BUFF

2/22/2008, 5:28 p.m. CST The Associated Press MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A B-52 bomber on a training mission made an emergency landing at the Minot airport due to aircraft malfunctions and deteriorating weather, the Air Force said. A statement from the Minot Air Force Base said five crew members from the 20th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana declared an in-flight emergency and landed safely early Friday morning. Col. Joel Westa, the Minot base commander, said in a statement that the Barksdale crew "performed admirably in very tough conditions." The Air Force would not elaborate on the "aircraft malfunctions." Tech. Sgt. Marelise Wood said the crews were repairing the B-52 at the Minot airport on Friday afternoon. Once repaired, the bomber would be flown to the Minot Air Force Base and then to the Louisiana base, she said. The Minot Air Force Base's 5th Bomb Wing, which operates 35 B-52 bombers, is several miles northwest of the city airport. Barksdale Air Force Base is the country's only other B-52 base. Airport director Patrick Dame said conditions in Minot were foggy when the bomber landed at the city airport. Dame said military aircraft routinely land at the Minot airport but a B-52 using the municipal runway "is highly unusual." The airport's 7,700-foot runway was able to accommodate the bomber, Dame said. The emergency landing did not disrupt any commercial traffic at the airport, he said. © 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

welcome to CA. The answers to most questions are already here somewhere if you search, usually in the knowledge base. Try http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=19172

a place that I've always wanted to visit - hope that you took plenty of pics.

MIAMI — Two fighter pilots are missing after their jets collided in mid-air off the Florida Panhandle Wednesday during a training mission. Search and rescue teams are en route to the crash while the conditions of the two pilots is unknown. The two F-15 C Eagle fighter jets disappeared about 3 p.m. ET off the Florida Panhandle over the Gulf of Mexico, said Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Sgt. Brian Jones. The Coast Guard sent three helicopters, a plane and two boats to the scene. "We don't know what led to the disappearance," said Master Sgt. Andrew Leonhard, an Air Force spokesman. "We had no contact from the pilots." The crash occurred about 50 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 The Air Force's grounded Skyhawk fleet is suffering yet another indignity. The planes have been stored outside the Woodbourne Air Base for the last two months and were carefully sheathed in white latex to preserve them from the elements - but now, the latex is already failing. Act MP Heather Roy says: "Just two months after the jets were wheeled outside to sit in the weather with what we were told was a robust latex covering, they're now ripped, peeling and weathering quite seriously." The double layer coating cost amost $100,000 - the Defence Force has confirmed to 3 News that the outer layer is bubbling due to water damage and has torn on at least three of the aircraft. Defence Minister Phil Goff says the white coating protects the exterior and expensive cockpit controls from the sun, but they have an undercoat as well. "I'm advised by the Defence Force that the protection is not only adequate but better than what the planes had before," Goff says. The Labour Government scrapped the combat wing in 2002 and has been trying to sell the aircraft since. They have a $50 million offer but the US State Department will not give it the rubber stamp. Roy claims some of the former jets have only a third of the latex they should, saying: "Here they are having to pay $94,000 out of their operational funding, that should be spent on core business, not on decommissioned stock that the government can't sell." The Air Force says the contractor that coated the planes does not know what has caused the latest hiccup - they say the latex is still under warranty, so the Skyhawks will get another coat. But this is yet another embarrassing problem for the expensive jets.

DATE:20/02/08 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com US Marine Corps' Bell AH-1Z and UH-1Y enter final test phase By Graham Warwick After months of work to correct deficiencies, the US Marine Corps' upgraded Bell AH-1Z attack and UH-1Y utility helicopters have begun the second and final phase of operational evaluation. Opeval Phase 2 began at the US Navy's test centre at China Lake in California on 11 February and is scheduled to last for 90 days. This is a crucial hurdle for the H-1 upgrade programe, which had to be restructured after suffering schedule delays and cost overruns. H-1 programme manager Col Keith Birkholz says eight deficiencies identified during the first phase of operational testing at the end of 2006 have been remedied. These included malfunctions of the Lockheed Martin electro-optical/infrared target sight system. The Thales Top Owl visor-projected helmet-mounted display was deferred because of a visual anomaly called hyperstereopsis, which made it unsafe to use when flying close to ground. Instead head-up information is projected on a monocular display or night-vision goggles. Issues with the health and usage monitoring system have been overcome, says Birkholz, while the latest software load incorporates several fixes. Other deficiencies corrected involve auxiliary power unit hot starts, tail rotor blades and chip detectors. "Overall, we expect to get a satisfactory grade" from opeval Phase 2, he says. There is one outstanding issue, which the AH-1Z shares with the US Army's Boeing AH-64D attack helicopter - rocket gas ingestion by the General Electric T700 engines. "This is similar to the Apache issue, the same type of micro compressor stall," says Birkholz. "It's a small ripple through the drive system that's not noticeable except on flight-test instrumentation. It's not fixed yet, but we are working on it." The US Marine Corps has time to work on a fix because the upgraded AH-1Z will not become operational until 2011, while the UH-1Y is scheduled for initial operational capability in September of this year, ready for deployment early in 2009. The AH-1Z was deferred and UH-1Y accelerated because USMC needs to replace its UH-1Ns as fast as possible, says Birkholz. The N has a gross weight of 10,500lb and can carry little payload in the hot and high conditions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Re-engined with T700s and fitted with a four-blade rotor, the Y has a gross weight of 18,500lb, doubling the UH-1's range and payload, he says. Although the H-1 upgrade began as a remanufacturing effort, Bell is building almost all of the 100 planned UH-1Ys as new aircraft and has received a contract for the engineering to produce new-build AH-1Zs. Birkholz says the expected attrition of AH-1Ws means there will not be enough airframes to remanufacture, so the final 40 of the planned 180 AH-1Zs will built new. With the US Marine Corps increasing in size, this also means it will be able to buy more H-1s as required, Birkholz says.

now also available here http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=25780&hl=

DATE:20/02/08 SOURCE:Flightglobal.com Singapore 2008: India to induct two squadrons Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from 2010 By Siva Govindasamy India is to induct two squadrons of the long-delayed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft from 2010, with up to six squadrons possible if the first batch impress in operations. The decision is a shot in the arm for the programme, which national research organisation Aeronautical Development Agency developed and state-owned contractor Hindustan Aeronautics is responsible for production. The long-delayed and much derided aircraft was to enter service early this decade, but design and performance issues and problems with the development of an indigenous engine have delayed it. “There were hitches in the past but in the tests that we have been doing over the last few months indicate that those have been resolved. The programme was streamlined and it is a much better aircraft now. We are confident that it can serve our needs,” says Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, Chief of Air Staff, at the Singapore Airshow. The induction of the LCA, a replacement for India’s aging MiG fighters such as the MiG-21s that is scheduled to be retired in 10 years, will boost the service’s operational capability. The programme’s problems and delays in the progress of a tender to select 126 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA), led some analysts to say that the Indian Air Force’s operational capability could soon fall below optimal levels. New Delhi has tried to overcome this by ordering additional Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters that are licence-produced in India by HAL. Responses to the request for proposals (RFP) for the MRCA competition will be submitted in the first week of March, and ACM Major says that the first aircraft will be delivered in 2012. “As the Chief, I’m in a hurry to rejuvenate the service as soon as possible,” he adds. “I will do my darnest to ensure that we keep to that schedule.” The Boeing F/A-18E/F, Lockheed Martin F-16, Eurofighter Typhoon, RAC MiG-35, Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen are in contention for the $12-15 billion contract, an indication that India seeks to move away from its traditional dependence on Russian arms. The relationship with Moscow, however, remains strong through joint programmes to develop a Medium Transport Aircraft and fifth generation fighter. “The relationship with Russia is excellent, they have been very good friends. But the political imperatives of the past that dictated that we source almost everything from them has changed. That’s good for India, which has top companies from around the world keen to do business with us. It leaves us in a good position to get the best deal,” says ACM Major.

February 19, 2008, 4:33 PM (GMT+02:00) DEBKAfile’s military sources report: The Israeli Air Force’s 122 Nachshon special missions squadron has taken delivery of the “Eitam” – a modified GulfstreamGulfstream GG-550 executive jet, fitted with the newest Israeli airborne early warning system (AEWAEW & C) developed by Israel’s EltaElta SystemsSystems. Crammed onto the new, extra-small Eitam platform is a long-range intelligence, target tracking and operational control system that can produce aerial pictures deep inside enemy territory, while warning attack formations of approaching threats. Its electronic support measures (ESMESM) and communications equipment in support of AEWAEW & C enable the Israeli Air Force’s intelligence and electronic warfare arms to operate hundreds of kilometers inside enemy territory. Eitam can cover Syria, without leaving Israeli air space and target Iran from a great distance. The new craft can stay airborne for 10 hours at the relatively safe altitude of 40,000 feet. It also has an in-flight refueling capacity. This third-generation system developed by Israel Air Industries/Elta Phalcom is the first to be fitted into such a small airframe. Eitam is therefore a smaller target than the conventional, large and expensive AWACs craft. It is also designed to interface with Israel’s spy satellites, Dolphin submarines which, according to foreign sources, are capable of carrying nuclear cruise missiles, other Israeli early warning systems and the IsraeliIsraeli DefenseDefense ForcesForces ground commands. The three Eiatm craft delivered to the Nachshon squadron feature two radar systems operating simultaneously on different frequency bands and, mounted on their fuselage, phased array antennas that provide 360-degree coverage of wide spaces. It replaces the E-2C aircraft retired in the 1990s. Israel has taken orders for this miniaturized airborne early warning system from India for its fleet of Ilyushin-76 aircraft and the Singapore Air Force.

By Lee Spears Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, is pursuing orders for 130 F-15 jet fighters from Asian customers as nations increase military spending. Possible orders from South Korea and Japan would add to the 32 F-15s awaiting delivery in the region, Stephen Winkler, director of F-15 international programs at Chicago-based Boeing, said in a press briefing today at the Singapore Airshow. The orders will extend the F-15 production line in St. Louis, Missouri through 2012, he said. Boeing and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. are competing for overseas orders as growth in U.S. military spending slows. The proposed 2009 U.S. military budget from President George W. Bush's administration asks for $515.4 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent, compared with an 11 percent gain this year. South Korea, which ordered 40 F-15K fighters in 2002, may ask for another 20 from Boeing by next month and another 60 later, Winkler said. Japan may order as many as 50 F-15s to replace two aging squadrons of F-4 fighters, he said. Boeing has delivered 32 of the 40 F-15s that South Korea ordered in 2002 and will deliver the final eight by next year, Winkler said. Singapore has 24 of the fighters on order, he said. The U.S. is phasing out the earlier model F-15s in favor of the new Lockheed Martin Corp. F-22 fighter. The Air Force, which says it needs more than 300 F-22s, has been limited by the Pentagon into buying 183. To contact the reporter on this story: Lee Spears in Singapore lspears2@bloomberg.net .

I don't make the news, merely pass it on ...

Mk.3 photos http://www.flightgear.dk/amk3c.htm

By David Donald February 21, 2008 Aircraft AIDC’s modernization program for the F-CK-1 Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF)–also known as the Ching-kuo–is nearing the end of its latest development period. Phase I of the development test and evaluation campaign came to an end in 2007, and Phase II should draw to a close by the end of this year. A mid-life update program for the IDF began in 2001. At the heart of the modernization lies the replacement of the core avionics computers, with expanded processing and memory. The radar gets an upgrade with electronic counter-countermeasures features, and new weapons include an expanded air-to-ground repertoire. In the air-to-air role, the upgraded F-CK-1 employs the active-radar TC-2 missile developed by CSIST. The system allows the simultaneous engagement of four targets rather then the current two. AIDC has converted two IDFs to the new standard, an F-CK-1C single-seater (10005) and an F-CK-1D two-seater (10006). Airframe changes include strengthened undercarriage and more powerful brakes to handle increased weights. Much of the increase comes down to the two conformal fuel tanks that fit to either side of the aircraft’s spine. Each tank adds 600 pounds of fuel. The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) flies 128 IDFs in service, and no decision has yet been made for the MLU to enter production. But there is a good possibility that the program will receive the go-ahead soon, allowing initial operational test and evaluation to begin next year. AIDC and the ROCAF have plans for a two-phase program, with around two squadrons updated in the first phase and the remainder to follow.

DATE:18/02/08 SOURCE:Flight International UK defence cuts to force Sea King 7 life extension The UK could be set to extend the service lives of its Royal Navy Westland Sea King 7 airborne surveillance and control system helicopters until 2022, because funding pressures look likely to force the deferral of its successor Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control programme. Envisaged as a manned, network-enabled asset capable of providing assured airborne surveillance and command-and-control services to the RN, MASC will be the third component of the UK's future carrier strike capability, alongside two CVF-class aircraft carriers and Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - referred to in the UK as the Joint Combat Aircraft. The previous planning assumption for MASC had been to migrate the Sea King 7's Thales Searchwater 2000 airborne early warning radar and Cerberus mission suite into 12 new-build AW101 Merlin airframes with minimum re-engineering. The current aircraft had been slated for replacement from 2018, but with intense pressure on equipment funding in the Ministry of Defence's current planning round, the MASC programme is likely to slip by five years. The MoD and the RN are now planning a capability sustainment programme for the Sea King 7 that will maintain its operation and support through to a revised out-of-service date of 2022. The effort is expected to include communication system enhancements, such as the addition of twin VHF radios to meet Civil Aviation Authority requirements, plus the introduction of Mode 5/S identification friend-or-foe equipment. The sustainment package could also include upgrades being embodied or studied in advance of a planned Sea King HC4 utility and potential ASaC system deployment to Afghanistan this year, including a defensive aids suite, night-vision goggles, uprated Rolls-Royce Gnome 1400-1T engines and Carson main rotor blades. AgustaWestland has, meanwhile, delivered the RN's first of two Sea Kings to have been modified to the ASaC 7 standard to replace two aircraft lost in a mid-air collision off Iraq in March 2003, killing seven personnel.

By Paolo Valpolini February 19, 2008 Defense Alenia Aermacchi expects to soon ink an order for 18 SF-260 primary trainers from the Philippines National Defence Department as part of a package aimed at modernizing the Asian nation’s armed forces. The Philippines armed forces have been using SF-260 trainers since the early 1970s, when they took the first of an order for 46 piston-powered aircraft, replaced in 1991 by 18 SF-260TP turboprops. The latest order calls for delivery of the standard SF-260F version powered by 260-hp, six-cylinder Textron Lycoming AEIO-540 D4A5 engines. The $38 million contract includes provision for ground equipment and spares, as well as pilot and specialist training. Aerotech Industries Philippines Inc., based at the Clark Special Economic Zone, will undertake final assembly. The first four aircraft are to be delivered within one year from the contract signing. Three more four-aircraft batches will then ship at six-week intervals, with delivery of the last two scheduled for within 18 months of the contract signing. In the Far East, Alenia Aermacchi competes with its M346 lead-in fighter trainer for the Fighter Wings Course in Singapore, which wants a new aerial training platform to replace the aging TA-4SUs in service for the Republic of Singapore Air Force, currently based at Cazaux French Air Force Base. The contract will also provide for training services for a fixed number of years, and it might develop into a private finance initiative. The M346 competes against the KAI T-50 and BAE Systems Hawk 128. Indonesia is also considering replacing its advanced trainer fleet and has evaluated the M346 as a possible replacement for its Hawk Mk53, although the timing of the potential bid remains uncertain. As for Malaysia, Alenia Aermacchi won a contract in late 2006 for eight MB339-CMs, which includes offsets for local maintenance providers. The contract calls for delivery of the first two aircraft this November, followed by two more every two months until May 2009. The Royal Malaysian Air Force said it intends to buy four more aircraft of the same model, subject to mid-term review by the 9th Malaysian Financial Plan in the first half of this year. Delivery of those aircraft would take place within 24 months from contract signing. ‘I’m Here About the Position’ The Alenia Aermacchi M346 jet trainer landed in Singapore on February 14 before starting a series of customer demonstration flights and participating in flying displays here at the show. Making its farthest deployment to date, the twin-engine trainer flew 6,500 nm from Venegono, Italy, stopping in Crete, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, India and Thailand en route. The trip took four days for test pilots Olinto Cecconello and Quirino Bucci. Fitted with two 153-gallon underwing tanks, the lead-in fighter trainer, as the manufacturer calls it, appears with a prominent refueling probe used in recent weeks for a series of in-flight fuel transfer tests from an Italian Air Force Tornado attack aircraft.

By Michal Zdobinsky 19 February 2008 The Czech Republic has provided the Afghan National Army (ANA) with the first three of six modernised Mil Mi-17 helicopters as plans were revealed for the long-term build-up of the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC). The Czech government approved a donation, equivalent to CZK610 million (USD35 million), of six Mi-17 transport helicopters and six Mil Mi-24 combat/attack helicopters from the Czech Air Force in April 2007 following a NATO and Afghan government appeal for assistance in building the ANA's capability. The remaining three Mi-17 helicopters should be handed over by May 2008. All of the helicopters have undergone an overhaul programme at the Letecké Opravny Malesice (LOM) aircraft repair works in Prague, Czech Republic, with the USD33 million upgrade costs borne by NATO. The Mi-17s were the first to be modified due to the ANA's critical lack of transport helicopters. Each has received the more powerful TV3-117VM engine and add-on cockpit armour, while the cargo hold/troop compartment is protected by a matting of ballistic fabric. Each window in the hold has a firing port for personal weapons. Lateral outriggers with racks for the attachment of six 57 mm unguided rocket launchers have also been fitted, and the helicopters are also equipped with a NATO-standard identification friend-or-foe (IFF) transponder in addition to new intercoms and radios. Following assembly and testing the three Mi-17s were taken over by ANA representatives on 17 December 2007 and the formal handover with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commanders took place in January.

Boeing Gets OK To Deliver Tanker to Japan By andrew chuter Published: 19 Feb 03:44 EST (22:44 GMT) Print | Email The Japan Air Self-Defense Force has given Boeing the green light to deliver the first of four tanker aircraft it has on order from the U.S. aerospace giant. The delivery approval comes in the wake of the 767 tanker aircraft receiving a Federal Aviation Administration Supplemental Type certificate allowing it to also carry passengers and cargo last week. The JASDF completed a review of the program in the last couple of days allowing it to approve handover of the aircraft to Japanese trading house Itochu ahead of delivery to the air force. The delivery flight of the first aircraft from Boeing's Wichita plant is "imminent," Joe Song, the company's vice president for Asia Pacific business development told reporters at the Singapore Airshow today. A second aircraft is scheduled to be delivered before the end of the first quarter of this year with the final two KC-767s following in 2009. The aircraft will be the first tankers operated by Japan. The 767 tanker, ordered by Japan and Italy, has been beset by technical issues and delays. The first of the Japanese aircraft were originally scheduled to be delivered in 2005. The FAA previously certified the KC-767 for everything except passengers and main deck cargo. In a statement last week Boeing said it used a combination of Japanese and Italian KC-767 tankers to complete the testing. "The completed tests also will help Boeing obtain FAA certification for the Italy KC-767 followed by delivery of the country's first two tankers later in 2008." Boeing said. The Japanese approval comes at just the right time for Boeing. The company's 767 Advanced Tanker is in the final stages of a fierce competition with Airbus for a huge U.S. Air Force order.

By Bruce Rolfsen - brolfsen@militarytimes.com Posted : Tuesday Feb 19, 2008 15:04:52 EST All but a handful of the Air Force’s F-15 Eagles can return to flight, Air Combat Command has decided. The 149 Eagles grounded because key structural parts didn’t meet the original design specifications can fly again once each jet has passed an additional set of inspections, an ACC spokesman said. With the inspections taking six to eight hours for each jet, most of the F-15s should be back in the air in two to three weeks. The decision to allow the 149 jets to begin operating again will give the service 429 flying A through D-model Eagles. Nine F-15s will remain grounded because inspections turned up cracks in the metal beams reinforce the jet’s fuselage. Air Combat Command boss Gen. John Corley reached the return to flight decision on Feb. 15 after his Air Force Materiel Command counterpart, Gen. Bruce Carlson approved a new inspection regime for the jets. While ACC operates most of the Air Force’s F-15s, AFMC has overall responsibility for the jets’ long-term health and sustainment. The F-15s were first grounded on Nov. 3, the day after a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C broke apart in flight while in a nearly 8-G turn. The pilot survived ejecting from the tumbling cockpit. A two-month-long investigation determined that the F-15C broke apart because one of the support beams, called a longeron, had cracked apart because the beam was too thin to handle high-stress of combat maneuvering. A fleet-wide check of other F-15s discovered that nine had similar cracks and another 149 had thin or rough surfaced longerons but no cracks. At first, F-15E Strike Eagles were also grounded but once they passed inspections in November, the bomber version of the F-15 was put back in the air.

17-02-2008 Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Air Force will consider a US government offer to sell multi-role Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcon and heavy transport 130-J Hercules planes to Indonesia, a spokesman said. "We will consider buying the planes under our procurement plan for 2010-2014," Vice Air Marshal Soenaryo, chief of the Air Force`s Material Maintenance Command, said here Friday. Speaking after accompanying Air Force Chief of Staff Air Marshal Soebandrio at a meeting with visiting US Under Secretary of the Air Force for Internatinal Affairs Bruce S Lemkin, Soenaryo said the F-16 fighter planes were needed to increase the Air Force`s capacity and deterrent capability as many of its combat aircraft were approaching the end of their service time. Also, procurment of F-16s would fit in with the Air Force`s plan to reduce the variety of its aircraft to economize on maintenance and servicing costs in the 2008-2019 period, he said. The multi-role F-16 Fighting Falcons could replace the force`s F-5E Tiger fighters which had been in service for almost 25 years. "We will possibly build up an F-16 squadron gradually in the 2010-2014 budget years. The interest to acquire the aircraft must first be thoroughly considered at Air Force Headquarters level with due account being taken of the limited amount of state funds available. After approval has been obtained at Air Force Headquarters level, we will submit the plan to the Defense Ministry for acquisition," Soenaryo said. Apart from discussing the US offer to supply F-16 aircraft, the Air Force chief and Lemkin also agreed at their meeting to intensify cooperation between the two countries` air forces in the fields of education, training and spare parts supply.(*)

DATE:18/02/08 SOURCE:Flight International Italy approves deal for four Predator B UAVs By Pino Modola The defence committee of the Italian House of Representatives has passed a proposal to procure four General Atomics Predator B unmanned air vehicles for the nation's air force, with the aircraft to join four in-service Predator As. Expected to cost the defence ministry €80 million ($117 million) by 2011, the procurement has been approved despite the recent dissolution of Italy's parliament in advance of a general election expected to take place on 13-14 April. Flown by the air force's Amendola-based 32nd Wing, Italy's current Predator A fleet has amassed more than 3,000 flight hours, including operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Offering a mission endurance of up to 30h, the larger and faster Predator B is already in service with the UK Royal Air Force and the US Air Force to support surveillance activities in Afghanistan, with the latter also having used the UAV to deploy air-to-surface weapons.

Predator B is "Reaper".

The carrier design has space earmarked for catapults in the event that they will ever be needed (more likely electromagnetic than steam though).

& then iirc didn't LM get outbid by Boeing to actually build a pile of them?

Algeria returns Russian MiG jets opting for French Rafale fighters Front page / Russia / Economics 18.02.2008Source: Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought from Russia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, citing an official from Russia's state United Aerospace Corporation. The official said Russia was proposing to take back the MiG-29 jets, which were delivered to Algeria in 2006 and 2007, but only if Algeria bought more modern and expensive planes such as the MiG-29M2 or the MiG-35. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on "military cooperation" in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP, without giving further details. In return for Russia agreeing to cancel Algeria's Soviet-era debts, Algerian authorities bought Russian arms worth 6.3 billion dollars, including 3.5 billion dollars in fighter jets, during a visit by Putin to Algeria in 2006. Rosoboronexport signed a $1.28 billion contract for the delivery of 29 one-seat MiG-29SMT Fulcrum fighters and six two-seat MiG-29UB fighters in March 2006 as part of an $8 billion military-technical cooperation agreement with Algeria. In October 2007, Algeria stopped payments on other military contracts pending the return of the MiGs. The Mikoyan MiG-29 is a 4th generation jet fighter aircraft designed for the air superiority role in the Soviet Union. Developed in the 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau, it entered service in 1983 and remains in use by the Russian Air Force as well as in many other nations. NATO's reporting name for the MiG-29 is "Fulcrum", which was unofficially used by Soviet pilots in service. It was developed to counter new American fighters such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F/A-18 Hornet. Experts suggest Algeria may have opted instead for French Rafale fighters as France builds up its presence in the North African state, RIA-Novosti reports. The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engined delta-wing highly agile multi-role fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based naval operations with the French Navy. It has also been marketed for export. While several countries have expressed interest in the Rafale, there have been no foreign sales as of yet. Source: agencies Bouncing E-Mail Accounts: If you suspect that your

the French are desperate to get their first export sales for Rafale. 1. they are currently carrying all the development costs on their own 2. every time some other country has a requirement they look at all the others that have had it in initial tests & not picked it - it's got to give a negative impression. Morocco is another country that supposedly may get Rafales but again only a small no. Cheaper to do a below cost deal for a country that wants 20 or 30 than 1 that wants 150 ...