BY : Flight International



Saab has secured a deal to support operations of the Swedish air force's Saab 105 (Sk 60) jet trainers until mid-2017.

Signed with Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration on 19 December, the public-private partnership deal will see the company deliver operational support and maintenance services for the air force's active inventory of around 106 Saab 105s, operations of which started in 1967.Saab says the contract is expected to be worth around SKr900 million ($115 million), but that options exist to extend the service or deliver additional flight hours.

BY : Alenia Aermacchi



The Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainer made its first supersonic flight, reaching yesterday Mach 1.15 in the “supersonic corridor” off the Italian Riviera coast.
The first prototype M-346 reached this important milestone during a 75 minute flight which began and ended on the company airfield at Venegono Superiore.

«Breaking the sound barrier shows the great growth potential of our M-346 – commented after the flight Quirino Bucci, Alenia Aermacchi Chief Test Pilot. – The

BY : The Financial Times

Germany is seeking to solve Britain’s dilemma over a large number of Eurofighter Typhoon jets it has ordered but cannot afford by proposing it buys half and delays a decision about the remainder by three years.

The “informal offer”, made to John Hutton, defence secretary, would help to solve the cash crisis facing the Ministry of Defence.The MoD has announced delays to several key equipment programmes to help spread out investment over the next two years but it is still unable to balance its books.

BY : BBC

Prince Harry is to train to become an Army Air Corps helicopter pilot after passing the unit's selection process.

Clarence House said the prince would start training next month now he has completed a four-week course to assess his talent and ability to fly.

Earlier this year, the 24-year-old, an officer in the Household Cavalry Regiment, served in Afghanistan and has said he would like to return.

His brother, Prince William, was awarded his RAF pilot's wings in April.

BY : Yumasun

Yuma-based Marine pilots recently honed their combat skills in a training exercise that included aircraft of the unmanned variety.

Marine Attack Squadron 513 took part in two weeks of training at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., as part of Exercise Cactus Needle, which allowed them to practice integrating their AV-8B Harriers with unmanned aerial vehicles in combat missions.

“The Harriers and UAVs have always worked in close proximity, but this is the first time using them together in a training evolution,” said Air Force Capt. Mark Ferstl, UAV flight instructor, 11th Reconnaissance Squadron.

BY : BBC




RAF pilot Andy Green made history in 1997 when he drove the Thrust SSC jet-powered vehicle at 763mph (1,228km/h).

Now he intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h).

Known as Bloodhound, the new car will be powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine.

The team-members have been working on the concept for the past 18 months and expect to be ready to make their new record attempt in 2011.

BY : DutchNews

Negotiations between the government and the aerospace industry on the Joint Strike Force (JSF) jet have run aground, according to a letter sent by the industry to economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven on Thursday.

According to the aerospace industry, the government has 'slammed the door shut', reports the NRC. It wants the minister to become 'personally involved' in order to ensure negotiations are 'serious'.

The tension between the partners stems from the government's insistence that any shortfall in its development budget of €858m be covered by the aerospace

BY : Reuters

Two French fighter jets collided off the coast of Brittany on Wednesday and one of the two pilots was found while the other was being searched for, the Defence Ministry said.

The two Super-Etendard jets, made by Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), crashed during a training exercise at around 5:10 p.m. (1510 GMT) 27 km (17 miles) north of the town of Morlaix, on the French region's northern coast, the French Navy said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the Defence Ministry said the planes collided during the exercise.

BY : PR


The METHYLE system is capable of simulating flight conditions up to Mach 7.5 (7500 km/h, 2400 Kelvin) for several minutes, for large-size mockups and prototypes, and thus comes as a unique test system in Europe and one of the very few resources of this type in the world.

METHYLE will strongly contribute to the technological development effort that is being made on high-speed aerobic propulsion by MBDA and ONERA, with support from DGA and the European Union, and in cooperation with CNRS (Orléans, Bourges, Nancy), the “Pôle capteurs” (sensors centre), Roxel, Astrium ST, and Auxitrol.

BY: Issued by Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland


The pilot of a Finnish Air Force F/A-18 strike fighter on Friday successfully landed the aircraft with one of its two engines shut down.

"The aircraft's computer systems warned of a fault linke to oil pressures," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jari Nykänen, the chief of staff of Lapland Air Command.

"We will now begin to get to the bottom of the fault."

Lt-Col Nykänen said the pilot had followed standard procedure by shutting down the engine.