14 December 2008

Pakistan says Indian aircraft crossed into its airspace

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Indian aircraft violated Pakistan's airspace Saturday but were chased back over the border by fighter jets, a Pakistani air force spokesman said.

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Dutch to Augment UAV Force

The Netherlands is hoping to award a contract in January to increase its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capacity in Afghanistan.

The objective is to have the new unmanned aircraft operational in March 2009, which requires a January contract award, the state secretary for defense, Jack de Vries, told the Dutch parliament. The timeline is "very tight," he warned and any delays would affect operational availability in the combat area.

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10 December 2008

U.S. Army Fielding Many UAS For War Effort

The U.S. Army is planning to field a variety of unmanned aircraft soon, using about $300 million dedicated last summer to sending more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collectors to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army is expecting to field three new and 12 refurbished MQ-5B Hunter unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with new Greendart signals intelligence collection systems, said Col. Gregory Gonzales, project manager for Army UAS systems. He declined to provide details of the Greendart’s capabilities, citing security concerns.

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US-led air raid kills Afghan civilian and six police: force

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — Six police and a civilian were killed Wednesday when US-led forces targeting a Taliban commander bombed a police station in southern Afghanistan, the force and a local official said.

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Top US military officer raises doubts over F-22 jet program

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The top US military officer raised doubts Wednesday over the future of the costly F-22 fighter jet program, noting that the economic downturn could force the Pentagon to make budget cuts.


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09 December 2008

Dassault Signs With Tata for Offsets

Dassault Aviation and India's Tata Technologies have signed an agreement for Tata to provide Dassault with engineering services in support of the Indian Air Force's Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program.

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Navy Wants NG X-47B To Demo Aerial Refueling

Northrop Grumman will modify the second X-47B naval unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) to allow autonomous aerial refuelling (AAR) using both U.S. Navy probe-and-drogue and U.S. Air Force boom-and-receptacle methods.


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08 December 2008

US F-18 jet crashes in San Diego

A US military F-18 fighter jet has crashed into a residential area of San Diego, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said.

The San Diego Fire Department described the scene of the crash as "a heavily-populated area" near the 805 freeway.

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07 December 2008

Air Force has proud history of service

Prior to the signing of Executive Order 9981 by President Harry Truman in July of 1948, segregation was the order of the day in the United States military.

At Vance Air Force Base, then known as Enid Army Air Field, the segregated unit was the 76th Aviation Squadron. These were largely support units providing air base defense or dealing with supplies, ammunition or transportation.

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First border drone lands at ND base

FARGO, N.D. - After two failed tries, the first unmanned aircraft system to patrol the northern U.S. border successfully completed its flight from Arizona to North Dakota.

U.S Customs and Border Protection officials said the Predator B drone touched down at 1:28 p.m. EST Saturday at Grand Forks Air Force Base, after a six-hour flight from Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

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