Mosquito T43 flies at Ardmore
On 18 March, former Royal New Zealand Air Force de Havilland Mosquito T43 NZ2308 — the fourth Mosquito to emerge from the Avspecs workshops at Ardmore, Auckland — took to the air with leading American warbird pilot Steve Hinton at the controls.
‘Bats’ complete final EC-130H sortie
The USAF’s 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron (ECS) ‘Bats’ – a part of Air Combat Command’s 55th Electronic Combat Group (ECG) – marked a major milestone in its transition to the new Gulfstream G550-based EA-37B Compass Call electronic attack (EA) aircraft on February 15, when the unit completed its final flight with the legacy EC-130H Compass Call (pictured) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.
First German KC-130J heads to Évreux
The Luftwaffe’s (German Air Force’s) first KC-130J Hercules (55+05) departed Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Marietta, Georgia, on February 28 on its delivery flight to Évreux-Fauville Air Base (BA105), France, where it will join the Franco-German Bilateral Air Transport Squadron (BATS).
First Royal Canadian Air Force CE-145C Vigilance arrives
The Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF’s) No 8 Wing celebrated the arrival of the first of three new King Air 350ER manned airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (MAISR) aircraft to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton in Ontario on February 23, writes Tom Kaminski.
‘Buzzards’ F-16CM pays homage to 31st FW
The 31st Fighter Wing (FW) at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy – a part of US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces-Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) command – has rolled out new special tail art for its flagship F-16CM Fighting Falcon.
‘Wolf Pack’ honours Op Bolo
An F-16CM (89-2060/WP) assigned to the 35th FS ‘Pantons’ – part of the USAF’s 8th FW ‘Wolf Pack’ at Kunsan AB, South Korea – has received special two-tone South-East Asia (SEA) camouflage tail.
Vast RCAF gallery on show as book launch beckons
An art exhibition has been launched as a special book celebrating the centenary of the RCAF is due for publication by CANAV books later this year
DCS: Afghanistan now available for pre-purchase
Eagle Dynamics has announced DCS: Afghanistan is now available for pre-purchase.
The 'Bucc' stops here: inside stories of the RAF's last Buccaneer days
Thirty years on, we recall the final service days of the ‘last British bomber’
Historic '9/11' Cessna for USAF museum
Ex-Civil Air Patrol 172 becomes latest exhibit at Wright-Patterson
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As the latest fifth-generation platform, the Lockheed Martin F-35 is in use globally for international partner airforces, from the United States Airforce (USAF) to the RAF and the Australian airforce, the sixth-generation fighters are already on the drawing board.
Find out which airforces are looking at virtual cockpits, networked platforms and piloted aircraft working with drone wingmen for the stealth fighters of the 2030s and discover which airforces are planning to replace their existing fleets with the fighter planes of the future.
Military Aircraft Retirement and Technology Updates
International forces around the world are deploying military aircraft manufactured in France, Russia and America including aircraft from Saab, France’s Dassault Rafale, Russian Mig-29s and the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, which it will operate for years to come.
What will also be flying well into the next decade is the USAF’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter. The next decade will also see the USAF’s newest stealth bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider enter service, while the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber will be in its seventh decade of operational service after refurbishments and restorations. This page is the only place you need to be to find out all the latest news on retirements and new deployments.
Be the first to find out which existing platforms such as France’s Dassault Mirage 2000 light weight jet and the Eurofighter Typhoon are facing the need for wholesale technology updates. The Eurofighter is being upgraded for an electronic warfare role in the 2020s and the USAF is improving some of its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons with F-35 fifth generation technology.
From restorations to retirement and procurement, international projects for new networked technologies including piloted and autonomous platforms and the contracts to manufacture them, all of this fast-moving defence aviation news and analysis can be found here.
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