AVIATION

Thailand to Buy Israeli-Made Hermes 900 Drones

Thailand to Buy Israeli-Made Hermes 900 Drones

The Royal Thai Navy has selected Israeli aerospace firm Elbit Systems to supply seven Hermes 900 Kochav drones for four billion baht ($112.2 million). According to local media, the company’s pitch bested more than a dozen proposals from Turkey, China, Israel, and the US for the southeast Asian nation’s new maritime surveillance drones. Navy spokesman […]

Turkish Bayraktar Drone Fires Laser-Guided Missile During Trial

Turkish Bayraktar Drone Fires Laser-Guided Missile During Trial

Turkey’s landmark Bayraktar Akinci attack drone successfully fired a new laser-guided missile in a recent trial. During the test, the drone took off from Corlu airfield in northwestern Turkey and flew at an average altitude of 30,000 feet (9.1 kilometers). It struck a floating target laser-marked by another Bayraktar drone flying below cloud-level. The test […]

USAF completes national guard F-16 fleet radar upgrade

USAF completes national guard F-16 fleet radar upgrade

The US Air Force has completed the installation of the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) on a fleet of 72 Air National Guard F-16 aircraft. The installation increases the fleet’s “operational viability and reliability,” providing pilots with “5th generation fighter radar capabilities,” the manufacturer stated. The Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar’s […]

Turkey delivers six Bayraktar drones to Niger

Turkey delivers six Bayraktar drones to Niger

Turkey delivered six Bayraktar TB2 drones to Niger earlier this month as part of an arms deal Ankara signed with Niamey in November, Radio France Internationale reported. The deal includes armored vehicles and Hurkus light attack aircraft, the first Turkish manned aircraft to be exported. The West African nation bought the drones to improve its […]

Swiss to sign contract to buy 36 F-35 fighters before referendum on deal

Swiss to sign contract to buy 36 F-35 fighters before referendum on deal

The Swiss government will sign a contract by the end of March to buy 36 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, it said on Wednesday, pressing ahead without waiting for a referendum on the $5.5 billion deal. Switzerland chose the F-35 last year as its next-generation fighter jet, angering opponents who said they would […]

Nigeria buys 12 US Viper helos: AGR-20 PGMs, M197 20mm cannon

Nigeria buys 12 US Viper helos: AGR-20 PGMs, M197 20mm cannon

ABUJA— The United States has decided to approve a possible foreign military sale [FMS] to Nigeria regarding the AH-1Z Attack Helicopter. Photo credit: FlightGlobal The FMS in question includes the sale of 12 AH-1Z Attack Helicopters to Nigeria. In case the agreement is realized, Nigeria will purchase 12 AH-1Z Helicopters, 28 T-700GE401C Engines, 2000 APKWS […]

Vermont F-35s to Fly Europe Air Policing Missions

Vermont F-35s to Fly Europe Air Policing Missions

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — The first overseas deployment of the Vermont Air National Guard’s F-35 fighter jets will have the pilots and their aircraft patrolling the skies of Europe during one of the most tense periods in recent history. More than 200 Vermont air guard personnel, their equipment and eight F-35s are now in Europe, […]

UK judge rules against Qatar Airways in dispute with Airbus

UK judge rules against Qatar Airways in dispute with Airbus

A British judge on Tuesday denied a bid by Qatar Airways to reinstate a jet contract cancelled by Europe’s Airbus, Reuters reports. The companies have been locked in a safety dispute for months on Europe’s A350 long-haul jet. Their unprecedented bust-up widened in January when Airbus revoked a separate deal for 50 smaller A321neos that Qatar says […]