Military Aviation

Not surprisingly, the defense group Lockheed Martin has acquired Sikorsky for $ 9 billion. With this operation, Lockheed Martin should strengthen its position as the leading supplier to the US military.
 

The ceremony marking the acceptance by the Arab Republic of Egypt of its first three Rafales was held this 20 July at the Dassault Aviation flight test center, southern France. Watch extracts of the speech. Read the article.
 

The Indonesian Air Force C-130 Hercules that crashed on 30 June, had accumulated 51 years of service. We take a brief look at the history of this US transport ‘plane which has sold over 2,500 units.
 

The Rafale’s daily flight demonstrations were carried out, this year at the Paris Air Show, by Captain Benoît Planche, who was accompanied onboard by several compact television cameras to provide the public with a few additional thrills in the filming of this show of force.
 

Over the last three years, India has been seriously considering buying up to 126 Dassault Aviation Rafale – until now. The Indian defense minister has just declared that his country will not go beyond the 36 combat aircraft ordered in mid-April.
 

Three days after the crash of the A400M, one of three test aircraft took off from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport on 12 May at 2:45 pm, for a two-hour flight. Read the article. See the video of the takeoff.
 

On 4 May at Doha, Dassault Aviation signed its third Rafale export contract. The State of Qatar has bought 24 fighter jets, with an option for 12 additional aircraft. Click here to read the article, and watch the complemetary video.
 

Qatar has just ordered 24 Rafale fighters. The third export success after Egypt and India, with the signing scheduled for early next week. Watch the video. Read the article.
 

This is the second Rafale export sale. After Egypt in February, it’s now India’s turn to order the Rafale ; 36 of which will be made in France.
 

Dassault has delivered the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) first two upgraded Mirage 2000’s. The fighter has a new cockpit, improved radar, and more. This delivery is a good omen for the 126 Rafale contract at present under discussion with India.
 

On 16th February in Cairo, a historic agreement for the first export sale of the Rafale was signed between Dassault Aviation and Egypt. The Egyptian Air Force will take possession of the total of 24 combat aircraft by 2019.
 

As we mentioned on 9th February, Egypt will take possession of 24 Rafale’s for its air force. The agreement will be finalized on 16th February in Cairo. Estimated value of this contract to Dassault Aviation: 3.5 billion euros.
 

A little more than three months after the ‘plane officially rolled off the assembly lines, the Embraer KC-390 prototype successfully completed the first flight on 3rd February. The Brazilian military transport aircraft took off from São José dos Campos where the aircraft manufacturer is located.
 

Due to the recent difficulties faced by the Airbus group’s A400M military transport aircraft, Domingo Urena-Raso, the head of military aircraft, Airbus Group, has resigned. Fernando Alonso, his replacement, will now be in charge of the corrective measures.
 

After the 26th January crash of the Greek F-16 at the Albacete military base in Spain, the provisional toll is heavy, with eleven dead and twenty wounded. An accident of which the causes are not yet known, but which puts this American fighter, developed by Lockheed Martin, in the 70’s directly in the spot light.
 

Today, two latest generation multi-role tankers are engaged in a trade battle. The first is European, the Airbus Defence & Space, A330 MRTT. The second is American, the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus, at present under development ; but are these two aircraft so different from each other ? To answer the question briefly, a quick comparison of some simple numbers should suffice.
 

In 2011, the US Air Force decided to replace its KC-135 Stratotankers, produced by Boeing since the late 50’s, with 179 KC-46 Pegasus’. On 28th December, at Everett, in the US northwest, Boeing carried out the first flight of the B767-2C, a prototype that will serve as the basis for the future US Air Force aerial refueling and strategic transport aircraft whose entry into service is expected for 2017.
 

The Russian aviation industry in 2007 was largely concentrated on military aircraft. With this in mind the state United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) consortium, which incorporates all Russian aircraft manufacturers, set a goal to reverse this ratio by 2025 : that of building two-thirds of civilian aircraft to one third military aircraft. It is clear that this goal is unlikely to be achieved. Moscow’s priority lies in combat aircraft and attack helicopters.
 

With its 10 metre (32 ft.) height, 35 metre (115 ft.) wingspan and length, the first Embraer KC-390 prototype was introduced on 21st., October, at one of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer’s production sites at Gavião Peixoto. This military transport aircraft with a refuelling option is a competitor of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules.