FAA: Security checks for space tourists

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Paying customers on commercially run flights to space would have to meet security requirements, but would not have to pass specific medical tests, according to draft U.S. regulations. "Space may soon open up to citizen explorers, businesses, and tourists," the ...

B-52 flies in face of critics

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

The longest serving military aircraft in the world, the B-52 Stratofortess, often is praised for its storied history, but it also has become a symbol of the Pentagon's inertia in moving forward with the development of a new bomber.

Northrop Grumman-Built Global Hawk Surpasses 5,000 Combat Flight Hours

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 3, 2006 -- The U.S. Air Force's RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance system, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), recently passed the 5,000 combat flight-hours mark while on a mission supporting the global war on terrorism.

Battle Damage From the QDR

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

Some months before the 1991 Gulf War, a contemptuous Saddam Hussein said of his prospective foe, "The United States relies on the Air Force, and the Air Force has never been the decisive factor in the history of war." It was, to say no more, a gross error in judgment. US airpo...

Air Force Chief: F-16, Sukhoi Programs Jointly Implemented

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

Bandung (ANTARA News) - Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Djoko Suyanto confirmed that the implementation of the program on Sukhoi jet fighers will be continued in tandem with the program on the replacement and procurement of arms for F-16 aircraft in the wake of the li...

Air Force Wants Space War Game

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

Blasting pixilated space ships can be mighty fun, as anyone who's ever played Galaga can tell you. The Air Force thinks it can put all that joystick time to good use, too -- by using games to help airmen prepare for real-life outer space combat.

Hungary Defense Ministry signs $20.5 mln Gripen contracts

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

The Defense Ministry signed contracts in December to purchase targeting pods and radio systems for the country's Gripen fighter aircraft worth a combined $20.5 million, business daily Világgazdaság reported on Wednesday. The ministry signed a $11 million contract with a consortium of Israel's Rafa...

Australian Defence Minister Hill denies fighter fleet cut

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

DEFENCE Minister Robert Hill has denied his department may have to halve its order of 100 US-built F-35 fighter jets because of cost blowouts. Deputy Defence Secretary Shane Carmody has said Australia may only purchase 50 Lockheed Martin joint strike fighter jet...

Blair bids to save Rolls-Royce contract

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

TONY BLAIR has reportedly written to President Bush in a bid to save a multi-billion-dollar Rolls-Royce contract to develop a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. In budget papers handed to Congress, the Pentagon last week killed off the planned back-up engine being develo...

Bill could let Airbus join Air Force bid

Posted at: Wed Jan 4th, 2006

WASHINGTON – A defense bill approved by Congress would allow an open competition for a multibillion dollar contract to supply refueling tankers for the Air Force. In other words, Airbus will be allowed to bid for the contract which The Boeing Co. originally won in 2004 before it wa...