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    Emergency Israeli landings in Romania
    Erik
    By Erik,
      JERUSALEM (JTA) August 3, 2010 -- Two Israeli military helicopters made emergency landings in Romania following a technical failure.   The emergency landings Tuesday morning came a week after another Israeli helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain during a joint search-and-rescue military exercise, killing six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian soldier.   The helicopters forced to make emergency landings were returning to Israel from the 10-day exercise. They are being repaired at a Romanian air base near Bucharest, Haaretz reported.   Seven of the CH-53 Yasur helicopters participated in the exercise.   The helicopter landed, following regular protocol, after an emergency light went on in the aircraft. The second helicopter landed also following standard procedure, according to Ynet.       JTA

    Fire Destroys Russian Naval Base
    Erik
    By Erik,
      Russian hellish fires completely destroyed naval base outside Moscow: 200 aircraft burnt down   The forest fire has destroyed a large Russian naval base outside Moscow. Its occurred on July 29, but became known only on August 3. A Russian news agency, Life News, was the first to report about the incident: according to its data, 200 aircraft with the value of about $ 670 million had been reduced to ashes outside Moscow.   The very base of 100 hectares was completely burnt down, the agency reported citing its source.   Other sources confirm the report.   "Initial inquiry is being conducted on a fire on the naval base", the military investigations department at the Moscow military district commented on the information, giving neither the number of military aircraft, nor the damages caused fires.   Later, the ITAR-TASS news agency issued a statement by the defense ministry: indeed, "the upstream fire spread to the territory of one of the units in the Kolomna district on July 29".   "The fire spread over to a secret unit of the area of 100 hectares in 10 minutes", a source of Life News said. At the same time, it said, it is not only from an emergency situation from that the servicemen suffered.   "One building in the storage area of the Navy was also burnt down. The damage there is several times less - about $ 33 million", the source added.   Official spokesman for Investigations Committee, Vladimir Markin, confirmed that an initial inquiry into the fire is being conducted by the military investigations department. The fire occurred on Thursday 29 July. It took place at about 04:00 pm on the storage base of aviation and technical equipment belonging to the Russian Navy, which is located near the town of Kolomna, Moscow Region, Markin said to the Moscow Interfax news agency.   He said nothing about 200 jets and helicopters and $ 670 million damage, but pointed out that the HQ, a financial unit, a club, two buildings of the car park, 13 storage facilities with different aircraft, 17 open storage areas for equipment with cars on them, were burnt down.   "On July 30, the hotbeds of fire were localized. No one was suffered as a result", claims Markin.   According to unofficial data, the Central Aerotechnical Base (CAB) of the Russian Navy Air Force and Air Defense is located on the outskirts of the town of Kolomna (Shurovo District in Moscow Region).   The main tasks of the military unit are receiving, storing and processing aerial, hydrographic and navigating equipment coming from industrial enterprises, aviation and technical units, military schools and repair facilities of the Navy.   Russian Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet, the Caspian flotilla, the St. Petersburg Naval Base, units of the Russian Navy Air Forces, received maintenance at the CAB for 60 years.   No more. The fire completely destroyed this largest military base of the Russian Navy.         Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

    NORAD and Russia Joint Air Defense Drills
    Erik
    By Erik,
        The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Russian Air Force will hold their first-ever joint air defense exercise on August 8-11, NORAD said.   The exercise, dubbed VIGILANT EAGLE, involves Russian, Canadian and U.S. Air Force personnel operating from command centers at the Elmendorf airbase in Alaska, and in Khabarovsk, Russia.   "Airborne warning and control aircraft [AWACS E-3B and A-50] from Russia and the United States will be involved along with fighter-interceptor aircraft and refueling aircraft from both countries," NORAD said in a statement on Tuesday.   The exercise scenario, put together by NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, will create a situation that requires both the Russian Air Force and NORAD to launch or divert fighter aircraft to investigate and follow a U.S. flagged commercial air carrier on an international flight that has been taken over by terrorists.   The exercise will be carried out under a cooperative military agreement between Russia and the United States, which tasks NORAD, the bi-national U.S. and Canadian command, and the Russian Air Force to conduct a live-fly exercise for up to five days.               RIA NOVOSTI

    Holloman AFB to get F16s
    Erik
    By Erik,
        Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo will become the training base for the F-16 and will acquire 48 F-16 fighter jets by 2013   Gov. Bill Richardson said the U.S. Air Force will remove two squadrons of F-22 aircraft from Holloman. But he added that state officials expect that the new mission will have a bigger economic impact than the other two squadrons.   The Air Force has “robust plans” to use F-16 fighter jets and their training mission through 2030, Richardson said. The decision to locate the F-16s at the base is evidence that the Department of Defense sees Holloman as a strong base that can support diverse military missions, the governor added.           New Mexico Business Weekly

    India contracts for US Planes
    Erik
    By Erik,
    New Delhi: The Indian Air Force has contracted six aircraft for the special forces for $1 billion without military-grade secure equipment because Washington denied the technology after New Delhi refused to sign a communications secrecy pact. The air force is now in the process of contracting another 10 very heavy strategic airlifters under the same technology-denial regime for an estimated $3 billion. India contracted six C-130J Super Hercules in 2007 and the first of these aircraft is likely to be delivered by January 2010 ahead of schedule by its maker, Lockheed Martin, under a government-to-government foreign military sales programme. One of the scenarios in which the Hercules (“Hercs” for short) is to be used involves inserting special airborne troops (paratroopers) by flying into hostile territory where an adversary can try to intercept and/or jam electronic communication. “We are aware that some of the equipment we desire may not be available. But it is up to us to use the platform the way we want to with modifications once we have it,” a senior air force officer told The Telegraph. A US defence official told this newspaper “anything that requires encryption, which includes military-grade global positioning systems (GPS)” will not be mounted on the C-130J or the C-17 Globemaster III (made by Boeing) because India has not yet signed the Communications Inter-Operability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). The CISMOA was proposed by the Pentagon to the Indian defence ministry in 2006. A standard text for another crucial agreement, the End-User Monitoring Arrangement, was agreed last year after more than three years of negotiations. A secure GPS is indispensable for mobile military platforms that are designed to track targets in all-weather and all-time circumstances. “The military GPS system is encrypted and thus not available without a communications agreement,” the US defence official said. He claimed that “US military equipment is designed utilising the best systems available, such as military-grade GPS, which is more accurate and less likely to be spoofed (intercepted) than civilian GPS”. Asked if there was any way India could access the equipment without signing the CISMOA, he replied “there is no way around this”. He said the CISMOA would apply to the proposed sale of the C-17 also. Trials for the aircraft were completed last month and the Indian Air Force has decided to buy it. The four-engine turbo-prop Hercs — a workhorse for the US military — is a “tactical airlifter” with a payload capacity of 20 tonnes or about 120 fully-equipped airborne troops capable of landing on dirt strips and with short take-off and landing capability. The giant C-17 jet is also rugged but capable of flying much longer distances with much heavier payloads. The Indian Air Force has projected a dire need for these two different classes of aircraft because its Russian/Soviet-origin aircraft are outdated. The air force is set to order six more Hercs in addition to the six already contracted. The Coast Guard and the Border Security Force are also in line to acquire two Hercs each. The Hercs are to be based at Hindon, just east of Delhi, where the Indian Air Force base is being refurbished. The Hercs for India have been modified for special missions and are equipped with an infrared detection set for low-level flying in adverse conditions. Although the communications systems would not have the desired level of security for the Indian Air Force, an official said that India was getting the Hercs with the configuration it wants. They will have self-protection and mid-air refuelling ability. The Hercs is in service in 10 countries. Telegraph India

    Tiger earns its stripes in Afghanistan
    Erik
    By Erik,
      The EC665 Tiger HAP (combat support) helicopter operated by the French Army's 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment, has now logged more than 1,000 flight hours in Afghanistan in less than a year.   With an availability rate of 90% in extremely harsh operating conditions, the Tiger has once again demonstrated excellent performance and operability levels for both reconnaissance missions and combat support operations for joint tactical groups (GTIA), which have been unanimous in their praise.   A key to this success has been the excellent cooperation between the French Army, the French Armament Procurement Agency (DGA), the OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armaments Co-operation) and Eurocopter, which has deployed a dedicated work structure since the beginning of the operations.   In this framework, Eurocopter has been providing the French Army with nonstop support to meet the specific operational needs of the Afghan theater and guarantee the required availability levels. A team of Eurocopter technicians is on assignment in Afghanistan to assist the mechanics of the French Army Air Corps (ALAT). In addition, a customized logistics support service has been set up to respond at any time to any request and to quickly supply any necessary spare parts.         Arabian Aerospace

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