gap until the European consortium's new H160 become available. French newspaper La Tribune first reported the decision on Jan. 19, 2018. At present, the French Navy’s aviation arm, or l'Aéronavale, has fewer than 20 of the aging Alouette IIIs, which first entered service in...

Staff Sgt. Artur Shvartsberg—Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Co The Department of Defense plans on putting its surplus fleet of AH-1W Super Cobras up for sale on the international arms market. The news comes as the USMC continues to outfit its light attack helicopter squadrons with new-build AH-1Z "Viper" derivatives of the Bell design, which traces its roots directly to the iconic UH-1 Iroquois/Huey. A recent business opportunity posting over at Fedbizops.gov describes the need for flight and maintenance training, sustainment, and refitting "Whisky Cobras" with new commercially available off-the-shelf avionics upgrades in preparation for foreign transfers of the type...

At the Surface Navy Association's (SNA) 2017 National Symposium held last year, Lockheed Martin was showcasing a Mark VI patrol boat scale model fitted with an erectable launcher for four missiles at its stern. This conceptual model was representative of an unmanned Mark VI patrol boat fitted with LRASM next generation anti ship missiles. Conceptual scale model of a Mark VI fitted with 4x LRASM anti-ship missiles on Lockheed Martin stand at SNA 2017 Lockheed Martin representatives told Navy Recognition at the time (SNA 2017), that the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to study the...

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — During the Cold War, the MiG-21 fighter and the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle epitomized the might of the Soviet Bloc as it confronted the West in Europe. Although the MiG-21 — dubbed Fishbed by NATO — never saw combat in a NATO-Warsaw Pact war, the most iconic Soviet fighter of the jet age frequently tangled with American and other Western warplanes in hot wars in Vietnam, the Middle East and Africa. But nearly 60 years after it first entered front-line service with the Soviet air force — and 33 years since production ceased — the single-engine interceptor...

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jon Dasb—U.S. Navy A number of Marine Nationale Rafale-M multi-role fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft, along with 350 support personnel and aircrew, will deploy aboard the USS George H.W. Bush this Spring. Not only will the multi-national operation work to give Rafale-M aircrews much needed carrier qualifications—France's only carrier has been undergoing a mid-life refit—but it also aims to expand the two countries' abilities to operate fighter aircraft cooperatively from the sea for prolonged periods of time. Captain Jean-Emmanuel Roux de Luze, the French Naval Attaché to the U.S. Navy,...

Boeing showed off a scaled concept model of its hypersonic strike and reconnaissance aircraft design. This week Boeing revealed the first design details of a demonstrator aircraft that would go faster than Mach 5. Boeing hopes to build the hypersonic concept around a combined-cycle engine that incorporates elements of a turbine and a dual ramjet/scramjet. The unveiling came at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech forum in Orlando, Florida, as reported by Aviation Week Aerospace Daily. Boeing's model design is similar to one Lockheed Martin is working on. The aerospace industry right now is racing to produce a...

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan-manufactured Sky Sword II missiles will see their usage and adaptation expanded so they can help Taiwan’s Air Force tackle the threat from China’s Sukhoi Su-35 jets, reports said Wednesday. The Taiwanese weapon was developed in the 1990s as a medium-range air-to-air missile at the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST, 中科院). According to a report in the Liberty Times, the sea-to-air version of the Sky Sword II (天劍二) will be distributed to the Taiwan Navy’s Lafayette frigates from 2020 to 2028. In addition, Indigenous Defense Fighter (經國號) jets will see their number...