A talk was given at China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University on Dec. 9. The speaker was reported to be Li Zhonghua who is said to have participated in Exercise Falcon Strike 2015 in Thailand. One of the slides showed the score during each day of the exercise and during the first day, the Thais flying the Gripen were beaten 16-0.
The Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force has deployed fighter jets to Incirlik air base in Turkey, a day after the NATO anti-Islamic State coalition meeting in Brussels.
Brigadier General Ahmed Al-Assiri, consultant to Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, confirmed to Saudi-owned news station Al-Arabiya the arrival of Saudi Air Force jets at the Turkish airbase.
"Our jet fighters and crews have been deployed to the Incirlik Airbase," he said. "We have deployed them as part of the international coalition led by Washington," he added.
Assiri also confirmed the kingdom's readiness to enter ground operations in Syria but to this point no Saudi Special Operations Forces have been deployed to Turkey.
"The Saudi deployment is only limited to air force personnel at this point," he said.
Finland has notified five manufacturers of its intention to seek bids for its HX fighter-replacement programme, which will see it replace its 61-strong Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet fleet.
On 16 December, the Finnish ministry of defence notified the governments of France, Sweden, the UK and the USA that it will be seeking information on seven aircraft types from five different manufacturers.
Requests for information (RFI) will be issued by March 2016, Finland says, which will include the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, Boeing F-18 and F-15, and Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-16.
Replies to the RFI are to be submitted to Helsinki by the end of October 2016, with the contest to be launched in “spring 2018”, followed by a selection in 2021.
HX was introduced in October after a working group recommended the F-18s be replaced with new multi-role fighters, concluding extending the life of the Hornet fleet would not be cost-effective.
Indonesia's defense minister had finally signed the official document approving to acquire Russia-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to replace the would-be decommissioned F-5 E/F Tiger II operated by Indonesian air forces.
The document had been submitted to the National Development Planning (Bappenas) for the follow up.
Indonesian Air Forces Marshall Agus Supriatna has said recently that before the signing, the air forces has submitted the characteristics of fighter jets eligible to replace the F-5 E/F Tiger II which was in service since 1980.
According to Agus, the air forces proposed two options to replace the light attack F-5 E/F Tiger II. One is Sukhoi 35, the other is F-16 Viper produced by the United States producer Lokheed Martin.
"As the final user, the Indonesian Air Forces only submitted the technical specifications of fighter jets that we desire, capable to accomplish our missions," Agus was quoted as saying by a local media on Thursday.
A push to examine the wisdom of Australia's planned $24 billion fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters - ranking as the nation's largest ever defence purchase - is underway in the Senate.
Greens defence spokesman Peter Whish-Wilson on Friday has urged the Senate's standing committee on foreign affairs and trade to inquire into the suitability of the stealth jet for Australia's strategic interests.
The move comes after the election last month of new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a promise to abandon plans to purchase the troubled fighter.
Japan scrambled jets after 11 Chinese military planes flew near southern Japanese islands during what Beijing said was a drill to improve its long-range combat abilities, reports said Saturday.
The planes -- eight bombers, two intelligence gathering planes and one early-warning aircraft -- flew near Miyako and Okinawa on Friday without violating Japan's airspace, the Japanese defence ministry said in a statement released on Friday.
Some of them flew between the two islands while others made flights close to neighbouring islands, the ministry said.
A Chinese air force spokesman said several types of planes, including H-6K bombers, were involved in Friday's drill over the western Pacific, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Shen Jinke said such open sea exercises had improved the force's long-distance combat abilities, according to Xinhua.
While there were no further comments from the Japanese ministry, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that it was "unusual" for China to dispatch such a large fleet close to Japan's airspace and the ministry was analysing the purpose of the mission.
Japan scrambles jets hundreds of times a year to defend its airspace, both against Russia and these days also against Chinese aircraft.
Spain has confirmed that it will eventually try to weaponise its future fleet of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper unmanned air vehicles, although the immediate priority is to bring the surveillance-only variant into operation.
Madrid's programme to acquire a class III UAV for its air force began in September last year, with the Reaper eventually selected in mid-2015 over the competing Israel Aerospace Industries Heron TP.
“The LOA [letter of agreement] from the US government is about to be signed, and this could be done before the end of the year,” Col Enrique Martinez Vallas, former chief of acquisitions programmes for the Spanish Air Staff, told a London conference on 19 November.
The announcement on 19 November that China would buy 24 Sukhoi Su-35 combat aircraft is being viewed as a clear signal that Beijing is still dependent on Russian-made hardware for its primary defence requirements.
The contract came after years of negotiations - and only after interventions by what has been described as "the highest levels within the Kremlin".
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered a reopening of the bidding process to replace Canada's aging fleet of fighter jets, according to a letter unsealed Friday.
Trudeau's Liberal Party had pledged to scrap the multibillion-dollar purchase of the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet -- the apparent frontrunner to replace Canada's CF-18s -- during the election campaign that swept it into power last month, calling the buy a boondoggle.
In a so-called mandate letter to Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan -- a letter from the prime minister laying out his policy goals and expectations -- Trudeau told Sajjan he would be "working with the minister of public services and procurement to launch an open and transparent competition to replace the CF-18 fighter aircraft, focusing on options that match Canada's defence needs."
This would mark the second reboot in three years of the largest military procurement project in Canadian history.
The joint proposal by Argentina and Israel raises the transfer, refurbishment and modernization of 14 aircraft Kfir (2 seater training and 12 monopostos), some of them equipped with active electronically scanned radar (AESA, by its acronym in English), system data Link for sharing information between units of the fleet and the full fleet maintenance for five years; an operation that materialize would reach about 320 million.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the final stages of negotiations to buy French Rafale fighter jets, the head of the Gulf nation’s air force told Reuters on Wednesday.
Abu Dhabi, which is looking to purchase 60 fighters worth an estimated $10 billion, is studying the Dassault-built Rafale after rejecting the four-nation Eurofighter.
“I think we are in the final stage of negotiations,” Major General Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, said in an interview at the Dubai Airshow when asked how close the UAE was to a deal to buy the Rafale.
In Paris, the French defense ministry declined to comment and Dassault Aviation was not immediately available.
Jakarta has discussed the purchase of Su-35s to replace country’s US-made Northrop F-5 Tiger II fighter jets for months. In September, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said that the purchase decision was made. However soon after that, the Indonesian Defense Ministry officials denied that this decision was final and Indonesia was engaged in direct negotiations with Russia on the matter.
"Indonesia decided on its choice, what next – we will see," Viktor Kladov told RIA Novosti, answering a question about the progress of negotiations on the delivery of Su-35 to Jakarta.
Kamra-based Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is staying tight-lipped on the identity of the first international customer for its JF-17 Thunder fighter, but says marketing efforts for the single-engined type are going well.
“The contract is already signed, but we will leave it to the customer to announce it first,” says Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed. “There is a lot of interest in developing countries. I think almost all developing countries are keen to have a look at the JF-17.”
Finland's defence forces received authorisation from the country's defence minister, Jussi Niinistö, to launch a procurement programme to replace the country's Boeing F/A-18C Hornet fleet on 20 October.
The programme - known as HX - comes after the delivery of a report by a working group in June on possible options for the country's fighter fleet.
The report recommended that the country required a multirole fighter to replace the F/A-18 Hornet fleet, with the country's air defence to also be augmented by ground-based air defence systems.
According to the Finnish Ministry of Defence (MoD), the current Hornet fleet is expected to reach the end of its service life by the end of the 2020s due to overall structural fatigue, the weakening of relative capabilities, and the availability of the aircraft's systems, spare parts, and software. It is expected that the current Hornet fleet will be phased out from 2025 onwards.
According to the working group's report, requests for information are currently being drafted for delivery in February 2016. Requests for quotes are to be issued in 2018, before a tender is issued in February 2019. Contracts are planned to be signed in 2021, with an initial operating capability being reached in early 2025. Full operational capability is to be reached around 2030.
Canada's prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he told US President Barack Obama that Canadian fighter jets would withdraw from fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
But he gave no timeline.
"About an hour ago I spoke with President Obama," Trudeau told a press conference.
While Canada remains "a strong member of the coalition against ISIL," Trudeau said he made clear to the US leader "the commitments I have made around ending the combat mission."
Kuwait has agreed to purchase 28 Typhoon combat jets in a multibillion euro deal with the Italian government, industry sources in the region said Friday.
The deal is still in negotiation but Kuwait has agreed to buy 22 single seat and six twin-seat Typhoons in a government-to-government agreement.
Italian firm Finmeccanica's Alenia Aermacchi division has been leading the Eurofighter effort to sell the Typhoon to the Kuwaitis.
Industry sources said the deal could see the Kuwaitis be the first export customer for the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar being developed for the jet by Italy's Selex ES.
One industry executive said the agreement is welcome, not least because after a flurry of Middle Eastern successes this year for French rival Dassault with the Rafale, the Kuwaiti decision "reinvigorates other opportunities in the gulf region for Typhoon."
Iran is rumored to be buying 150 Chengdu J-10 fighters from China. Reports from 2007 alleged that China planned to sell 24 of the fighters to Iran, however the Chinese government subsequently denied these claims.
