Fighter jets

KOLKATA: The government is in the process of acquiring around 200 aircraft to cope with the depleting aerial inventories of the Indian Air Force, defence secretary Ajay Kumar said here on Sunday. The contract for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-manufactured 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1 A advanced fighter jets are in the final stages, he said. Apart from these, Expression of Interest (EOI) has been floated for another 110 aircraft, based on which Request for Proposal (RFP) will be floated, Ajay Kumar said. "Roughly (for) 200 aircrafts, the acquisition is in process," he said. "We are in the process of finalising the contract for 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark 1 A, which are advanced fighters to meet the urgent needs of India," the defence secretary told reporters on the sidelines of commissioning Indian Coast Guard vessels here. Kumar said that the contract for the LCAs will be signed "definitely this year". "We want to do it as soon as possible," the defence secretary said when asked … [Read more...] about India to acquire 200 fighter jets for Indian Air Force: Defence secretary

"Two Spanish F-18 jets assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled from Estonia`s Amari Air Base," NATO said. "Finnish jets also scrambled to intercept the aircraft." … [Read more...] about NATO intercepts Russian jets near Estonian airspace

ON BOARD A BELGIAN AIR FORCE PLANE: A Belgian pilot runs across an aircraft hanger to his F16 fighter and leaps into his cockpit for a practice drill of NATO interceptions of Russian aircraft in allied airspace. While bad weather over Lithuania eventuality kept him grounded, fellow pilots from Britain, France and Denmark took to the air for close encounters at speeds of 900 km/hour (560 mph). Violations of NATO airspace over the Baltics have fallen since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014, but air activity on allied borders remains constant as jets fly from the Russian mainland across the Baltic Sea to Kaliningrad. "They are present more or less everyday," German air force Lieutenant General Klaus Habersetzer, who runs NATO's northern European air policing command, told Reuters on Tuesday while flying over the Baltics. During the simulations, NATO pilots carrying air-to-air missiles took turns to simulate the interception of a Belgian air force transporter - playing the role of … [Read more...] about With Russian jets nearby, NATO showcases flight interceptions over Baltics

A report by the Pentagon said human error was behind the tragedy, with the ship’s crew having mistaken the commercial A300 for a hostile fighter jet. This was despite the Iranian airliner having been flying in approved commercial airway, and identifying itself to air traffic control as a civilian plane. … [Read more...] about ‘Remember the 290’: Carnage behind Iran president’s chilling tweet

BENGALURU: Bangalore Watch Company, a startup, has unveiled a limited edition 21 piece collection of mechanical watches whose components are made of metal of the fuselage of the MiG 21 aircraft. These are part of the larger collection of the Pilot-style watches inspired by MiG 21 Type 77 aircraft, which is the first supersonic fighter jet of the Indian Air Force. The company claims this is the first time watches with components of Aircraft metal are made in India. "The metal is from the fuselage of a Mig21 aircraft. The IAF has a no scrap policy . We received a fuselage metal part from a decommissioned MiG plane,"Nirupesh Joshi, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Bangalore Watch Company, told ET. The designer collection is named MACH-1, indicating the speed of sound. The MiG Type 77 aircraft was inducted in the IAF in the 1960's and was retired from the service in 2013. The fighter was used extensively during the 1971 war with Pakistan. "We wanted to pay tribute to the Indian Air … [Read more...] about Bangalore Watch Co makes watches with MiG-21 fuselage metal