MRH90 multirole helicopter is an Australian version of the NH90 helicopter. Image courtesy of Duan Zhu.
30 May 2013 Pacific Sentinel
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Seahawk Romeo (File Photo) |
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MRH90 multirole helicopter is an Australian version of the NH90 helicopter. Image courtesy of Duan Zhu.
30 May 2013 Pacific Sentinel
![]() |
Seahawk Romeo (File Photo) |
29/05/2013 par Jacques N. Godbout – 45eNord.ca
La division militaire d’Airbus s’associe avec la société canadienne Discovery Air, avec laquelle elle avait déjà signé un protocole d’entente l’an dernier, pour préparer et présenter une soumission pour le futur avion canadien de recherche et sauvetage.
La Défense nationale a entrepris un projet visant l’achat de nouveaux aéronefs de recherche et sauvetage. Les nouveaux appareils remplaceront les avions Hercules et Buffalo qui mènent actuellement les opérations de recherche et sauvetage au Canada.Ce projet demeure hautement prioritaire.
Il en est encore à la phase de définition, mais devrait passer à la phase de mise en œuvre lors de l’attribution du contrat en 2014-2015. Les entreprises se préparent donc au départ de la course pour bientôt et se positionnent pour avoir le plus de chances d’êtres vainqueurs.
Aujourd’hui à Ottawa, au CANSEC 2013, le salon de l’industrie de la Défense, auquel assistait 45eNord.ca, le vice-président d’Airbus, division militaire, Antonio Rodriguez-Barberan et le président de la société canadienne Discovery Air, président, Paul Bouchard, de Discovery Air Defence Services, ont donc annoncé avoir signé un accord de partenariat pour offrir conjointement un projet au programme canadien d’avion de recherche et sauvetage.
Tout en annonçant ce partenariat avec une société canadienne, le vice-président d’Airbus, division militaire, a mis l’accent sur les qualités de l’avion de son entreprise.
Les qualités du C295
Antonio R. Barberan d’Airbus a déclaré à ce propos: «Nous sommes extrêmement heureux de cette entente. Discovery Air est le partenaire parfait pour Airbus Military et la solution canadienne idéale pour le programme d’avion de recherche et sauvetage. Le C295 est le leader mondial en termes de missions de patrouille, de recherche et de sauvetage maritimes et connexes pour les avions militaires bimoteurs avec 121 avions vendus dans 17 pays. En outre, il présente les plus faibles coûts de cycle de vie de sa catégorie, et par rapport aux concurrents et pourraient permettre au Canada d’épargner Canada jusqu’à 1 milliard de dollars canadiens en coûts de carburant à lui seul pendant la vie de l’appareil ».
Airbus affirme que son C-295 est le seul bimoteur en compétition capable de fonctionner dans les conditions difficiles de l’Atlantique Nord et de décoller et d’atterrir malgré des tempêtes où les vents atteignent jusqu’à 50 noeuds.
Il excelle déjà, souligne son fabricant, dans les opérations par temps froid et les opérations quotidiennes au nord du cercle polaire arctique avec la Force aérienne finnoise.
Le C295 offre, précise encore Airbus, des capteurs entièrement intégrés et le système de mission optimisé le sauvetage de l’ASAR.
Même si l’appel d’offres du Canada n’a pas encore été lancé, la société Airbus est sûre que le C295 sera conforme à tous les critères.
Outre Discovery Air, les partenaires d’Airbus sont Pratt & Whitney Canada, CAE, L-3 Wescam et Vector Aerospace.
Pour sa part, Paul Bouchard, président de Discovery Air Defence Services, s’est déclaré ravi «de pouvoir offrir cette solution conjointement avec Airbus Military pour les Forces canadiennes. Nous sommes très enthousiastes à propos de l’avion C295, une plate-forme de recherche et sauvetage fiable et éprouvée qui a été vendue partout dans le monde avec plus de 120 000 heures de vol à son actif».
«Nous croyons», a poursuivi Paul Bouchard, «que l’Aviation royale canadienne peut augmenter le niveau de service offert aux Canadiens en réduisant les temps de réponse dans une région du Canada qui est en augmentation en termes d’activité et d’importance [et sera, avec le C295] en excellente position pour répondre aux incidents qui ne manqueront pas d’être en augmentation dans l’Arctique au cours des 20 prochaines années.»
À lire aussi:
Nouvel avion de recherche & sauvetage, les TCA pressent le gouvernement d’agir >>
Nouvel avion de recherche & sauvetage: achetez Canadien dit un rapport! >>
Recherche et sauvetage au Canada: Airbus Military et Discovery Air s’associent >>
May 30, 2013 ASDNews Source : Naval Air Systems Command
An engineer at Naval Air Station Patuxent River is leading an initiative that will save the Navy’s MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System program several hundred thousand dollars.
Paul Weinstein, an electronics engineer supporting the Common Standards and Interoperability (CSI) program office, launched an image quality lab in 2012 that will help determine how to effectively employ Triton’s sensors and radars and potentially other manned and unmanned systems.
In preparation for the first Triton image evaluation, Weinstein, a former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)employee, worked with the agency to provide the necessary training, software and image scientists for the first official evaluation of the P-8A aircraft’s Electro-Optical (EO) sensor. Since the P-8A and MQ-4C are part of the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force family of systems, Weinstein’s team made a decision to evaluate the P-8 first and include test engineers from both programs.
“Paul did an outstanding job getting this image quality assessment capability set up and running,” said Pat Ellis, MQ-4C Triton’s Mission Systems lead. “This will save the Triton program several hundred thousand dollars, since we will not have to submit packages for image ratings to NGA and the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) for our imaging systems.”
Without this capability at Pax River, the Navy would have to rely on NGA to perform sensor testing, at a cost of more than $150,000 per evaluation. It would also take more than a month to return the analysis to the team. By having the lab at Pax, each test is virtually free and it takes less than one week to turn around the data to the test team, Weinstein said.
“This level of testing will enable program offices to make smart budget decisions with respect to changes to the current network and current integration measures as well as future integration efforts,” Ellis said.
Typically, image analysts perform this function, but the evaluation proved that test engineers can analyze images and make effective mission-planning decisions.
“We are following the fly-fix-fly philosophy as we figure out solutions that will allow lower bandwidth platforms to send better quality video,” Weinstein added. “We need to understand if a platform can meet its mission and avoid it just flying out and burning fuel.”
The first imagery evaluation for MQ-4C Triton will be conducted after the team has data available from Triton’s first flight, which was conducted May 22 at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, Calif. The image-quality lab team will evaluate the MQ-4C’s EO/Infrared (IR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors.
“The ability to collect and share real-time Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) quickly and accurately is crucial to ensuring battle commanders have the enhanced situational awareness required for a successful mission,” said Capt. Jim Hoke, MQ-4C Triton program manager.
As an adjunct to the manned P-8 aircraft, Triton is intended to provide persistent maritime and littoral ISR data collection and dissemination capability to the fleet.
30/05/2013 Michel Cabirol – LaTribune.fr
Guerre entre industriels, indécision de la France et de l'Allemagne, multiplication d'accords non respectés... Trois raisons qui ont cloué au sol tous les projets de drones de reconnaissance et de surveillance (MALE) en France. Industriels et responsables politiques se partagent les responsabilités de cet incroyable fiasco. Au final, Paris va acheter des drones américains Predator Reaper. Récit.
Difficile de mieux résumer un fiasco politique, industriel et militaire d'une telle envergure : "La France a raté le rendez-vous des drones (...) ce qui est invraisemblable pour une nation qui a un savoir faire technologique, aéronautique, électronique considérable avec des entreprises majeures qui étaient en situation de pouvoir le faire", a ainsi reconnu il y a une dizaine de jours le ministre de la Défense, Jean-Yves Le Drian. On croirait presque à un coup monté, tant les gouvernements successifs (de droite comme de gauche) ont savamment sabordé depuis le début des années 2000 tous les projets de programmes de développement d'une arme qui, au fil des conflits, est pourtant devenue indispensable aux armées modernes dans le ciel de tous les théâtres d'opérations.
Comment la France a-t-elle pu manquer à ce point le virage des drones alors que bien rares sont les pays qui disposent d'autant de compétences grâce aux Dassault Aviation, EADS, Safran et autres Thales pour créer une filière industrielle solide? Au final, la France, pourtant si fière de son autonomie stratégique en matière militaire, est contrainte aujourd'hui de quémander aux Etats-Unis des drones MALE (Moyenne Altitude Longue Endurance), les fameux Reaper (faucheuse en français).
Un programme mal né dès 2004
Tout commence véritablement en 2004. Par un exploit. Mais un exploit qui fragilisera dès le départ le projet de drone EuroMale (ancêtre du Talarion) mal né, qui ira de déboires en déboires. Lors du salon de l'armement terrrestre Eurosatory en juin 2004, la ministre de la Défense, Michèle Alliot-Marie, force Dassault Aviation, qui s'était pourtant allié avec Sagem (depuis Safran), et EADS à former un partenariat contre-nature dans les drones. Le groupe européen monte à bord du démonstrateur de drone de combat Ucav (avion sans pilote), le Neuron lancé un an avant et piloté par Dassault Aviation. En contrepartie, EADS doit accepter l'arrivée de Dassault Aviation, qui traîne des pieds, dans le programme EuroMale.
29/05/2013 Michel Cabirol - LaTribune.fr
Le ministère de la Défense a signé ce mercredi un contrat portant sur l'acquisition de 34 hélicoptères de transport NH90. Une commande pour Eurocopter qui approche 1 milliard d'euros.
C'est une excellente nouvelle pour Eurocopter et l'armée de Terre. Selon plusieurs sources concordantes, le ministère de la Défense a signé le contrat très attendu par la filiale d'EADS portant sur l'achat de 34 hélicoptères de transport NH90, qui était en suspens depuis plusieurs semaines. Pourtant, le patron d'EADS Tom Enders se montrait en mars préoccupé sur l'avenir de cette commande. La DGA (direction générale de l'armement) avait même obtenu auprès du constructeur un délai de deux mois pour attendre les conclusions du Livre blanc sur la défense avant de conclure, ou pas, cette commande d'hélicoptères, prévue avant le 31 mars. Un délai négocié avec Eurocopter qui avait permis au ministère de la Défense d'éviter de payer une lourde pénalité immédiate de 35 millions d'euros. l
Pourquoi une telle commande dans un contexte financier contraint ? D'abord, ce n'est qu'une commande, faut-il rappeler que l'Etat paie la plus grande partie de sa facture à la livraison des appareils. Ensuite, explique-t-on à "La Tribune", ne pas signer ce contrat qui porte sur des hélicoptères absolument nécessaires à l'armée de Terre aurait coûté nettement plus cher à l'Etat si ce dernier avait dû en négocier un nouveau. Enfin, "le calendrier de la mise en service du NH90 Caïman a permis de réaliser des économies très importantes sur les hélicoptères Puma et Cougar", avait expliqué en juillet 2012 aux députés de la commission de la défense de l'Assemblée nationale le chef d'état-major de l'armée de terre, le général Bertrand Ract-Madoux.
Une commande qui était déjà attendue en 2010
En janvier 2009, le ministère de la défense avait annoncé une commande de 22 NH90 (600 millions d'euros) destinés à l'armée de terre, qui s'ajoutait aux douze déjà dans le carnet depuis la fin 2007 des trois constructeurs participant à ce programme européen. Fin 2007, l'Hôtel de Brienne avait d'ailleurs indiqué prévoir l'achat de 68 NH90 en version terrestre pour un total de 1,8 milliard d'euros. Les 34 appareils de deuxième tranche devaient être commandés en 2010, selon les projections du ministère. Outre les deux premières tranches (34+34), la France avait prévu de commander au total 133 NH90 pour ses forces armées. Le Livre blanc sur la défense prévoit 115 hélicoptères de manoeuvre.
Le NH90 a été développé et est fabriqué par NH Industries, une coentreprise regroupant Eurocopter (62,5 % du programme), le constructeur italien AgustaWestland (32 %) et le néerlandais Stork Fokker (5,5 %). Ce hélicoptère fait vivre de façon directe et indirecte 5.000 personnes.
May 29, 2013 ASDNews Source : BAE Systems PLC
The nation’s fighting forces need secure and reliable line-of- sight identification to distinguish friend from foe during missions, and BAE Systems is answering the call. The company has been awarded a $34 million contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with its Mode 5 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) system, used to identify and track military aircraft.
“The system allows the warfighter to rapidly differentiate between friendly and potentially hostile forces well beyond a pilot’s visual range,” said Sal Costa, product line director for Identification & Processing Solutions at BAE Systems.
The system, which was developed as an enhancement to older, less capable IFF technology, increases identification capability through the use of secure message and data transmission formats. Its improvements include increased security and enhanced algorithms, as well as upgraded key management, interoperability, and supportability.
Used to reduce fratricide for U.S. and allied forces since World War II, IFF technology is an electronic questions-and-answer system composed of interrogators that ask questions and transponders that provide responses. Under this contract, BAE Systems will provide its enhanced AN/APX-125 Mode 5 Combined Interrogator Transponders to the Air Force and the European Participating Air Force partners. BAE Systems was the first Department of Defense contractor to receive National Security Agency Mode 5 certification, which is required for use on military platforms.
Work on the contract is expected to be completed by 2015.
May 29, 2013 ASDNews Source : US Air Force
The Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron-501 celebrated the one-year anniversary of flying the F-35B Lightning II here Wednesday, May 22, by continuing to train up the pilots and maintainers on the nation's newest fifth-generation fighter.
"This is a once in a lifetime chance to get to write the first chapter in a story that will last 50 years and beyond," said Lt. Col. David Berke, the commander of VMFAT-501 located at the 33rd Fighter Wing's F-35 Integrated Training Center.
The low-observable fighter is designed to meet the needs of the services for the next half a century, making use of integrated sensors, the active electronically scanned array radar, and the distributed aperture system. Combined they provide the pilot with increased situational awareness and survivability.
Being able to fly such a technologically advanced fighter brings great responsibility for cultivating tomorrow's defenders of freedom.
"We owe it to our country to get it right," said Berke. Under his charge, the unit is laying the foundation for pilot and maintenance training at Eglin and providing the fleet with highly-trained people as it moves forward toward providing the Marine Corps with an initial operating capability.
Since May 22 last year, the unit has flown 833 local training sorties and logged more than 1,100 flight hours executing about 40 to 50 sorties a week. "This is a bounding leap from the three or so sorties flown a week last year at this time," said Berke.
Other accomplishments include verifying joint technical data for weapons loading thus paving the way for instructions for all three services and the partner nations; authoring well over one-thousand maintenance procedures; and collaborating with industry and other F-35 sites to mature the jet, he said.
A senior leader with the F-35 program since flying the X-35 prototype aircraft in the early years and who is now the 33rd Fighter Wing's vice commander as well as an F-35B instructor pilot agreed.
"If you look at what they have accomplished in air-to-air refueling training, ground hot refueling, multi-aircraft missions, first fleet pilots trained.... you don't just see one-time events," said Marine Corps Col. Arthur Tomassetti. "What you see is a pattern of not just demonstrating new capability but turning it into repeatable and routine operations."
By being able to refuel with a truck planeside while the jet is running has allowed the unit to "increase its ability to turn sorties by 40 percent," he said. The hot refueling allowed eight F-35s to fly 16 sorties in three hours recently.
In addition to the unit accomplishments made locally, VMFAT-501 has been the catalyst to accomplishments at Marine Fighter Attack Squadron-121 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.
VMFA-121 is the first operational fleet squadron anywhere in the world for the F-35 and comprised of flyers and maintainers trained at Eglin, according to Berke. Just last week a pilot trained here made his first vertical landing at Yuma. This feature allows the pilot to hover the fighter and set it down much like a helicopter.
"The ability to land in austere conditions is a key difference with the B variant of the F-35," said Berke. The Marines are planning to train the same way at Eglin in the fall.
For the upcoming year of flying, the Eglin unit also looks forward to receiving more jets to include its first Block 2A aircraft which means a software upgrade and increased capability, he said.
"We'll grow to 18 jets by this time next year," said Marine Corps Capt. Mario Valle, a maintenance officer at the training squadron. "And in the next couple weeks we are ready to welcome a third United Kingdom pilot and UK jet."
The Marines set another first this past year by hosting the first international pilots and maintainers imbedded at an F-35 training squadron. There are 14 maintainers and two pilots from the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy working seamlessly with the unit, said Valle.
As Valle reflected upon the past year he cited the team efforts by Lockheed Martin, Pratt and Whitney, Rolls Royce, the Marine Corps, Navy, the Air Force and operational test as key to past performance and the outlook for the future achievements.
"Our success has been based on relationships."
May 29, 2013 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® facility in Palmdale, Calif., performed maintenance on one of just two C-5C Galaxy aircraft in the world in May 2013. The C-5C features more cargo capacity than A & and B models due to removal of the entire passenger compartment. Each of the two C-5C aircraft is assigned to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and will eventually be modernized to become the C-5M Super Galaxy.
MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a contract with the Beriev Aircraft Company for the purchase of six Beriev Be-200 amphibious planes, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said on Friday.
“The contract is worth 8.4 billion rubles [$268 million],” UAC said in a statement.
“The first two planes will be basic Be-200ChS models, while the following four will be the Be-200PS version without firefighting equipment,” the statement said.
It is the first purchase of Be-200 planes by the Russian military.
The Defense Ministry may order eight more planes in the future, according to UAC.
Be-200 is the world's largest multipurpose amphibious aircraft, designed for firefighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo and passenger transportation.
The plane can carry 12 tons of water or 7.5 tons of cargo, or up to 72 passengers.
At least five Be-200ChS firefighting planes are currently in service with the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
May 29, 2013 ASDNews Source : US Air Force
An MQ-1 Predator assigned here recently became the first Predator to pass 20,000 flying hours over Afghanistan, a feat equivalent to flying 15 hours every other day, for 2,667 days.
While the Predator remotely piloted aircraft program surpassed one million hours of total development, test, training and combat in August 2011, this is the first airframe to accumulate 20,000 flying hours individually.
"Reaching this milestone is significant, but what's more special are the missions we enable every day," said Lt. Col. Russ Garner, 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron commander. "
Maintainers are the key to enabling a single airframe to reach so many hours, Garner said. Maintenance keeps the aircraft flying, especially through the extreme weather in Afghanistan, he added.
"Without maintainers we couldn't reach this milestone, let alone get in the air," the squadron commander said. "This achievement is really a tribute to our maintainers."
A team of military and civilian personnel maintain and repair the aircraft.
The mission of the 62nd ERS is to provide launch and recovery for RPA assigned to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing here.
"With only two percent of the RPA aircrew [in the career field deployed here], we're enabling 98 percent of the mission," Garner said. "During their deployment there are no days off for the crew, while they set an unbelievable operations tempo."
The MQ-1 and MQ-9 Reaper are assigned to the squadron and conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and close-air support missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The aircraft are operated by Airmen with the 62nd ERS, U.S. crews located stateside and Royal Air Force crews in the United Kingdom
May 28, 2013 defense-aerospace.com
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued May 24, 2013)
Defense Department Press Briefing on the State of the Air Force in the Pentagon Briefing Room (excerpt)
Excerpts from a May 24 media briefing by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, and Director of Air Force Public Affairs Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick.
…/…
DONLEY:
“The F-35 program has remained steadily on track over the past two years. Sequestration's impact on the RTD&E money for the program will likely impact software development to some degree, and sequestration cuts to production accounts will cut up to five new F-35As this year. The F-35 is a vital capability that we believe the nation needs to stay ahead of adversary technological gains, and it provides the multi-role capabilities that the anti-access and aerial denial environment of the future will require.
“The multi-service international nature of the program will also reap huge interoperability gains and future combat and will save us a lot of money along the way, just like the F-16 program did with the benefits of the multinational fighter program, et cetera.
“Currently, 22 F-35s are flying at Eglin Air Force Base, forming the backbone of our training fleet. They've flown over 1,200 sorties so far. We have four F-35As that have also been delivered to Nellis Air Force Base to begin operational testing. And we're excited that this program is on the road to success, and we're grateful that our international partners remain as committed to the Lightning II as we are.”
…/…
Q: Amy Butler, Aviation Week: I'd like to get a little more discussion about the F-35 going, if possible. We've got the SAR out now. We've been told for a couple of years now, since (inaudible) took office, that O&S was something that the department needed to get its arms around, that it was a big problem. And I know that each of the services have done their excursions to look into how they can contribute to a solution, but the SAR does not reflect that. According to the SAR, it's the same O&S costs, the same costs per flying hour, with some sort of a normalization to the F-16.
So how should we take that? Does the -- does the department have its hands around this problem? What are some of the fixes to get the cost per flying hour and the O&S costs down? And then I'd like to ask a follow-up, as well, on where you guys are on IOC and whether or not you're going to take the 2B or the (inaudible) software.
SEC. DONLEY: So just to start off -- and I'm sure the chief would -- would have some comments, as well on your last question, we will make an IOC notification to Congress next week. We owe them a report by June 1st. That's on track. It's been coordinated between the Air Force and the Navy, both the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps. So we're working on that, and a report will go to Congress next week, I think on time.
First question was O&S cost. It continues to be an issue in the department. You didn't -- you saw the numbers that came out in the SAR. But I'll just offer that there is no final answer on O&S costs. I mean, we continue to work on O&S costs and efficiencies in the program, discussing ways to share costs, mitigate costs, make smart choices between how we structure contracts and logistics support between blue-suit and contractor support.
So there are lots of issues and opportunities to continue to work O&S costs. So, you know, I think it continues to be an issue that we look at, and we'll continue to work toward driving this cost down.
Q: OK, well, I guess the disconnect, it seems, is that we continue to be told this -- we, not just the media, but international partners, people who might want to buy this aircraft. But the official documentation doesn't reflect any of this. So what -- what about this discussion? How do we reconcile that? How is this not just rhetoric?
SEC. DONLEY: Well, it's ongoing discussion inside the department, and if -- if and as we have better data, that'll be reflected in program estimates going forward. So it just is a matter...
Q: (inaudible)
SEC. DONLEY:... it is a matter of continuing discussion. We're always trying to drive down the costs where we can, and are always questions internally to the program about how we do logistic support and how we cost operations going forward. So there's no single number that -- that, you know, sort of locks in for the lifetime of the program. This is a 30-year program-plus, so these numbers will adjust as we get smart, as we continue to deploy the aircraft, as we find efficient ways to operate it.
Q: OK. Well, General Welsh, can I get your input on this and your assessment of the normalization process for the F-16 cost per flying hour vice the F-35?
GEN. WELSH: Amy, I think that what's been going on for the last year almost now is trying to come to agreement on an apples-to-apples comparison between the two numbers. This has been worked very hard by the program office, by the Lockheed Martin program office, by OSD AT&L. There's a lot of people involved in this discussion, and I think we've normalized to a couple of numbers now, about $25,000 per flying hour for the F-16 C/D model and about $32,000 roughly for the F-35. That number may continue to adjust itself slightly, as we decide what factors are in or not, but that gives us an idea now.
That number is down from the original estimates, which is a good thing. We are also getting more and more practical data based on the number of sorties we're now flying, actually flying the airplane, and over time that will give us a much better feel for the long-term costs.
We're not flying in a fully operational mode yet. It's still in test. We're just starting our training programs. So that data has to mature. Just like every airplane program that has a projected cost for support and sustainment, we don't really know until we support and sustain it for a while.
Some of the equipment that will help with that process is still being developed, and once we get more fidelity on that over the next couple of years, I think we'll have a much better feel for what the airplane's going to cost. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full transcript, on the Pentagon website.
MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti)
MiG-31 Foxhound interceptors are going on round-the-clock duty in northern Russia as part of a snap combat readiness check of the nation's aerospace defense capabilities, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The fighters, “in conjunction with A-50 airborne warning and control system aircraft, are performing continuous missions to protect the airspace, including from cruise missile strikes,” the ministry said in a statement. The aircraft are to be refueled while still in the air.
The three-day exercise, in which the fighters will fend off aerospace attacks, is part of a series of random checks of the Russian armed forces that began in February. It involves Air Force units from the Western Military District, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said during a teleconference, adding that the upcoming maneuver had been ordered by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
A total of 8,700 personnel, 185 warplanes and 240 armored vehicles are participating in the checks, overseen by Col. Gen. Vladimir Zarudnitsky. The checks include missile launches at the Ashuluk test range in Astrakhan, Zarudnitsky said.
In late February, a raft of random tests of military preparedness revealed a number of systemic shortcomings, in particular in the Central and Southern Military Districts, the Airborne Assault Forces and military air-transportation units.
Alert-duty officers in some units were slow to respond to orders via automated combat command and control systems, especially in the airborne forces and at the 201st Military Base in Tajikistan. Other problems included poor accuracy in firing, especially by tanks and infantry fighting vehicle crews.
The checks, which the Defense Ministry said are being carried out for the first time in the past 20 years, will now be conducted on a regular basis.
28 May 2013 by Abdul Wali Arian - tolonews.com
The United Sates has committed that it will buy 20 fighter jets for the Afghan Air Force, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) Spokesman, Brigadier General Gunter Katz told TOLOnews on Tuesday.
The Isaf spokesman said that all Isaf member countries including the US are trying hard to equip and empower the Afghan Air Force.
The Afghan Government is also putting extra effort to own an equipped and powerful air and land forces in order to provide security for the country. The Afghan forces are currently facing lot of challenges and shortfalls.
"We know that the Afghan people are concerned about the equipment for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). And yes indeed, we already provided lot of equipments for the ANSF. But we have to acknowledge that there are still some shortfalls and we always said that individual nations sit together, discuss with representatives from the Government and the army how to overcome those shortfalls. And one example of those negotiations is the recent announcement of the US Air Force that declared that they are willing to buy 20 fighter air planes for the Afghan Air force," Isaf Spokesman, Brigadier General Gunter Katz told TOLOnews.
It is said that the Afghan security forces are facing lot of challenges even in the transportation section and it will take some more time, when the Afghan Air Force will independently lead air operations.
But, the Afghan Ministry of Defence (MoD) believes that some of the challenges will be dealt with when the Afghan forces receive these fighter planes.
"The US has committed that 20 fighter planes will be given in the current year (2013). The fighter planes will be used for two operations: bombardment missions and discovery missions," MoD Spokesman, General Zahir Azimi told TOLOnews.
The shortfalls and inabilities of the Afghan security forces have cost them heavily. Because of the shortfalls it hasn't been able to carry out air operations independently. The MoD also accepted the shortfalls.
"Isaf in coordination with us is carrying out several operations within Afghanistan and we hope to become competent soon," General Zahir Azimi told TOLOnews.
MoD expects that Afghan military forces will be equipped with fighter planes, transport planes and drones within few years.
May. 28, 2013 By Stephen Trimble - FG
Washington DC - A Brazilian air force KC-137 crashed on 26 May with no injuries to the 141 people aboard while attempting to take-off from the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port au Prince, Haiti.
The Brazilian air force released a statement saying only that a "technical problem" caused the KC-137 to exit the runway around 15:30 Brasilia local time.
The aircraft was loaded with 131 Brazilian troops who were returning to Brazil after a six-month deployment in support of the United Nations stabilisation mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
The UN force said in a news release that the runway overrun caused the aircraft's landing gear to collapse. Other news reports in Brazil quoted local airport officials saying that one of the converted Boeing 707's four engines exploded moments after take-off, and the gear collapsed after the flight crew cut power and fuel to land the heavily-loaded aircraft on the runway.
The airport was shut down to commercial aircraft for several hours before the KC-137 was removed from the tarmac.
Brazilian air force officials have launched an investigation of the crash.
Brazil's two KC-137 tanker transports were built as airliners in the 1960s, but entered service with the Brazilian air force in 1986. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was selected two months ago by the air force to convert two Boeing 767-300ER airliners into aerial refuelling transports to replace the KC-137s.
May. 28, 2013 - By JOHN T. BENNETT – Defense News
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama last week delivered a muscular defense of his use of armed drone aircraft to eliminate al-Qaida leaders, and moved to ensure his controversial targeted-killing program is here to stay.
While Obama indicated he would order future strikes only when other options are unavailable, he also codified the drone program, which his administration once refused to acknowledge, into America’s counterterrorism canon.
“We act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people, and when there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat,” Obama said at Washington’s National Defense University. “And before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured, the highest standard we can set.”
Bowing — partially — to critics who charge his drone program is too secretive, Obama shed new light on when his administration would deploy a remotely piloted aircraft to kill an al-Qaida member.
“America does not take strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists; our preference is always to detain, interrogate and prosecute them,” the president said. “America cannot take strikes wherever we choose; our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty.”
The new counterterrorism policy will guarantee the drone strike program will be waiting for his successor in January 2017.
Christopher Preble, a senior analyst at the nonpartisan Cato Institute, said armed drone aircraft “absolutely” are here to stay.
“The current technology in this area is fairly immature still,” Preble said. “There is a lot of upside, it seems to me, for technological improvements to UAVs.”
Obama’s first major counterterrorism speech of his second term specified three reasons the 44th president will keep ordering drone strikes on al-Qaida targets:
Obama's Preferred Tool
The numbers offer strong justification. Data compiled by the New America Foundation shows drone strikes spiked in Pakistan between 2009 and 2010, jumping from 54 to 122. The 2009 figure jumped from 36 in 2008, the last year of the administration of President George W. Bush. Obama ordered 73 strikes in 2011 and 48 in 2012.
In Yemen, New America found 13 US-orchestrated strikes in 2011, then about 45 in 2012. There have been around a half-dozen this year.
The sharp decline in 2013 is because “there are fewer targets to hit,” Preble said, adding that’s a result of the 2010-2012 strikes.
Obama’s words show that drones will remain his preferred tool when others won’t work.
“Where foreign governments cannot or will not effectively stop terrorism in their territory, the primary alternative to targeted, lethal action is the use of conventional military options,” Obama said last week.
Obama also, perhaps for the first time, clearly stated his preference for the capabilities of drones over other systems.
“Conventional airpower or missiles are far less precise than drones and likely to cause more civilian casualties and local outrage,” he said.
Little Political Pressure
Several Republican senators who often criticize Obama’s foreign policy addressed reporters after Obama’s speech and critical they were — about his comments on the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison and his Middle East policy.
But drones were an afterthought. And when they did come up, the GOP senators mostly echoed the Democratic commander in chief.
“There were parts of this speech I could have given,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., mentioned drones, but only to urge Obama to rethink any intention to make the program more transparent.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., focused mostly on Guantanamo Bay and Syria and said he supports reported plans to shift the program from the CIA to the military.
Statements from Democratic lawmakers also showed Capitol Hill is focused on another fight over Guantanamo, not ending the drone program.
Drones Are Effective
“Our actions are effective,” Obama said. “Don’t take my word for it. In the intelligence gathered at [Osama] bin Laden’s compound, we found that he wrote, ‘We could lose the reserves to the enemy’s air strikes.’ ”
The New America Foundation concludes nearly 1,930 al-Qaida operatives have been killed in Pakistan by US drone strikes under Obama. In Yemen, the number could approach 750, New America estimates.
The president hinted those targeted killings are superior to massive Iraq- or Afghanistan-style ground operations.
“Invasions of [foreign] territories lead us to be viewed as occupying armies; unleash a torrent of unintended consequences; are difficult to contain; and ultimately empower those who thrive on violent conflict,” he said.
May. 28, 2013 By Bartosz Glowacki – FG
Warsaw - Lockheed Martin UK has unveiled some details of an offer submitted for the Polish air force's advanced jet trainer (AJT) system competition tender for the Polish air force.
The company on 23 May said its offer of the Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed T-50 "would provide significant operational synergies with the current Polish air force [Lockheed] F-16 fleet". According to John Neilson, Lockheed Martin UK's director of communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, "the aircraft which will be included in the proposal for Poland would be built outside Poland. This is to be expected for the number now required to meet Poland's need".
"When selecting the best training platform to accompany our bid, fleet commonality and the ability to meet Poland's evolving pilot training requirements for the next 20 to 30 years were key considerations," says Tim James, who is part of the Lockheed Martin UK team in Poland.
If the bid is successful, it is believed maintenance of Polish air force T-50s would be performed at the WZL-2 Military Aviation Works in Bydgoszcz. Lockheed already has a strong relationship with the organisation through the F-16 programme, and recently opened a new paint stripping facility at the site. However, Neilson notes: "We may also be in discussion with other partners too."
Another element of the Lockheed proposal would be to establish a state-of-the-art training centre at the Polish air force academy in Deblin. This would be based on the Ascent Flight Training facility at RAF Valley in the UK, which is operated by a Lockheed Martin UK and Babcock International joint venture.
Warsaw should select a winner for its eight-aircraft requirement before the end of 2013. Other candidates are the Aero Vodochody L-159T1, Alenia Aermacchi M-346 and BAE Systems Hawk AJT.
May 28, 2013 idrw.org (IBN7)
The deadly Naxal attack on the Congress leaders in Jagdalpur could have been prevented had the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) not been lying idle in faraway Hyderabad. According to intelligence sources, since every drone takes off from Hyderabad, they can’t spend sufficient number of hours hovering over the Naxal-affected regions in Chhattisgarh to gather intelligence. The Indian Air Force (IAF) never agreed to operate these UAVs from Jagdalpur, considering the region unfit for the stay its officials, the sources said.
The 12 Heron drones, bought from Israel in 2009, have failed to scan the Darbha forests or Sukma region as they never fly over these interior regions, the intelligence sources said. This is the reason why more than 500 Maoists gathered in these forests without being noticed by anyone. After the massacre, the killers were able to easily flee, putting a big question mark on the utility of such high-tech devices.
These drones are operated from the Begumpet airbase near Hyderabad. After flying for almost three hours to reach the Naxal-affected regions in the state, these machines are forced to return as they run out of fuel and have already reached their maximum range.
The IAF was requested to fly these drones to Jagdalpur last year from a DRDO’s air strip near it. But the IAF, citing lifestyle reasons of its officers, did not agree to do so. Meanwhile, the IAF had assured of shifting the Hyderabad UAV base to Bhilai and operate it from the airstipr of Bhilai Steel Plant but even after one year, the drones are being operated from Hyderabad.
The modus operandi of the intelligence agencies has also raised eyebrows, the sources said. The IAF sends the information gathered by the drones to National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) for analysis. Shockingly, NTRO does not have access to the intelligence reports. Thus, due to lack of coordination, the whole intelligence analysis work goes in vain, sources said.
The ability of the Israeli drones is under question as the electro-optical thermal radar censors mounted atop Heron-1 drones cannot penetrate the thick jungle cover and are unable to differentiate between Naxals and local villagers. However, the DRDO is taking the help of a Swedish firm to make these Israeli drones more accurate.
Second Airbus Military A400M for French Air Force runs engines (c) Airbus Military
Madrid, 24 May 2013 EADS group
The second production Airbus Military A400M has successfully completed its first engine runs as it begins final preparation for its maiden flight later this month. The aircraft, known as MSN8, is now undergoing taxying trials outside the A400M Final Assembly Line in Seville, Spain.
Airbus Military expects to complete four A400M aircraft in 2013 and will deliver MSN8 to the French Air Force in the third quarter of the year.
28 May 2013 naval-technology.com
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy has received approval from the country's joint chiefs of staff to procure maritime patrol aircraft, to boost surveillance capabilities.
An unnamed military source told Yonhap News Agency that the navy is considering purchasing a total of 20 maritime patrol aircraft to strengthen its surveillance capabilities against North Korea near the guarded western sea.
The aircraft will complement the ageing squadron of 16 Lockheed Martin-built P-3C anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.
The state arms procurement agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration is currently working on the plan, which is likely to cost approximately $889m.
Potential bidders for the acquisition programme include Airbus Military's C295 multirole maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), Boeing's P-8 Poseidon aircraft, and Lockheed Martin's SC-130J Sea Hercules.
Meanwhile, the South Korean Navy has placed orders with L-3 Mission Integration and Korean Air team to upgrade its eight P-3C Orion aircraft to Lot 2 standards by 2016, according to Flightglobal.
Upgrades to the P-3C aircraft include installation of multipurpose radar to enable detection of fixed and moving targets, high-definition electro-optical/infrared cameras, digital acoustic analysis equipment and a magnetic anomaly detector, according to Defense News.
L-3 Mission Integration surveillance systems senior director Brent Billingslea said that the aircraft would be equipped with mission system to enhance capabilities, while being completely compatible and interoperable with existing P-3 fleet for the navy.
Under the contract, L-3 will be responsible for the design and development of upgrades, while Korean Air will integrate the equipment on to the aircraft.
Armed with Harpoon Block II air-to-ground missiles, the P-3C aircraft is equipped with four Allison T56-A-14 turboprop engines, as well as tactical information system interoperable with the KF-16 fighter jet.
May 28, 2013 defense-aerospace.com
(Source: China Military Online; published May 27, 2013)
Minesweeper Flotilla In Comprehensive Maritime Offence and Defense Drill
A minesweeper flotilla under the East China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a comprehensive maritime offence-and-defense drill in complex electromagnetic environment in early May.
During the drill, the officers and men of the flotilla have accomplished such subjects as mine-laying and mine-sweeping, electromagnetic countermeasure, live-ammunition firing and so on.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The photographs posted with this brief news item show some pretty old-style UAVs being launched and being maintained. While this could be intended to imply such UAVs are operated from PLA Navy minesweepers, no photograph allows the mother ship to be identified as a minesweeper. The launch photo shows what appears to be the flame of a booster rocket, and no catapult is visible.)
The “Spartan Team” has reappeared to market the C-27J Spartan to Canada’s Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Replacement Program, which finally looks to be set for launch. (Alenia photo)
May 28, 2013 defense-aerospace.com
(Source: Alenia Aermacchi; issued May 27, 2013)
Team Spartan Signs Teaming Agreement for Royal Canadian Air Force’s FWSAR Program
OTTAWA --- Alenia Aermacchi, General Dynamics Canada, and DRS Technologies Canada Ltd. (TCL) have signed a comprehensive teaming agreement to compete for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) upcoming Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Replacement Program.
The team will offer a market variant of the C-27J Spartan, Alenia Aermacchi’s best-selling medium tactical military aircraft. The offering will leverage Alenia Aermacchi’s international success with the C-27J, General Dynamics’ system integration experience, and DRS’ training expertise.
Alenia Aermacchi will serve as the prime contractor and will provide the green aircraft platform, including engineering support and avionics. The aircraft will be modified, missionized, and supported in Atlantic Canada by General Dynamics Canada. DRS TCL will provide long-term training support for the fleet. General Dynamics Canada will act as the team’s mission system integrator. It will be responsible for modifying the aircraft to accept high tech sensors and the computers that manage them, increasing the search and rescue crew’s ability to detect rescue targets. In addition, it will serve as the In-Service Support (ISS) integrator for the C-27J.
In close collaboration with Alenia Aermacchi, it will work with the RCAF to maintain the high level of fleet availability demanded by search and rescue operations. The DRS training development team will design, oversee and manage the creation and maintenance of all courseware and training aids for the duration of the contract. The training will support the operational mandate of the FWSAR fleet by making maximum use of electronic learning and simulation to optimize availability of the FWSAR aircraft for operational employment.
“This teaming agreement reaffirms our commitment to the Canadian market and to providing the Royal Canadian Air Force with the most capable, best value solution for the fixed-wing search and rescue replacement program,” said Ben Stone, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alenia Aermacchi North America. “Alenia is exceptionally proud to be working with these two Canadian defence companies who collectively have over 100 years of experience supporting Canadians and Armed Forces around the world. Our team has the right experience, expertise, and platform to best support Canada’s search and rescue program.”
The agreement will support new long-term, high-tech jobs, across Canada as well as investments in infrastructure and technology, making it an outstanding economic stimulus for Canada’s aerospace sector. Additionally, Team Spartan is well-positioned to strengthen the Canadian economy as its two Canadian companies have a history of tapping into the skills and resources of Canadian suppliers, developing Canada’s industrial base, and supporting research and development at the country’s leading universities.
David Ibbetson, General Manager, General Dynamics Canada spoke about the incremental value Team Spartan will create through this relationship: “The FWSAR program sets a high standard for Industrial Regional Benefits (IRB) requirements. As a company with an exemplary track record for delivering on their IRB commitments, General Dynamics Canada will continue to engage with local industry and suppliers on this opportunity, missionizing this aircraft in Canada and supporting it proudly for years to come as it plays a critical role bringing distressed citizens to safety. With Alenia’s C-27J as the platform, and working with local Canadian companies, we will set the standard for search and rescue capability.”
Steve Zuber, Vice President and General Manager of DRS Technologies Canada commented, “Canada has some of the most rugged and sparsely populated terrain on the planet and Canadians deserve the very best fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft available in the world today. The made-in Canada training solution will provide high quality aerospace jobs for Canadians and, more importantly, will ensure Canada’s search and rescue crews will be ready for the demanding job of keeping Canadians safe.”
Team Spartan continues to reach out to local aerospace and defence companies to identify service and product providers as well as potential subcontractors to complement the Team Spartan solution and drive economic benefit to the Canadian industrial base.
With an established Canadian presence for more than 60 years with employees in Ottawa, Calgary and Halifax, General Dynamics Canada is Canada’s largest defence electronics company.
DRS Technologies Canada Ltd. designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of military communications, electro-optics, surveillance, and sensor signal processing systems for naval and ground applications as well as electronic warfare threat simulation and training systems ranging from computer-based training to high-power threat simulators.
28/05/2013 Mer et Marine
Les premières manœuvres d’un UCAS (Umanned Combat Air System) sur un porte-avions américain ouvrent la voie au développement de futurs drones de combat embarqués. Une évolution désormais considérée comme naturelle pour les marines disposant d’une force aéronavale. Pour l’heure, seuls les Etats-Unis se sont lancés dans cette technologie, le programme X-47B, porté industriellement par Northrop Grumman, constituant un indéniable succès. Même si l’aviation embarquée pilotée a encore de belles années devant elle et n’est pas prête de tirer sa révérence au profit d’engins contrôlés à distance, les militaires savent très bien que les systèmes de drones ne peuvent que se développer à l’avenir. En Europe, la question se pose de plus en plus sérieusement, notamment dans le cadre des réflexions et travaux initiés autour de la succession des actuels avions de combat, comme le Rafale, qui interviendra vers 2030/2040.
Le X-47B américain (© : US NAVY)
Le X-47B américain (© : US NAVY)
Le Neuron, premier UCAS européen
Bien moins avancés que les Etats-Unis dans ce domaine, les Européens rattrapent actuellement une partie de leur retard en matière d’UCAS. Piloté par la Direction Générale de l’Armement, le programme de démonstrateur Neuron, conçu et réalisé par un consortium international emmené par Dassault Aviation, a vu s’envoler fin 2012 le premier UCAS européen. Mais ce projet est pour le moment purement expérimental et ne répond pas à un besoin opérationnel. Son objectif est, uniquement, d’entretenir et développer les capacités européennes sur des systèmes complexes, comme le pilotage à distance, une furtivité très poussée et la mise en œuvre d’armements par un drone. Il vise, aussi, à construire une coopération intelligente entre pays, le choix des industriels impliqués dépendant de leurs compétences et non de considérations politiques. En cela, le travail mené autour du Neuron par Dassault et ses partenaires Alenia Aermacchi (Italie), Saab (Suède), EADS/CASA (Espagne), HAI (Grèce) et RUAG (Suisse) est présenté comme très concluant. Alors que le Neuron en est aujourd’hui à une phase d’étude de sa furtivité et volera de nouveau pour aboutir au tir d’une bombe en Italie, le premier UCAS européen n’est pas conçu pour embarquer sur un porte-avions. On ne le verra donc jamais sur le Charles de Gaulle, même pour une campagne d’essais.
Le Neuron (© : DASSAULT AVIATION)
La nouvelle coopération franco-britannique
La navalisation d’un drone de combat pourrait, en revanche, naître d’une nouvelle coopération franco-britannique initiée suite aux accords de Lancaster House, en 2010, et confirmée en 2012 par le gouvernement français. A ce titre, Dassault Aviation et BAE Systems ont été chargés d’oeuvrer ensemble pour développer un UCAS répondant aux besoins des forces armées. L’engin bénéficiera du retour d’expérience du Neuron, mais aussi des travaux effectués par BAE Systems sur son propre design de drone de combat, le Taranis, qui n’a toujours pas volé. Cette coopération franco-britannique doit déboucher sur un nouveau démonstrateur ayant cette fois une vocation opérationnelle. Alors que les échanges entre industriels ont débuté, notamment pour déterminer les compétences apportées par les uns et les autres, les militaires doivent, dans les prochains mois, exprimer un besoin opérationnel qui déterminera les capacités, et donc les caractéristiques, du futur drone. Dans ce cadre, il ne serait pas étonnant que la possibilité de navaliser le démonstrateur soit demandée. Les Français pourraient, ainsi, le tester sur le Charles de Gaulle. Pour le moment, rien n’est décidé, mais il serait étonnant que Paris se prive d’une telle opportunité. Comme ce fut le cas pour le Rafale, la France pourrait en effet profiter d’un même programme pour développer une plateforme commune aux forces aériennes et aéronavales.
Le Charles de Gaulle (© : MARINE NATIONALE)
Apte au tremplin, aux catapultes et aux brins d'arrêt
Pour le Royaume-Uni, il y a également un intérêt, même si les contraintes ne sont pas les mêmes. Ainsi, la Marine nationale dispose d’un porte-avions à catapultes et brins d’arrêt, ce qui implique un drone du type du X-47B américain, doté d’une structure et d’un train avant renforcés, ainsi que d’une crosse d’appontage. Les Britanniques, en revanche, font construire de nouveaux porte-avions appelés à mettre en œuvre le F-35B, un appareil à décollage court et appontage vertical. Reste que techniquement, les deux concepts de mise en œuvre ne sont pas rédhibitoires. En effet, un drone pouvant être catapulté est aussi en mesure de décoller au moyen d’un tremplin. Les porte-avions britanniques devraient en revanche, pour accueillir un UCAS, être dotés d’une piste oblique avec brins d’arrêt. Ce ne sera pas le cas au moment de leur mise en service mais cette option a été intégrée lors des études et le design des futurs HMS Queen Elizabeth et HMS Prince of Wales leur permet, en cas de besoin, d’embarquer les équipements nécessaires à la récupération d’appareils dotés d’une crosse d’appontage.
En termes de calendrier, le programme d’UCAS franco-britannique pourrait être lancé en 2014, avec pour objectif de faire voler le démonstrateur vers la fin de la décennie ou au début des années 2020. Les financements inhérents à seront normalement inscrits dans la nouvelle loi de programmation militaire qui couvrira la période 2014-2019.
May 28, 2013: Strategy Page
Hungary has been trying to sell of its fleet of 24 MiG-29s for the last two years, without much success. Now it will try auctioning them off, along with 21 replacement engines, for a minimum price of $43 million. Bids must arrive by June 14th and if no one offers the minimum it will try again with an even lower price. An earlier effort to find a buyer went nowhere and the obstacle was believed to be price. At less than $2 million each the MiGs appear to be a real bargain. Appearances can be deceiving.
Hungary received 28 MiG-29s in 1993, in payment of $800 million Russia owned Hungary. That came out to about $29 million per aircraft, each with about 14 years of service left in them. But Hungary found the aircraft expensive to maintain. Despite that, half of them were refurbished to extend their service life. In the meantime, two aircraft crashed, and now those that were not refurbished are being cannibalized for spare parts. Hungary has taken its MiG-29s out of service and bought Swedish Gripens. This is a superior fighter and easier and cheaper to operate.
But not everyone is fed up with the MiG-29. Although many nations (Algeria, Hungary, Malaysia, Lebanon) are refusing, or retiring, MiG-29s, Syria has been eager to get them. That's because Syria is broke, and patron Iran is becoming less generous (because of its own economic problems, including more sanctions) with subsidies for military equipment. In 2010 Russia announced that it was selling another 24 (or more) MiG-29s to Syria (which already has about fifty of them). Syria would also like to get its existing MiG-29s upgraded, but may not be able to afford that. That sale and upgrades are on hold until the current civil war in Syria is over.
Other nations are backing away from MiG-29s because of reliability and durability problems. Several times in the last year, Russia has had MiG-29s grounded because of crashes, and suspicion that there might be some kind of fundamental design flaw. All aircraft were eventually returned to flight status. This has not helped sales, and most export customers prefer the larger Su-27 (and its derivatives like the Su-30).
The MiG-29 entered Russian service in 1983, as the answer to the American F-16. Some 1,600 MiG-29s have been produced so far, with most (about 900) exported. The biggest customer, India, received its first MiG-29s in 1986, with deliveries continuing into the 1990s. The 22 ton aircraft is, indeed, roughly comparable to the F-16, but it depends a lot on which version of either aircraft you are talking about. Then there are the notorious reliability problems. Compared to Western aircraft, like the F-16, the MiG-29 is available for action about two thirds as often.