India issued a letter of request in October for acquisition of 22 single-seat jets and four twin-seat trainers
The defence ministers of Japan, Britain and Italy on Thursday signed an agreement to establish a joint organisation to develop a new advanced jet fighter, as the countries push to bolster their cooperation in the face of growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea. The three countries had agreed last year to merge earlier individual plans for Japan's Mitsubishi F-X to succeed the retiring F-2s developed with the United States and Britain's Tempest to produce the new combat aircraft for deployment in 2035. Japan, which is rapidly building up its military, hopes to have greater capability to counter China's rising assertiveness and allow Britain a bigger presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara at a joint news conference with his British and Italian counterparts, Grant Shapps and Guido Crosett, said that co-developing a high performance fighter aircraft is indispensable to securing air superiority and enabling effective deterrence at a time Japan ..
Nigeria, Philippines, Argentina and Egypt have shown interest in procuring indigenously-developed Tejas Light Combat aircraft, CB Ananthakrishnan, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, said on Wednesday. Ananthakrishnan said talks are on with these countries for the possible procurement. "Nigeria, Philippines and Egypt are keen to procure Tejas Light Combat aircraft," Ananthakrishnan told PTI on the sidelines of an event. On how India will proceed with the supply of the Tejas jets to Argentina if the procurement fructifies as the aircraft has some components sourced from the United Kingdom, the Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) said a way would be found out in such a scenario. After the 1982 Falklands War, the UK imposed an embargo on military sales to Argentina and especially prevented supply of hardware manufactured by it. In view of the British restrictions, it is perceived that supply of military hardware comprisin
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday unveiled a decommissioned MiG-211 fighter jet that was used in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War at the Raj Bhavan here. Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Hemant Soren were also present on the occasion. "Today, our most respected Honourable Prime Minister Shri. @narendramodi Ji inaugurated the Mikoyan Gurevich (MiG-211) fighter jet aircraft at Raj Bhavan which was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1964 and successfully used in the Bangladesh Liberation War," Radhakrishnan wrote on 'X'. The PM also met the family members of the governor at Raj Bhavan. "Inspite of his busy schedule, I am deeply grateful to our dear most respected Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji for meeting my family today at Raj Bhavan. Deeply moved and touched by the love and affection he showered on my family specially my grand children. I thank him from the bottom of my heart," Radhakrishnan said. He also shared photographs of the ..
As per the proposal, the Indian Navy will get 22 single-seated Rafale Marine aircraft along with four trainer aircraft
At the heart of the project is locking down New Delhi, the city's small bureaucratic center, where the summit will take place Saturday and Sunday
A Russian fighter jet fired flares and struck another U.S. drone over Syrian airspace on Wednesday, the White House said, in a continued string of harassing maneuvers that have ratcheted up tensions between the global powers. It's the sixth reported incident this month, and the second in the past 24 hours, in which the United States has said Russian warplanes have flown dangerously close to American manned and unmanned aircraft, putting crews and the planes at risk and raising questions as to what the U.S. may need to do in response. Two U.S. officials confirmed that the strike damaged the MQ-9 Reaper drone. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. "We've seen the reports, the early reports, of a second Russian fighter aircraft this week flying dangerously close to our drone" on a mission to counter Islamic State militants in Syria, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. She did not provide other details, but
A Russian fighter jet flew very close to a US surveillance aircraft over Syria, forcing it to go through the turbulent wake and putting the lives of the four American crew members in danger, US officials said Monday. The officials said the incident, which happened just before noon EDT on Sunday, was a significant escalation in what has been a string of encounters between US and Russian aircraft in Syria in recent weeks. The intercept by the Russian Su-35 impeded the US crew's ability to safely operate their MC-12 aircraft, the officials said, calling it a new level of unsafe behaviour that could result in an accident or loss of life. In recent weeks, Russian fighter jets have repeatedly harassed US unmanned MQ-9 drones, but the latest incident raised alarms because it endangered American lives. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a military operation, would not say how close the Russian jet got to the US warplane. The MC-12, which is a twin-engin
The U.S. is sending additional fighter jets and a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. The Pentagon said Monday that the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, and a number of F-35 fighter jets will be heading to the area. The Hudner had been in the Red Sea. Defense officials last week announced the deployment of F-16s to the area over the past weekend, and there have been A-10 attack aircraft there for nearly two weeks in response to the Iranian activity. The latest deployments come after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait early this month, opening fire on one of them. The aircraft are intended to give air cover for the commercial ships moving through the waterway and increase the military's visibility in the area, as a deterrent to Iran. The U.S. Navy said in both instances the Iranian naval vessels backed off when the USS McFaul, a guided-missile destroyer, arrived on the
China sent navy ships and a large group of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan over two days, the island's defense ministry said on Wednesday, before its annual military exercises aimed at defending itself against a possible invasion. The Chinese People's Liberation Army sent 38 warplanes and 9 navy vessels around Taiwan, between 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. From Wednesday morning until noon time, the military flew another 30 planes, among which included J-10 and J-16 fighters. Of these, 32 crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland. Later on Wednesday, another 23 planes crossed the midline. Taiwan is scheduled to hold the annual Han Guang exercise later this month, in which its military will hold combat readiness drills against preventing an invasion. It will also conduct the annual Wan'an exercises aimed at preparing civilians for natural disasters and practicing
Nearly three dozen Rafale-Marine fighters will be sold to Indian Navy for use on its locally manufactured aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, according to senior officials familiar with developments
HAL-GE's India plant could eventually produce close to a 1,000 F414 engines
The announcement was timed to coincide with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visit to the United States this week
The announcement was timed to coincide with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visit to the United States this week
The development comes at a time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on an official state visit to the United States
A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation's capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region. Hours later, police said rescuers had reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found. The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island's MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York's Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m. It was not immediately clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board. The plane flew directly over the nation's capital, though it was technically flying above some of the .
For the first time, the MiG-29K fighter aircraft undertook night landing on indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, a feat described by the Indian Navy as a "historic milestone". The Navy said the "challenging" night landing trial demonstrated the resolve, skill and professionalism of the crew of the INS Vikrant and the naval pilots. The milestone was achieved on Wednesday night when the ship was sailing in the Arabian Sea, officials said. "The Indian Navy achieves another historic milestone by undertaking the maiden night landing of MiG-29K on INS Vikrant. This is indicative of the Navy's impetus towards Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance)," Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. "This challenging night landing trial also demonstrates the resolve, skill and professionalism of the Vikrant crew and the Naval pilots," he said. In February, Russian-origin MiG-29K and a prototype of the Naval variant of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas j
An F-18 fighter jet crashed at an airbase in the Spanish city of Zaragoza but the pilot ejected successfully, the Spanish defense ministry said on Saturday. The aircraft landed within the perimeter of the base, the defense ministry said on Twitter. The base, which lies about 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside the city, belongs to the Spanish Air and Space Force. Videos posted on social media showed a plane in flames falling towards the ground. The pilot was already in hospital and his life was not in danger, the air force said. Spain's public news agency EFE said the F-18 was training for a flying exhibition when the incident occurred. The Guardia Civil told The Associated Press that one of its patrols was the first to reach the pilot, who fell outside the exterior fence surrounding the airbase. According to the Guardia Civil, the pilot suffered injuries to his legs, apparently because he ejected with a parachute from a low altitude. He was evacuated to hospital in a helicopter.
The crash in Rajasthan that killed 3 is the latest in a series of accidents involving the jet that is to be phased out by 2025
HAL also proposes to remove 300 kg of dead weight distributed across the Mark I to balance the fighter evenly