For the Russian Aerospace Forces, the air campaign has been a valuable source of experience. They have tested equipment, organization, and doctrine. Rapid rotations have ensured that most personnel in the Russian military have gained personal war experience from the otherwise limited operation.
In this piece I summarize some of the findings that Anton Lavrov makes in a new CNA report about The Russian Air Campaign in Syria.
Air Force
Estonia improves air defense with Mistral missiles
Estonia has signed a new contract for Mistral missiles with French manufacturer MBDA. This gives Estonia a more robust air defense. There are still many shortcomings in the Baltic air defense, but the new short-range missiles are an important step to building a more credible deterrent.
How could Israel destroy a cutting edge Russian air defense system?
Israel destroyed a Syrian Pantsir-S1 air defense system last week. Did this modern piece of Russian weapon technology fail, or is there another explanation? Poor tactics and neglect on the part of the Syrian soldiers have probably played an important role.
Germany buys six C-130 transport and tanker planes for French-German squadron
The U.S. State Department has approved Germany’s purchase of three C-130J transport aircraft and three KC-130J tanker aircraft. Germany will use them in a combined French-German squadron where France also contributes with four C-130Js.
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Leadership culture and a reckless instructor led to U.S. Navy plane crash
A T-45 training aircraft stalled and crashed when the pilot instructor directed the student to perform dangerous maneuvers at low altitude. Leadership culture in the squadron and poor instructor qualifications are among the explanations.
Powerful maritime patrol UAVs to Germany
U.S. State Department has approved the sale of MQ-4C Triton drones to Germany. It is a terrific UAV which will give Germany a powerful surveillance capability. And this time the drone has an approved anti-collision system, so there is hope for more success than in Germany’s earlier adventures with the EuroHawk.
Predator retired
Joe Chapa in War on the Rocks: Today, the U.S. Air Force “sunsets” the Predator, permanently retiring it from service. Though individual squadrons have been transitioning from the Predator to the Reaper for some time, that transition is now complete. This provides a good opportunity to look back at the Predator to learn what we […]
Helicopter scandals for everyone, Black Hawk to the rescue
Helicopters are a common problem for the scandinavian countries. Everyone seems struggling with deliveries, reliability, and costs. It is not a flattering story for European helicopters NH90 and AW101, and the American Black Hawk and Seahawk may be the solution everyone is turning to. Recently it made headlines that Sweden is considering not using NH90 […]
Finland will buy 64 new fighter jets
Finland’s Ministry of Defense has announced that they expect to buy 64 new fighter jets. That means that the country’s F/A-18 Hornets will be replaced on a one to one basis. Manager of the acquisition program Lauri Puranen says to yle.fi that since the new jets are not faster than the old ones, and they […]
Lithuania hopes for NATO air defense agreement in 2018
Lithuanian defense minister Raimundas Karoblis says he hopes that the NATO countries can reach an agreement in 2018 on the principles for a comprehensive air defense concept for the Baltic region, writes Delfi.lt. According to the Lithuanian minister the problem is political, as the technical details are mostly worked out. He therefore hopes that air […]