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Something you don’t see everyday: a C-130 cruising down the street

August 31, 2012, 6:00 am
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Published by the Little Rock Air Force Base Facebook account the following picture shows a local C-130 being moved to be a static display in front of the base education center. The Hercules was taken apart, transported and put back together by airmen of the 19th CES (Civil Engineering Squadron), CMS (Component Maintenance Squadron), AMXS [...]
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The Spanish Air Force’s Orion Detachment in Djibouti reaches 4,000 flight hours fighting piracy off Horn of Africa

August 31, 2012, 7:09 am
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The Spanish Air Force (Ejercito del Aire) detachment in Djibouti, inside the structure of the EUNAVFOR (European Union Naval Force) in the Operation ATALANTA, reached the 4,000 flying hours in operational missions in support of the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. Image credit: Spanish Air Force This unit of [...]
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“Gray Dragon”: the only F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter painted in a two-tone gray experimental color scheme

August 31, 2012, 11:09 am
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Taken towards the end of 2003/early 2004 by a KC-135 boom operator using the nickname “boomer135″ and brought to my attention by Aviationintel‘s Tyler Rogoway the following pictures show the quite rare “Gray Dragon”, the gray F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. This plane was the only to be painted in an experimental two-tone grey color scheme. [...]
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Exposed: First Syrian rebels DIY unmanned aerial vehicle (that may never be able to fly…)

August 31, 2012, 12:17 pm
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The following video shows what is believed to be the first Free Syrian Army drone. According to the speaker, the DIY Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is equipped with a camera and is capable of carrying 50 kg of explosive “against Assad forces”. Three meters in length with a 3 m wingspan, it features a 6-blade (each [...]
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Tony Scott, Hank Kleeman, Kara Hultgreen and the F-14 Tomcat: three (tragic) stories and a legendary plane

September 1, 2012, 6:00 am
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Few days ago, Dario Leone, a long time reader and a huge F-14 Tomcat fan, sent me an email to point out what he had noticed about the date Tony Scott, the famous director of “Top Gun”, chose  to commit suicide. He had observed that Aug. 19 was the 31th anniversary of the day when two [...]
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RAF Merlin helicopters on Exercise Pashtung Vortex in Jordan

September 2, 2012, 7:00 am
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The following images, released by the UK Ministry of Defence, shows a Royal Air Force Merlin helicopter navigating a desert valley in Jordan during Exercise Pashtung Vortex. According to the press release, “Ex Pashtung Vortex was an overseas Training Exercise, taking place around Aqaba, Jordan and involving aircraft from the Merlin Force based at RAF [...]
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Show of force: 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force mass flypast of 21 combat planes

September 2, 2012, 12:00 pm
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Even if some heavy formations of Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers took part to the airshow held at Zhukovsky, Moscow, on Aug. 11 and 12, to celebrate in spectacular style the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force, one of the highlights of the event was the flypast of 21 aircraft, consisting of 5 Su-27s, [...]
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Syrian rebels shot down another Mig-21 fighter jet

September 4, 2012, 3:30 pm
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The following video, emerged on Sept. 4, shows the remains of a Syrian Arab Air Force Mig-21 shot down near Idlib. The pilot lies near the tail of the aircraft, with a deployed parachute: most probably the Mig was either hit at low altitude or the pilot ejected when it was too late (thus not [...]
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The Royal Air Force to deploy Tornado fighter bombers in the United Arab Emirates

September 5, 2012, 4:58 am
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After the U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighters one in April, another deployment will take place in the United Arab Emirates (thus, not far from Iran), in the coming weeks. In fact, the UK’s Royal Air Force has announced that aircraft and personnel from RAF Marham in Norfolk are to take part in Exercise “Shaheen Star” [...]
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New MQ-9 Block 1-plus drone makes first flight. With brand new cool wigtip antennas for secure communications

September 5, 2012, 10:59 am
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On Sept. 5, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI),  announced the successful first flight of the MQ-9 Block 1-plus. The new version of the world’s most famous drone has taken place on May 24, at the company’s Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, California, “with no discrepancies.” The MQ-9 Block 1-plus brings a capability [...]
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More about the spooky NASA WB-57F Battlefield Airborne Communication Node activity

September 5, 2012, 12:34 pm
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After publishing the article about the NASA’s WB-57 planes, Aviationintel‘s Tyler Rogoway provided some more details about the BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communication Node). “BACN actually provides an active net over the battlefield and works as an almost “universal translator” when it comes to various datalinks used in different platforms (LINK16/SADL/FDL)” he wrote me. “It orbits high [...]
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NVG Video: MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft conduct leaflet drop in Afghanistan during PSYOPS mission

September 5, 2012, 4:05 pm
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On Aug. 22, U.S. Army soldiers belonging to the 349th Psychological Operation Company (POC), Regional Psyops Support Element, Regional Command Southwest, conducted a leaflet drop above Helmand province, Afghanistan. The air drop, consisting of be-on-the-look-out leaflets in support of Information Operations, was conducted to deliver information to areas of Helmand province unreachable by conventional communication. The [...]
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This U.S. package (including a B-52 and few tactical planes) is worth a small European air force

September 6, 2012, 6:00 am
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The following picture, released on Sept. 5, 2012 was taken on Aug. 14, 2007, at the end of exercise Valiant Shield 2007. It shows a B-52 leading a formation of four F-18E/F Super Hornet, four F-18C Legacy Hornet, four F-15s and four F-16s, a package made of combat planes belonging to the U.S. Air Force, [...]
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30 years later, Ankara admits Turkish Air Force jet was shot down by Iraq

September 6, 2012, 9:15 am
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If you though that the Turkish RF-4E Phantom shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft artillery battery on Jun. 22, 2012, was the first such episodes involving a Turkish jet, you were wrong. In fact, in response to a parliamentary question by Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Metin Lütfi Baydar, Turkish Defence Minister İsmet Yılmaz stated [...]
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Photo: Syrian Air Force Mig-21 shot down by rebels had a weird Syrian flag painted on tail

September 6, 2012, 1:30 pm
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Freelance journalist Damien Spleeters sent me an email to let me know that he has noticed something interesting about the Mig-21 fighter jet that was shot down by rebel forces on Sept. 4: the green stars on the flag painted on the tail of the downed plane appear to be upside down compared to the [...]
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Russian Mig-29 Fulcrum crashes in Siberia, Moscow grounds them all.

September 6, 2012, 3:12 pm
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On Sept. 6, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced  that a Russian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter crashed 27 kilometers from Chita, in Siberia. The body of the pilots was found by a rescue team whereas a commission was detached to the scene to investigate the cause of crash. Although no further details about the crash have [...]
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Syrian helicopters’ PSYOPS missions: leaflet drop

September 7, 2012, 7:00 am
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Each conflict has its own Psychological Operations (PSYOPS). During 2011 Air War in Libya, U.S. Air Force EC-130s broadcast radio messages to the Libyan military, to persuade them to return to their families before it was too late, whereas Italian C-130J aircraft dropped leaflets over Tripoli to counter Gaddafi’s regime propaganda in Libya’s capital city. [...]
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Russian military prosecutors to probe Sukhoi Su-24 combat plane insane low pass over a highway

September 7, 2012, 8:38 am
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According to the Interfax news agency, military prosecutors will investigate flight records and safety measures carried out at military airfields after the video of a low level flying Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer went viral and it was shown on Russian national television. Filmed from a car dashboard, the footage showed the Russian Air Forcetwin-engined two-seater attack [...]
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Video: KC-130 tactical refueler escorts four MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor planes from Afghanistan to USS Iwo Jima

September 7, 2012, 1:00 pm
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The following video shows a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J belonging to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 escorting four MV-22 Ospreys belonging with the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 from Helmand province, Afghanistan, to the USS Iwo Jima in the Arabian Sea. The footage shows the four MV-22s flying in a loose echelon formation: formation [...]
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Ivan’s new insane flyover: Russian military helicopter buzzes drivers during “double overtake” on a highway.

September 7, 2012, 3:47 pm
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Remember the video of a Sukhoi fighter jet buzzing Russian drivers on a highway? Several blog readers (BTW thank you for your constant inputs) have pointed me to the following video showing a Mil Mi-8 Hip helicopter (yes, the same kind of chopper being used in Syria by the loyalist forces to attack rebels, drop [...]
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