PORTUGAL HAS handed over the first six of 12 second-hand F-16A/Bs being acquired by the Forţele Aeriene Române (FAR – Romanian Air Force) under the Peace Carpathian programme.  A ceremony was held at Base Aérea No 5 Monte Real, Portugal,…

INDIA HAS finally signed a firm contract for the purchase of 36 Dassault Rafales from France. An official ceremony took place in New Delhi today, September 23, during which French Minister of Defence Jean-Yves le Drian and his Indian counterpart,…

US STATE Department approval has been granted for a possible Foreign Military Sale to Japan of four Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling aircraft, plus related equipment, training and support. The estimated cost is $1.9 billion. The US Defense Security Cooperation…

SECRETARY OF the Air Force Deborah Lee James has confirmed that the US Air Force’s new Northrop Grumman B-21 Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) is to be named Raider. James announced the official name for the aircraft today, September 19, during…

TESTING FOR the US Navy’s fighter aircraft to receive fuel from the Aeronautica Militare Italiana’s (AMI – Italian Air Force) Boeing KC-767A aircraft is currently underway at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.  In a media release on September 12,…

AN ADDITIONAL A400M Atlas C1 has been delivered to the Royal Air Force. The aircraft, ZM409 (c/n 0034, ex A4M034), callsign ‘RRR4534’, landed at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, at 1228hrs on September 16, at the end of its delivery flight…

BOEING DEFENCE and Space’s much-anticipated unveiling of its contender for the US Air Force’s T-X advanced pilot trainer competition on September 13, at the company’s Eagle and Super Hornet production facility in St Louis, Missouri.  The aircraft, registration N381TX (c/n…

AIRBUS DEFENCE and Space confirmed in an announcement on September 6, that the first Airbus A400M new generation airlifter ordered by the Ejército del Aire (EdA – Spanish Air Force) has made its maiden flight. The aircraft, EC-400/T.23-01 ‘31-21’ (c/n…

ANTONOV, UKROBORONPROM and Aerospace Industry Corporation of China (AICC) have signed a long-term co-operation agreement on the An-225 Mriya heavy transport aircraft programme. The agreement, signed on August 30, will initially involve completion of the second An-225, which has been…

A FOURTH prototype CH-53K King Stallion has joined the flight test programme.  Maiden flight of this additional development helicopter was announced by Sikorsky on September 2. The first three CH-53K heavy lift helicopter Engineering Development Models (EDM) achieved their first…