Greek F-16D, F-16C(click to view full) In 2005, Greece terminated its $6 billion Eurofighter contract in favor of F-16s. Now that sale has taken the next step, as Greece has submitted its order for the aircraft and ancillary electronics, spares, and weapons, to match...
NH Industries’ NH90 helicopter has been selected to replace the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s aging UH-1 Iroquois, which will remain in service until 2009. A firm deal has not been finalized with respect to numbers or dollars. The 10-tonne NH90, which first flew in 1996, uses composite materials instead of riveted alloy plates, and electronic fly-by-wire systems to save the weight of the usual strong and heavy power-boosted hydraulic control systems. This allows…
Keeping track of...(click to view full) For the last 50 years, newer fighters have been sold as requiring less maintenance than their predecessors, due to technical advances. As people like Chuck Spinney and the Congressional Research Service have documented, the...
G.222/ C-27A(click to view full) How did a half billion dollar program to provide transport aircraft to the Afghan air force go so badly wrong? The concept was sound, as tactical transportation of troops and supplies was designated as the ANAF's top priority. That's...
IA-407(click to view full) In July 2008, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Iraq's formal request to buy 24 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters that act as scouts, perform light close air support, and escort other helicopters on dangerous missions. The...
Patriot PAC-2(click to view full) It's becoming clear that Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have stepped up their defense spending in recent years. Uncertainty creates perceptions of risk, and perceptions of risk lead to responses aimed at reducing that risk....
PB-301, Umm Qasr(click to view full) Swiftships' 35-meter coastal patrol boat (CPB) contracts are part of a larger program that's also delivering spare parts, guns, ammunition, training, naval simulators and infrastructure to the Umm Qasr Naval Base in southern Iraq....
The Obama administration, including DoD, rolled out their FY2015 budget request on March 4, alongside the release of the new quadrennial defense review (QDR). Even with this year's partial rollback of sequestration, cuts were still on the agenda, but by the end of May...
TNI-AU F-16A(click to view full) Indonesia's purchases of Russian SU-27SK and SU-30MKK Flanker-family fighters in 2003 and 2007 got a lot of attention. Now, the country is augmenting those high-end fighters with more advanced models of an older aircraft within its...
DHC-4's final approach(click to view full) Australia's 2009 defense white paper made a wide range of commitments, one of which involved replacing the outstanding service provided by Australia's gull-winged DHC-4 Caribou short takeoff light tactical transports. That...