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7 juin 2015 7 07 /06 /juin /2015 11:50
MiG-21 Bulgarian Air Force photo US DoD

MiG-21 Bulgarian Air Force photo US DoD

 

05/06/2015 par Justine BOQUET – Air  & Cosmos

 

Fin mai, le ministère de la Défense bulgare a annoncé qu'un appel d'offres allait être lancé d'ici fin juin en vue de l'acquisition de nouveaux avions de combat. La Bulgarie, à travers cette future acquisition, vise à remplacer ses MiG-21 dans un premier temps puis ses Mig-29.

 

La volonté bulgare de remplacer sa flotte de MiG existe depuis 2012. Le projet avait été repoussé par manque de moyens financiers. Aujourd'hui encore la Bulgarie ne peut consacrer qu'une somme limitée. 400 millions de dollars ont été débloqués pour l'achat de 8 avions d'occasion. Ce premier lot devra être complété. Le pays table sur l'acquisition d'une à deux séries supplémentaires, de préférence neufs. L'objectif final est de composer une flotte d'environ 20 nouveaux appareils.

 

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Bulgarian MiG-29 with pair of R-27R (AA-10 Alamo) missiles Photo Krasimir Grozev

Bulgarian MiG-29 with pair of R-27R (AA-10 Alamo) missiles Photo Krasimir Grozev

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13 août 2014 3 13 /08 /août /2014 17:50
Mig-21 photo Croatian defence ministry

Mig-21 photo Croatian defence ministry

 

13.08.2014 By: Igor Bozinovski - FG

 

Croatia’s air force suffered a double blow while participating in national celebrations on 5 August – unusually with the same pilot involved in both incidents.

Lt Col Stanko Hrženjak made an emergency landing at Zadar-Zemunik air base after the left leg of his Mikoyan MiG-21’s main landing gear failed to extend at the end of a flight to mark the 19th anniversary of the last major battle in Croatia’s war for independence. He overcame the problem by hydraulically retracting and re-extending the landing gear.

Ex-Yemen air force fighter 135 – which had recently been introduced after being returned to flight status in Ukraine – was grounded for technical inspection following the incident.

 

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9 juillet 2014 3 09 /07 /juillet /2014 07:45
Aerostar Completes Overhaul and Upgrade of Mozambique AF MiG-21 Fighters

 

Jul 8, 2014 ASDNews Source : Aerostar S.A.

 

Aerostar S.A – the leading Romanian aerospace company – has announced the completion of an overhaul and upgrade programme for eight MiG-21 fighters for the Mozambique Air Force.

 

The contract under which this work was carried out was a complex package which also included the overhaul of an L-39 jet trainer and a full training programme for ground staff and pilots.

 

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7 avril 2014 1 07 /04 /avril /2014 19:45
Mozambican MiGs stuck in Germany

 

 

07 April 2014 by defenceWeb

 

Three MiG-21 fighter jets destined for Mozambique are stuck in Germany due to a lack of necessary permits. They are part of a batch of eight being shipped from Romania.

 

Romanian company Aerostar is overhauling six MiG-21bis and two MiG-21UM trainer aircraft for the Mozambique Air Force and is also providing training for Mozambican MiG-21 pilots. Three MiG-21s were seen flying at Aerostar’s Bacau facility last year.

 

On Sunday Germany’s Der Spiegel reported that three MiG-21s were transported from the Romanian capital Bucharest by train in six containers and were to have been subsequently shipped to Mozambique from the Germany port of Bremerhaven.

 

However, although the aircraft were declared according to procedure, their transport was done without the necessary permits and they were stopped. Der Spiegel reported that Germany’s public prosecutor will investigate the possible breach of arms control laws. The publication noted that Aerostar was found guilty of a similar incident in 2008.

 

In 2012 German customs officials confiscated MiG-29 engines for Algeria and Tu-142 engines for India over the lack of necessary permits.

 

The Mozambique Air Force is slowly rejuvenating, considering that until recently it was almost entirely inoperable, suffering poor serviceability since independence from Portugal in 1975 and the collapse of the Soviet Union and its financial support in the early 1990s. The arrival of the MiG-21s will give the Air Force a jet capability not had in years, as its existing MiG-21s have fallen into disrepair and are grounded.

 

In addition to the MiG-21s, Mozambique has apparently bought two Aerostar Festival side-by-side light aircraft and will get an overhauled Aero Vodochody L-39ZO jet trainer. Late last year it emerged that Mozambique’s Air Force would also receive two second hand Antonov An-26B transport aircraft after they have been refurbished in the Ukraine.

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20 mars 2014 4 20 /03 /mars /2014 13:40
Croatian defence ministry

Croatian defence ministry

 

18 Mar 2014 By Igor Salinger - FG

 

Croatia's defence ministry says the current turmoil in Ukraine “has nothing to do” with a roughly five-month delay in returning its Mikoyan MiG-21bisD fighters and UMD-model trainers that are being overhauled in Odessa, instead citing “technical problems”.

 

These include issues with integrating new navigation and communication equipment from Czech supplier CLS, along with “digital to analogue signal conversion”.

 

Being performed under a €13.9 million ($19.3 million) deal forged through Ukraine's Ukrspecexport organisation, the project includes the overhaul of the seven aircraft and the provision of five additional single-seat examples, which are being refurbished and equipped to Croatian air force specifications.

 

Assistant defence minister and former air force commander-in-chief Viktor Koprivnjak says the service's original five aircraft are “finished, except for a problematic navcomm device”, while its two UMDs are “about 95%” complete. A solution to the issue is believed to have been found, a military source says, meaning the first fighters could be returned in the coming weeks.

 

The air force on 21 February took delivery of its first two Mil Mi-8MTV/-17 transport helicopters to have been overhauled under a co-operation agreement between repair facilities in Sevastopol, Motor Sich in Ukraine and a technical facility in Velika Gorica, Croatia.

 

A second batch of four helicopters scheduled to undergo the same process this year are unlikely to be sent to the same facility in Crimea, due to tensions in the region, although a final decision will not be made for around two months.

 

Meanwhile, the Croatian defence ministry has signed a deal to train 16 student pilots from Oman for 150h each, using its Pilatus PC-9s. Also involving two Omani flight instructors, the activity will be performed at the air force flight academy in Zadar.

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28 novembre 2013 4 28 /11 /novembre /2013 12:25
Armes saisies sur un cargo: 32 marins nord-coréens bientôt libérés

 

28.11.2013 Romandie.com (ats )

 

Les autorités panaméennes se préparaient mercredi à libérer 32 des 35 membres de l'équipage du bateau nord-coréen arraisonné en juillet avec des armes non déclarées en provenance de Cuba. Elles ont également décidé de laisser repartir le navire.

 

"Ils ont déjà été autorisés à quitter le pays, 32 des 35 détenus pourront s'en aller", a annoncé Tomas Cabral, du ministère panaméen des Affaires étrangères. "La délégation coréenne qui s'est récemment rendue dans notre pays nous a remis les documents nécessaires et nous avons décidé de relâcher le navire", a de son côté déclaré à la presse le procureur chargé du crime organisé Nahaniel Murgas.

 

Toutefois, a-t-il précisé, le navire "ne peut sortir de notre pays tant qu'il n'aura pas réglé la situation avec" les autorités du canal, qui ont infligé aux responsables du bateau une amende d'un million de dollars pour avoir mis en danger la sécurité de la voie maritime. M. Murgas n'a pas indiqué si les autorités laisseraient repartir le bateau avec son chargement controversé.

 

Armements pour avions

 

Le 10 juillet, le Chong Chon Gang, en provenance de Cuba, a été arraisonné à l'entrée du canal de Panama après la découverte de 25 conteneurs renfermant du matériel militaire dissimulé sous plusieurs tonnes de sacs de sucre roux.

 

Cuba a révélé qu'il s'agissait de "240 tonnes d'armes défensives obsolètes, toutes fabriquées au milieu du siècle passé et qui devaient être réparées" en Corée du Nord pour être réexpédiées dans l'île communiste. Mais selon les autorités panaméennes, qui ont inspecté la cargaison, il s'agissait d'armements pour des avions de type MIG-21, des lanceurs antimissiles et des véhicules militaires.

 

Pas au courant

 

Les 35 marins nord-coréens du bateau ont été incarcérés et risquaient selon les autorités jusqu'à 12 ans de prison pour trafic d'armes. Mais fin octobre, le ministre panaméen des Affaires étrangères Fernando Nuñez avait révélé que la plupart d'entre eux pourraient être libérés si le procureur retenait l'argument selon lequel ils n'étaient pas au courant de la présence d'armes à bord.

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3 novembre 2013 7 03 /11 /novembre /2013 12:20
Les USA ont testé des chasseurs soviétiques dans la "zone 51"

 

MOSCOU, 30 octobre - RIA Novosti

 

Lors de la guerre froide, les Etats-Unis ont testé des avions de combat soviétiques "illégalement acquis", rapporte le quotidien The Guardian, citant des documents américains déclassifiés.

 

Les tests se sont déroulés sur un polygone baptisé "zone 51", indique la journaliste Amanda Holpuch dans un article publié le 29 octobre.

 

En août 1966, un MiG-21 soviétique s'est retrouvé entre les mains des Israéliens qui n'ont pas tardé à le remettre à leurs alliés américains. Selon le journal, de janvier à avril 1968, des spécialistes de l'US Air Force ont étudié les caractéristiques techniques du chasseur et s'en sont servis pour améliorer les performances des missiles sol-air américains.

 

En 1969, un autre chasseur soviétique, un MiG-17, a subi des tests analogues dans la fameuse "zone 51". Au cours des années suivantes, les Américains se sont également procurés d'autres modèles de MiG, mais le quotidien britannique ne  parle pas du sort réservé à ces derniers.

 

Les documents relatifs à la "zone 51" ont été rendu publics en août 2013. Selon la chaîne CNN, il s'agit d'une base militaire située à 200 km au nord-ouest de Las Vegas, dans le Nevada, et qui a servi en premier lieu à tester des systèmes de surveillance aérienne, dont les programmes U-2 (qui visait l'URSS) et A-12.

 

Dans le passé, toute mention de ce site ultrasecret était strictement prohibée, ce qui alimentait des mythes à son sujet.

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22 juillet 2013 1 22 /07 /juillet /2013 08:25
Cuba: le navire nord-coréen transportait aussi deux avions de chasse soviétiques

22/07/2013 Par LEXPRESS.fr (AFP)

 

Le navire nord-coréen, arraisonné par les autorités panaméennes alors qu'il quittait Cuba, ne transportait pas seulement des composants de missiles usagés mais aussi deux avions de chasse en état de marche.


 

Les autorités panaméennes ont découvert deux avions de chasse soviétiques MiG-21 à bord du navire nord-coréen intercepté ce mois-ci alors qu'il tentait de passer par le canal de Panama après son départ de Cuba. 

Les avions supersoniques ont été trouvés à côté de missiles et autres pièces d'armement cachées dans une cargaison de sucre, ce qui pourrait constituer une violation des embargos sur la Corée du Nord décidés par l'ONU. Cuba a affirmé que la cargaison ne contient que des armes "obsolètes" que le pays communiste envoyait à son allié nord-coréen pour qu'elles soient rénovées puis renvoyées. 

Les experts de l'ONU sur les sanctions ont prévu de se rendre à Panama pour inspecter la cargaison le 5 août

"Apparemment ces avions étaient utilisés puisqu'ils contenaient du carburant", a déclaré le président Panaméen Ricardo Martinelli pendant une visite dans le port de Manzanillo, où le navire est en train d'être déchargé. L'équipage de 35 hommes du navire baptisé Chon Gang battant pavillon nord-coréen, a été arrêté et pourrait être accusé de trafic d'armes.

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11 juin 2013 2 11 /06 /juin /2013 16:50
MiG-21bis_Croatia

MiG-21bis_Croatia

Jun. 11, 2013 by Igor Salinger – FG

 

Belgrade - The Croatian government has formally decided to refurbish part of its current Mikoyan MiG-21-based fleet, and to add more examples of the type to have one operational squadron, as a shortage of funds continues to thwart plans to acquire a new type.

 

The nation's defence ministry has shortlisted Romania's Aerostar and Ukraine's SE Odessa Aircraft Plant as potential contractors for the overhaul of seven air force MiG-21s, and the provision of five additional aircraft.

 

A decision is expected soon, with Croatian media reporting bids from the companies valued at a respective €18.6 million ($24.7 million) and €13.9 million. The latter offer includes the proposed delivery of aircraft left from a partially cancelled deal with Yemen, which took delivery of only 20 MiG-21s from a 28-unit order, says Ukrainian ambassador to Croatia Alexander Lavachenko.

 

Aerostar has previously conducted an overhaul and limited upgrade to eight MiG-21bis fighters for Croatia, and added four enhanced UMD-model two-seat trainers in 2003.

 

Possible replacements for the MiG-21s had included used Lockheed Martin F-16s or Saab Gripens, with Sweden's FXM organisation having tabled an offer for eight of the latter in October 2012. Other potential solutions could have included acquiring secondhand MiG-29s from RAC MiG, retired McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms from the German air force or surplus Dassault Mirage F1s or Israel Aircraft Industries-built Kfirs.

 

Separately, Croatia has selected Ukrainian overhaul facilities in Sevastopol and at Motor Sich in Zaporozhye to support the overhaul of six Mil Mi-8/17 utility helicopters, with work on the first aircraft expected to be complete in October 2013.

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31 mai 2013 5 31 /05 /mai /2013 07:35
MiG-21 Production Finally Ends

May 29, 2013: Strategy Page

 

China recently ended production of its MiG-21 clone (the J7) after nearly fifty years of manufacturing what evolved into an advanced version of the original Russian design. China began licensed production of the Russian MiG-21 in 1964, but it took another decade for that to evolve into the J7 and for mass production to really get started. Over 2,400 were produced. The earlier ones were inferior to the MiG-21 because Russia refused to transfer technology for the latest models of this 1950s design. By the 1980s the Chinese had matched the Russian MiG-21. This didn’t bother the Russians because in 1985 Russia ceased production, after more than 11,000 had been produced. From then on, if you wanted a MiG-21 you had only one source, the Chinese J7. In the last three decades China kept improving the J7 capabilities, mainly through tweaks to the airframe and better electronics. Most J7s were used by China but about twenty percent were exported to fourteen countries. About a dozen of these nations still operate their J7s.

 

Two years ago China officially withdrew its J7s from first line service. This came as no surprise. In the four years before that China more than doubled the number of modern combat aircraft (J-10, J-11, Su-27, Su-30, and J8F) from 500 to over 1,200. Six years ago China relied mainly on some 2,000 locally built copies of Russian MiG-19s (J6) and MiG-21s (J7). There are still several hundred bombers that are mostly Russian knockoffs. Normally, the actual number of Chinese aircraft is a state secret. However, thanks to the ability of Chinese to move freely throughout the country and access to the Internet it's possible to locate and count all the air force units in the country. That shows a current force that is rapidly changing from one that is mostly MiG-21s and MiG-19s, to one composed of much more capable aircraft. China is buying and building a lot of the Russian Su-27s and Su-30s (the latter an upgrade of the former). But new, home grown designs, like the J20 are also showing up.

 

Another reason for withdrawing the J7 to secondary regions (where modern jets are unlikely to be encountered) is the inability to use J7s for a lot of training. That's important because China is revising its combat pilot training program. The existing system takes ten years of academic and flight training. The new program cuts that to 5-7 years, while increasing flight hours by over 40 percent. This is more in line with Western methods, while the existing system owes more to the one the Russians developed during the Cold War. The new system puts more emphasis on trainee pilots demonstrating combat flying skills before they can graduate. Cold War era Russian aircraft designs, like the MiG-21, were not designed for the heavy use required for Western style pilot training. Thus J7 pilots cannot easily be trained to the same standard as those flying more modern aircraft.

 

The new training program is actually an evolution of the need for new training methods to prepare pilots to handle the more modern aircraft. Training for pilots of these new fighters has been more intense than for any previous aircraft. In addition, China is also holding training exercises directed at fighting other modern fighters, like those flown by Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. China is not keeping much of this secret and that is apparently sending a message to potential foes.

 

China has long been the largest user of the MiG-21/J7. China continued to export J7s until this year but has been rapidly retiring the ones remaining in Chinese service. The J7 was, in many ways, the most advanced version of the MiG-21, as the Chinese kept improving their J7 design. Over 13,000 Mig-21s and J7s have been produced in the last sixty years, making this the most widely manufactured jet fighter of the last century (during World War II there were several propeller driven fighters that were produced in greater numbers). The MiG-21 looked fearsome but it was a bust in combat, getting shot down more often than not. Russia still had 186 Mig-21s in service when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. These MiG-21s were officially retired a few years later. India, the last major user of the MiG-21, is in the process of retiring them as well.

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