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Iraq to buy Predator drones to protect southern oil platforms

May 21, 2012, 9:30 am
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Iraq’s Navy has already purchased U.S. drones to protect its southern oil platforms, from where most of the OPEC nation’s oil is shipped. This is what an official from the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, which is part of the U.S. embassy, said to the Reuters on May 21. Although no more details about [...]
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Video: Skydivers intercept gliders midair. The low cost fighter jet solution for air forces in financial crisis?

May 21, 2012, 3:30 pm
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The following video shows what (theoretically) could be achieved by future paratroopers equipped with proper wingsuits. Five wingsuit skydivers joined up with and maintained formation with two gliders over Austria, in the last Red Bull sponsored adventure. The team literally intercepted at roughly 12,000 feet two aerobatic LET L-13 Blanik gliders (with the leader flying [...]
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Sea Harrier, the forgotten hero that won the war in the Falklands. To be replaced by the F-35B.

May 22, 2012, 6:00 am
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Known by its pilots as “SHAR,”30 years ago the Bae Sea Harrier embarked on its first combat mission. Ir was April 5, 1982 when two UK’s “through-deck cruisers” (aircraft carriers) leave Portsmouth for their involvement in the Falklands conflict. On board were 20 BAe Sea Harriers, only in service since 2 years. The British “Jump [...]
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Photo: Is Darth Vader flying in a U.S. HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter during a Special Ops training mission?

May 22, 2012, 12:16 pm
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You may think that Darth Vader was flying an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, by looking at the following cool photograph taken by Rob Birmingham. However, the one worn by the airman leaning out of the chopper left hand door is not the mask of the main character of the Star Wars saga, but a Maxillofacial Shield [...]
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USMC F-35B first flight at Eglin Air Force Base. On the 100th anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation.

May 22, 2012, 2:11 pm
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Eglin Air Force Base, that has become famous for the improvised hangar foam party that almost submerged an F-15, an F-16 and an A-10, saw the first flight of an F-35B, belonging to the USMC, on May 22, 2012, on the 100th anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation. The STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) version [...]
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Royal Air Force rescue helicopter makes “emergency” landing on a beach. To buy four Magnum ice creams!

May 22, 2012, 3:08 pm
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Do you remember the French Tiger helicopter that landed on a beach near Tripoli to pick up a Free Libya flag from a young girl? Something similar (although much less dangerous) has happened in the UK recently. The Sun has published some interesting pictures showing a RAF rescue Sea King helicopter landing on a beach [...]
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One of the coolest helicopter night pictures, ever! Showing the famous Kopp-Etchell’s effect.

May 23, 2012, 6:00 am
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Made available by the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division on Facebook, the following image is one of the most beautiful night shots I’ve ever seen. It depicts a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter loading troops at Ab Band, in Afghanistan. Among the other things that make this picture so beautiful is the so [...]
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GoPro Video: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee flypast as seen from inside a 27-plane formation!

May 23, 2012, 3:31 pm
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On Saturday May 19, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her first 60 years as monarch. A flypast saw over 80 aircraft belonging to the British air arms, overflying Windsor castle: among them, 27 RAF Hawks in tight formation depicted EiiR (Elizabeth II Regina). The following video was filmed from “Ruby 4″, the lower part of the [...]
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Russian AN-30 spyplane crashes in Czech Republic during Open Skies mission

May 23, 2012, 4:04 pm
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On May 23, at 11.50 LT, a Russian Air Force AN-30B (registration 04 black) took fire after skidding off the runway on landing at the Czech air force base in Caslav, 20 miles east of Prague. Of the 23 people on board (14 Russians and 9 Czechs), five Russians and one Czech national have suffered [...]
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[Infographic] U.S. new raids, drone attacks target review process

May 24, 2012, 8:32 am
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The Associated Press has recently published the first detailed description of the once classified military’s review process for choosing terror leaders to be added to the capture or kill list. Two current and three former officials U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to the AP and described the current targeting procedure, developed by the [...]
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U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. In two interesting pictures.

May 24, 2012, 1:00 pm
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On May 23, 2012,  Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, hosted the graduation ceremony of the U.S. Air Force Academy class of 2012. The event had a certain media coverage because, 8 months since the repeal of the famous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the U.S. Air Force Academy graduated its first group of openly gay [...]
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First F-35A sporting 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron lettering and “OT” tail code, spotted at NAS Forth Worth JRB

May 24, 2012, 1:54 pm
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The following image, taken on May 17, shows the first flight of F-35A AF-17 at NAS Fort Worth JRB (Joint Reserve Base), with Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti at the controls. The aircraft, scheduled to go to Eglin AFB, Florida, later in 2012, is the first to get the 31 TES lettering as well as [...]
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Russian Tu-214R intelligence gathering plane exposed! First photo of the new spyplane during test flight lands on the Web.

May 24, 2012, 2:55 pm
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Evgeny Volkov is the name of the photographer who took the first picture of a flying Russian Tu-214R known to date. The image Evgeny has uploaded to the Russianplanes.net portal, shows the Tu-214R carring registration number RA-64511, serial number 42305011, serial number 511, built by the Kazan Aircraft Production Association’s (KAPO) and flown at the [...]
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Possibly the best New York’s Fleet Week photo so far: the Blue Angels fly over the Parade of Ships.

May 25, 2012, 7:00 am
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On May 23, the Parade of Ships  marked the first day of the Fleet Week New York. During the parade, 23 Tall Ships and Warships made their way from The Statue of Liberty, past the World Trade Center site to Manhattan’s West side. The following image shows the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels demo team overflying [...]
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The U.S. Marine Corps train for a war in the Pacific: F/A-18 Hornets make first ever “coral” arrestment on a tiny island of the Northern Mariana Islands.

May 25, 2012, 12:40 pm
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Tinian, is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 5 miles (8 km) to the southwest of its sister island, Saipan, and has a land area of 39 sq.mi. (101.01 km²). On May, 23, four F/A-18D Hornets from Marine Fighter [...]
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This impressive image was taken 30 years ago today: Argentine A-4B Skyhawks low level attack on HMS Broadsword

May 25, 2012, 2:54 pm
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May 25 is Argentina’s National Day. It celebrates the attack carried out by the Fuerza Aérea Argentina (Argentine Air Force) A-4B Skyhawks belonging to the Grupo 5 de Caza that had been given the task to target HMS Coventry and Broadsword, two British ships on duty to the northwest of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). The [...]
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Robosaurus breathing fire among C-17 and C-5 cargo planes at March Air Reserve Base

May 26, 2012, 7:50 am
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Modeled after Trasformers toys, Robosaurus is a transforming dinosaur robot, with the driver (or “pilot”) sitting in the head of the ‘bot, with the ability to transform from a 48-foot semi trailer into a futuristic Tyrannosayrus Rex. It was created by inventor Doug Malewicki in 1989 and is currently owned and operated by Monster Robots, [...]
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Odyssey of an A-4 Skyhawk Pilot during the Falklands War: Captain Alberto Jorge Philippi’s story

May 29, 2012, 6:00 am
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Whilst much has been written about the British involvement in the Falklands/Malvinas conflict a short story was written by an Argentinean pilot who was involved in the attack on the beach head at San Carlos. The article written a year after the conflict finished describes how Captain Alberto Jorge Philippi took off from the Rio [...]
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Italy’s Reaper drones to be “weaponized”

May 29, 2012, 11:00 am
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Although it could take a year or more to complete the process, Italy’s Reaper drones could soon be given the official go ahead to procure the Hellfire missiles and laser guided bombs that Rome has requested since the first MQ-9 drone was delivered to the Italian Air Force last year. According to a WSJ article, [...]
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Pentagon flexing muscles at Pyongyang: B-52 bombers take part in largest U.S. exercise in Korea for the first time

May 29, 2012, 1:25 pm
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Although North Korea’s most recent attempts to project an image of strength to the rest of the world have failed, the U.S. military is undoubtedly focusing on the Korean peninsula. Even if the news that U.S. Special Forces have already parachuted into North Korea to perform surveillance operations on Pyongyang activities, reportedly (accidentally?) disclosed by [...]
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