Fighter Jets

Russian 5th Generation Fighter Jet T-50 PAK FA Sets World Record in Rate of Climb – Spectacular Russian T-50 Demo MAKS 2015 PAK-FA (Video)

by

– Russian 5th Generation Fighter Jet T-50 PAK FA Sets World Record in Rate of Climb:

Russian fifth generation fighter T-50 (PAK FA) has set the world record in rate of climb, reports the Russian newspaper.
The Russian aircraft was climbing at a speed of 384 meters per second. With such speed it would have been on top of Everest in 23 seconds, said the portal.
The T-50 is undergoing a programme of testing — including weapon tests. According to the commander of the Russian Air Force, Viktor Bondarev, the last 11th plane of the test squadron will be built in 2016. The aircraft factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur is ready for serial production of the PAK FA. Many countries have shown interest in the Russian jet. The start of production of the export version of the T-50 jet is planned for 2020.

Read moreRussian 5th Generation Fighter Jet T-50 PAK FA Sets World Record in Rate of Climb – Spectacular Russian T-50 Demo MAKS 2015 PAK-FA (Video)

US Sells Saudi Arabia $30 Billion In Weapons

by

– U.S. finalizes $30 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia (Haaretz, Dec. 29, 2011):

White House says agreement – under which 84 F-15 fighter jets will be sold to the kingdom, will help U.S. economy and strengthen regional security.

The U.S has finalized the sale of F-15 fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal worth 30 billion dollars, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, the agreement includes “production of 84 new aircraft and the modernization of 70 existing aircraft as well as munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics.”

Last year, Israel tried to prevent the contract going through, fearing it would undermine its air force superiority.

Read moreUS Sells Saudi Arabia $30 Billion In Weapons

Not Just Drones: Militants Can Snoop on Most US Warplanes (Updated)

by

militants-can-snoop-on-most-us-warplanes

Tapping into drones’ video feeds was just the start. The U.S. military’s primary system for bringing overhead surveillance down to soldiers and Marines on the ground is also vulnerable to electronic interception, multiple military sources tell Danger Room. That means militants have the ability to see through the eyes of all kinds of combat aircraft – from traditional fighters and bombers to unmanned spy planes. The problem is in the process of being addressed. But for now, an enormous security breach is even larger than previously thought.

The military initially developed the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, or ROVER, in 2002. The idea was let troops on the ground download footage from Predator drones and AC-130 gunships as it was being taken. Since then, nearly every airplane in the American fleet – from F-16 and F/A-18 fighters to A-10 attack planes to Harrier jump jets to B-1B bombers has been outfitted with equipment that lets them transmit to ROVERs. Thousands of ROVER terminals have been distributed to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But those early units were “fielded so fast that it was done with an unencrypted signal. It could be both intercepted (e.g. hacked into) and jammed,” e-mails an Air Force officer with knowledge of the program. In a presentation last month before a conference of the Army Aviation Association of America, a military official noted that the current ROVER terminal “receives only unencrypted L, C, S, Ku [satellite] bands.”

So the same security breach that allowed insurgent to use satellite dishes and $26 software to intercept drone feeds can be used the tap into the video transmissions of any plane.

Read moreNot Just Drones: Militants Can Snoop on Most US Warplanes (Updated)

Russia provides 10 MiG fighter jets to Lebanon for free

by

Russian MIG-29 fighters
(Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia gave Lebanon ten MiG fighter jets yesterday in a deal to boost defence cooperation.

The MiG29 Fulcrum fighters would be provided free to Lebanon under an agreement on military-technical assistance, the head of Russia’s defence cooperation service said. Mikhail Dmitryev said that the jets would come from Russia’s existing stock.

He said that Moscow was also in talks to supply Beirut with heavy armour, adding that supplies of such weaponry were “now possible after the situation in this nation has stabilised”.

He said: “We view the Lebanese army as the main guarantor of this nation’s stability, therefore the armed forces of this country must be strengthened.” The deal followed a meeting in Moscow between Anatoly Serdyukov, the Defence Minister, and Elias Murrhis, his Lebanese counterpart. Mr Serdyukov said that Russia had received a detailed list of armaments sought by Lebanon.

Read moreRussia provides 10 MiG fighter jets to Lebanon for free

Bombers fly close to US border

by

 strategic-bomber.jpg

Moscow – Russian bombers accompanied by Nato fighter jets have completed a patrol off the north west coast of the United States, the Russian air force said on Wednesday, Interfax reported.

“NATO fighter jets accompanied the planes of long range aviation in the area of Alaska during the air patrol,” Alexander Drobyshevsky, assistant to the head of the Russian air force, was quoted as saying.

Two long range-bombers and two Il-78 flight refuelling tankers took part in the 15-hour patrol over the Arctic and Pacific oceans, he said. Drobyshevsky did not say when the patrol took place.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in August 2007 that Moscow was resuming with immediate effect the Cold War practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights well beyond its borders.

Source: AFP

Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-03-26 10:26:05

Russian bomber again intercepted near U.S. Navy ship

by

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Russian bomber aircraft approached a U.S. aircraft carrier off the Korean coast on Wednesday and was intercepted by American fighter jets — the second such incident in less than a month, U.S. defense officials said.According to the U.S. officials, a Russian bomber came within three to five nautical miles and flew 2,000 feet (610 meters) above the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships.

Two U.S. F/A-18 fighters were launched to intercept the Russian aircraft and escort it out of the area, according to one defense official.

Russian bombers over the past year have increased their flights near U.S. territory and U.S. naval assets, demonstrating their long-range strike capability.

In February, two Russian bombers approached the Nimitz near Japan and one flew over the carrier, escorted by a U.S. fighter jet. That was the first Russian overflight of a U.S. carrier since 2004.

Those operations come as Russian officials say they will revive some of the military power and reach allowed to collapse with the Soviet Union.

U.S. defense officials on Wednesday said they did not consider the Russian bomber flight a threat or concern.

(Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Wed Mar 5, 2008 6:48pm EST

Source: Reuters