BY : RIA Novosti





Russia's Sukhoi aircraft maker has started flight tests of the second Su-35 Flanker multirole fighter to expedite the completion of the testing program, the company said on Thursday.

"The addition of the second aircraft to the testing program will speed up its completion and ensure the beginning of deliveries to our customers in 2011," Sukhoi said in a statement.

BY : Flight International

Rand's 90-slide briefing presented in August argues that the US Air Force's fifth-generation fighter fleet could be outmatched by hordes of lesser-skilled Chinese Sukhoi Su-27 pilots in a 2020 battle over the Taiwan Straits. In the Rand war game, China launches an air attack on skies above Taiwan. Using advantages of proximity and sheer numbers, the assault force consists of 72 Su-27 Flankers, 24 in each of three regiments. Operating from Andersen AFB, Guam, the USAF can muster only six Lockheed F-22s in the Taiwan Straits at any time.

As the engagement starts, Chinese Flankers outnumber F-22s by 72 to six. The F-22s are also heavily outgunned in the battle. Three Su-27 regiments carry a total of 912 air-to-air missiles, compared with 48 by six F-22s.

BY: Indian Express Newspaper

Insisting that the proposed upgrade of Pakistani F-16 fighters by the US is more likely to be used in a conventional war rather than on terror, Indian defence analysts have raised concerns that the fighters could be used as a nuclear delivery platform against India.

On a day when technical details of the $890 million deal to upgrade 46 Pakistani F-16 A/B fighters to a new generation Block 52 F-16 fighters were shared with the US Congress, Indian defence experts said the deal would have serious repercussions to the security of the region and would affect military balance.

The main contention is that the upgrade — which includes a new age radar, precision bombing capabilities and night strike equipment — is more suited to conventional war against India.

BY : Guardian News

Pakistani troops fired on US forces entering the country's lawless tribal region yesterday, marking a further deterioration in ties between the two allies in the "war on terror". Details of the incident in south Waziristan were unclear but, according to local security officials and tribesmen, two American helicopters breached Pakistani airspace in the early hours, but retreated when they came under fire.

The US forces were likely to have been on a hit-and-withdraw mission against suspected militants in the area, similar to the first documented American ground raid into the tribal territory this month when

BY : DAWN

The Pakistan Air Force started reconnaissance flights in areas on the border with Afghanistan on Saturday in the wake of increased airspace violations by US drones and incursions by coalition forces into tribal areas.

A US spy plane was seen in the skies above North Waziristan earlier during the day, but it disappeared as soon as Pakistani fighters appeared. The jets, which were seen for the first time after a series of US attacks in the tribal belt, reconnoitred the region for an hour.

Locals welcomed the PAF move as reassuring. The presence of Pakistani fighter planes gave a sense of security to the people, one man said.

BY : Dailymirror




Eight minutes after the detection of the first Tiger aircraft, a fleet of super sonic F-7 interceptor jets took off from Sri Lanka Air Force Base Katunayake to engage the enemy aircraft.

Meanwhile, as the two enemy aircraft approached the skies of the Vavuniya base, their aim appeared to be to bomb and destroy the Indra-2 radar system. But the heavy ground fire made it difficult for the two aircraft to target the radar system. Instead th two Tiger aircraft appeared to give up the plan and return. But four bombs weighting some 25 kilos had been dropped from the two light aircraft onto the army complex premises.The two aircraft were over the skies of Vavuniya for more than six minutes and both had moved away one to fly towards Mullaitivu and the second to the Kilinochchi area. By this time several F-7 aircraft were over the skies of

BY : Reuters

Sri Lankan jets shot down a Tamil Tiger plane after the rebels launched a pre-dawn bombing raid on a military base near the northern frontline on Tuesday, the military said.

It is the first downing of a plane belonging to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since they debuted their air wing with a surprise attack on a military airfield in the capital Colombo in March 2007, the military said.

"The LTTE attempted to launch an attack on our air force base in Vavuniya. On their withdrawal, SLAF (Sri Lankan Air Force) interceptors destroyed one aircraft over Mullaittivu," air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

Nanayakkara had no details on damage from the bombing raid, and declined to say how many rebel aircraft were involved.

BY : RIA Novosti



Russia's new carrier-based fighters will replace the Su-33 naval fighter in service with the Russian Navy after 2016, a senior military official said on Sunday.

The Su-33 (NATO reporting name 'Flanker-D') is a carrier-based multi-role fighter, which can perform a variety of air superiority, fleet defense, air support and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft entered service with the Russian Navy in 1995 and are currently deployed on board the Nikolai Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

"The Russian Navy will adopt new carrier-based aircraft after 2016," said Maj. Gen. Nikolai Kuklev, the deputy commander of Russia's naval aviation.

"At present, we are considering modernization and extension of service life for the Su-33 aircraft. It will certainly stay in service until 2015," the general said.

BY : PTI

Pakistan will acquire over 100 fighter jets from China and the US as well as airborne warning and air-to-air refuelling aircraft to maintain numerical parity with the Indian Air Force which enjoys a "qualitative advantage", the country's air force chief has said.
Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed said the Pakistan Air Force was "very close" to signing a contract with China for serial production of 42 JF-17 fighter jets.

It would also acquire two squadrons or 36 of the FC-20 multi-role fighters from China and 18 new F-16s from the US, he said.

BY : Daily times

China and Sweden will provide state-of-the-art surveillance aircraft to Pakistan, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed said on Friday. According to Geo News, he said four AWACS aircraft from China and four SAAB-2000 aircraft from Sweden would reach Pakistan soon. Talks were also underway for the purchase of 30 to 40 FC-20 aircraft from China, he added. But he told Dawn News that plans to buy the