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A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

Developing: One U.S. crew member was missing and three were rescued after a surveillance plane stationed with the USS Eisenhower crashed in the Arabian sea Wednesday, the U.S. navy said. The E-2C Hawkeye craft from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron crashed at approximately 2 p.m. local time. It was returning to its ship after conducting operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom when it experienced mechanical malfunctions and the crew performed a controlled bailout, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. The affected service personnel were not identified, pending notification of their next-of-kin.

NORFOLK, Va. - A Navy surveillance aircraft crashed into the Atlantic during a training exercise, and crews searched Thursday for the three aviators who were aboard, authorities said. "We're still conducting an active search and rescue mission," Navy spokesman Mike Maus said Thursday, about 12 hours after the twin-engine turbo prop plane went down in the ocean off the North Carolina coast. The E-2C Hawkeye crashed at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, Maus said. He did not know whether the plane sent out a distress call. The Truman and...