BY : Forbes



Even as China continues to resist stronger international sanctions against Iran, it is reportedly planning to sell Iran an advanced fighter jet based on a model that Israel developed with U.S.-made components and taxpayer money.

Word of the deal first surfaced last week in the Russian media. According to those reports, China plans to sell 24 Chengdu Jian-10 (J-10) fighter jets to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Co. for $1 billion between 2008 and 2010. The J-10, unveiled by China this past January, has enough of a range to help conduct air strikes on Israel.

There's reason to take Russian reports seriously. "Some elements of the Russian

BY : PTI

The induction of highly sophisticated aircraft in future was bound to pose new challenges for the Aerospace Medicine Industry in terms of ensuring enhanced mental and physical fitness for pilots, according to Air Chief Marshal F H Major.

Delivering the inaugural address at the 47th annual conference of the Institute fo Aerospace Medicine, he said that these highly manoeuvrable aircraft posed challenges in terms of spatial disorientation and other factors.

"Long duration flying also creates problems like boredom, loneliness, failure of mental

BY : THE HINDU



The first prototype of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), being designed and developed by State-owned aviation major, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be ready for its maiden flight between October and December next year, according to HAL Chairman Ashok K. Baweja.

On the sidelines of a seminar on “Helicopter Technology” here on Tuesday, Mr. Baweja said, the detailed design drawing of the LCH would be completed by December this year. “We will be then releasing the drawings to make parts.

BY : Glenn Pew, Contributing Editor





The Indian Air Force is slated to begin testing in 2008 for its first $60 million Boeing Business Jet after it is equipped with a system designed to protect the aircraft from attack by ground or air based threats. The aircraft's intended duties will include transport

BY : Lalit K Jha For NDTV

A senior Bush Administration official said on Tuesday that India matters more for the United States than its long term ally Pakistan, even though the Indo-US relationship many a times gets stuck due to domestic political compulsions of both countries.

''India simply must, as a long term consideration, matter more for us than Pakistan,'' James Clad, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told a group of online journalists and bloggers Tuesday in a conference call from Pentagon. This is true even though Pakistan is leading from the front in the US-led global war against terrorism, he said.

BY : David Coates For Johnston Press Digital Publishing




A massive order for military fighter jets has been completed by workers at Lancashire defence giant BAE Systems.
The 3,000-strong Eurofighter Typhoon workforce has completed the delivery of its tranche one order of 53 jets, destined for the UK Royal Air Force, at the firm's site in Warton, near Preston.

Final production on aircraft number BS036 was completed at 302 Hangar on the site earlier this month, it will now be test flown at the base before being delivered to the

BY : PIERRE TRAN For Defensenews



Dassault Aviation said Oct. 30 it would compete in India’s tender for 126 multirole combat aircraft, confirming a report in business daily La Tribune that French company would offer the Rafale fighter.
“We will respond to the request for proposals,” a Dassault spokesman said. The Rafale is the only combat aircraft in production at the company, which closed the line for the Mirage 2000 after delivering the last orders to Greece.
Dassault had hesitated before committing to the competition and sought guidance from the French government on the chances of success in India.

BY : IANS

Indian scientists have developed a tiny gadget that can keep an eye on enemy territory and help in traffic management.

This was disclosed at a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) meeting here.

Lt. Gen. V.J. Sundaram and Balraj Gupta of the DRDO, on Friday said the tiny unmanned device can remain in air for 15 to 20 minutes and send photographic data to computer

BY : IANS

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking at inducting the first batch of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) by 2012 to modernise its operational fleet and replace the ageing MiG-21 fighters, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said Tuesday.

'All going well I am looking at the first induction of MMRCA by 2012-13. The delivery begins 48 months after the contract is signed. Evaluation of the aircraft will take at least two-three years,' Major told reporters here at a defence function.

The defence ministry last month floated a global tender for RFP (request for proposals) to buy and co-produce 126 MMRCA from global aerospace majors such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing of the US, Saab of Sweden, MiG Design Bureau of Russia

BY : IANS



The Indian Air Force will receive the first two advance jet trainers (AJT) Hawk from British Aerospace (BAE Systems) by mid-November to train its pilots to fly supersonic fighters, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said in Bangalore on Tuesday.

"The first batch of two Hawk trainer aircraft will arrive in India from Britain in a fortnight and will be stationed at the Bidar airbase in north Karnataka for advanced training. The remaining trainer jets (22) will join the fleet in batches, including six by this year-end," Major told IANS on the sidelines of a function.