MiG-31 Flights Suspended in Russia After Crash

Russia’s Air Force has grounded all MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor jets while investigators establish the cause of a crash of one of the planes, RIA Novosti has learned.

The temporary suspension was imposed after a MiG-31 crashed near the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airbase outside Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East on Saturday, an Air Force source said. The two-man crew guided the aircraft to a deserted area before ejecting to safety and they were released from hospital Monday.

The neverending story of Brazilian fighters

Brazil is trying to buy 12 fighters to your Air Force since the time of president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) at 1996. The program called FX wanted substitute some Mirage III bought during militar government at decade of 70. Many attempts had failed for budget's reason and political interests. In the end of FHC government, He preferred to leave the decision to his successor.

Brazil said "No" to Rafale... for while

The french president Fraçois Hollande visited Brazil at this week to try sell Dassault's fighters again. According with  journal "Folha de São Paulo", Dilma Rousseff said "No".

Brazil will hold elections next year. In 2014 there's a danger that a lot of manifestations should complicate the life of politicians during cup fifa. The people not accept expend more than 20 billions of dollar in football stadiums while health, education and security no have same attention.

Spend nearly 10 billion dollars with French aircraft causes political friction. According with voting intentions polls, Dilma must win the next election. 

South Africa: three companies in the running to boost SAAF airlift

The mainstays of the SA Air Force’s (SAAF) airlift and multi-role maritime aircraft have been in service for 50 and 60 years plus respectively, making planning for replacements a priority.

Both Airbus Military and Lockheed Martin have been maintaining close contact and dialogue with Armscor, the SAAF and other policy and decision makers in the defence sector. Another major player, in the form of Boeing Defence, is set to do the same. 

Crew Escape Russian Fighter Jet Crash

This Mig31 crashed in April

Two Russian Air Force crew members ejected to safety when their MiG-31 interceptor crashed on Saturday in the Far Eastern Primorye region, local authorities said. 

The aircraft went down 26 kilometers from the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airbase near Vladivostok, after taking off at 5:07 a.m. Moscow time from the Knevichy airfield. No-one on the ground was hurt.

Examining MiG aircraft success

Artyom Ivanovich Mikoyan, the outstanding Soviet aircraft designer, created aircraft that set 55 world records. Here’s a look at five of the most interesting designs produced by the MiG Experimental Design Bureau.

How the Mig-31 repelled the SR-71 Blackbird from Soviet skies

Even if no SR-71 was lost due to hostile actions during the entire Blackbird career, the Mach 3+ capable spyplane faced an adversary that could effectively intercept it: the MiG-31 Foxhound.

The SR-71 impressive mission record was reached thanks to some unique features of its airframe, such as its ability to fly at more than three and a half times the speed of sound at 88,000 feet, its small (for the time) Radar Cross Section (RCS) and its sophisticated electronic countermeasures (ECM).

New Carrier Hook for F-35

Lockheed Martin is set to deliver a production version of the tailhook for the carrier-based F-35C Joint Strike Fighter after an engineering glitch forced a partial redesign of the system.

“CF-3 is the test aircraft that is modified to conduct tailhook testing,” Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert wrote in an email to USNI News on Dec. 12. “The airplane is in the final stages of preparation for test with the new tailhook module installed.”

Russia: A new light-class fighter...

just for fun...

Russia will soon start developing a prototype of an advanced lightweight fighter jet to supplement fifth-generation T-50 aircraft, a top government official said Wednesday. The new aircraft is expected to be cheaper to produce and easier to maintain, but should also possess combat capabilities and performance characteristics comparable with those of heavy-class aircraft.

Textron AirLand Announces Successful First Flight of Scorpion ISR/Strike Aircraft

Click to see video

Textron AirLand, LLC, a joint venture between Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) and AirLand Enterprises, LLC, today announced that the Scorpion Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)/Strike aircraft completed its first flight at 10:30 AM Central Time.

The aircraft took off from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas and conducted a range of handling maneuvers for approximately 1.4 hours of flight. Today’s flight marks one of the fastest developments of a U.S.-built tactical jet, progressing from initial design to first flight in less than 24 months.