Friday, August 7, 2009
MQ-1/RQ-1 Predator
The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the United States Air Force describes as a MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) UAV system. It can serve in a reconnaissance role and fire two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The aircraft, in use since 1995, has seen combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, and Yemen. In addition, since 2005, U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses the aircraft (unarmed) for border patrol within the U.S. It is a remote-controlled aircraft.
The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), and a Predator primary satellite link communication suite. In the overall U.S. Air Force integrated UAV system the Predator is considered a "Tier II" vehicle.
The Predator system was initially designated the RQ-1 Predator. The "R" is the Department of Defense designation for reconnaissance and the "Q" refers to an unmanned aircraft system. The "1" describes it as being the first of a series of aircraft systems built for unmanned reconnaissance. Pre-production systems were designated as RQ-1A, while the RQ-1B (not to be confused with the RQ-1 Predator B, which became the MQ-9 Reaper) denotes the baseline production configuration. It should be emphasized that these are designations of the system as a unit. The actual aircraft themselves were designated RQ-1K for pre-production models, and RQ-1L for production models. In 2005, the USAF officially changed the designation to MQ-1 (the "M" designates multi-role) to reflect its growing use as an armed aircraft.[5]
As of 2009[update] the U.S. Air Force’s fleet stands at 195 Predators and 28 Reapers.
More than one third of all deployed Predator spy planes have crashed. 55 were lost because of "equipment failure, operator errors or weather". Four of them were shot down in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq; 11 were lost in combat situations, such as "running out of fuel while protecting troops under fire."
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Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Missile Approach Warning Systems (MAWS)
A Missile Approach Warning system is part of the avionics package on some military aircraft. A sensor detects attacking missiles. It's automatic warning cues the pilot to make a defensive maneuver and deploy the available countermeasures to disrupt missile tracking.
Guided Surface to Air Missile (SAM) systems were developed during World War II but only really started to make their presence felt in the 1950s. In response, electronic countermeasures (ECM) and flying tactics were developed to overcome them. They proved to be quite successful provided that reliable and timely threat warning was given.
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Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Singapore Air Force .... Commercial
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF, Chinese: 新加坡空军部队; Malay: Angkatan Udara Republik Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் ஆகாயப்படை) is the air arm of the Singapore Armed Forces. It was first established in 1968 as the Singapore Air Defence Command (SADC).
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Saturday, January 24, 2009
North Korea Air Force
The Korean People's Air Force, (Korean: 조선인민군 공군), is the name of the unified aviation forces of North Korea. The KPAF is the second-largest branch of the Korean People's Army with an estimated 110,000 personnel. It possesses between 1,200 and 1,500 aircraft of different types, mostly of Soviet and Chinese origin. Its primary task is to defend North Korean airspace. When the People's Army Group was formed, the aviation unit became its air force branch on August 20, 1947. North Korea celebrates August 20 as the Air Force Foundation Day.
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Saba Air Port .... shortest runway landing ... amazing
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (IATA: SAB, ICAO: TNCS) is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles. It is well known among experienced fliers for the way in which airplanes must approach or take off from the airport.
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Friday, January 23, 2009
Introduction to Indian Air Force
This is very interesting video to give insight what is going on there.
The Indian Air Force (IAF; Devanāgarī: भारतीय वायु सेना, Bhartiya Vāyu Senā) is the air arm of the armed forces of India. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict. It was officially established on October 8, 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the Indian Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during the World War II. After India achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Royal Indian Air Force served the Union of India, with the prefix being dropped when India became a republic in 1950.
Since independence, the IAF has been involved in four conflicts with neighboring Pakistan and one with the People's Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot and Operation Cactus.
The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the IAF. The Chief of Air Staff, an officer with the rank of Air Chief Marshal, commands the Air Force. There is usually only one serving officer of that rank at any given time in the IAF. One officer has been conferred a 5-star rank, that of Marshal of the Air Force.
With strength of approximately 170,000 personnel and 1,700 aircraft, including 852 combat aircraft in active service, the Indian Air Force is the world's fourth largest. In recent years, the IAF has undertaken an ambitious expansion and modernisation program to replace its aging Soviet-era fighter jets. Among the various expansion plans is the MRCA program under which the IAF plans to induct 126 fighter jets at a cost of US$12 billion.
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The Indian Air Force (IAF; Devanāgarī: भारतीय वायु सेना, Bhartiya Vāyu Senā) is the air arm of the armed forces of India. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict. It was officially established on October 8, 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the Indian Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during the World War II. After India achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Royal Indian Air Force served the Union of India, with the prefix being dropped when India became a republic in 1950.
Since independence, the IAF has been involved in four conflicts with neighboring Pakistan and one with the People's Republic of China. Other major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot and Operation Cactus.
The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the IAF. The Chief of Air Staff, an officer with the rank of Air Chief Marshal, commands the Air Force. There is usually only one serving officer of that rank at any given time in the IAF. One officer has been conferred a 5-star rank, that of Marshal of the Air Force.
With strength of approximately 170,000 personnel and 1,700 aircraft, including 852 combat aircraft in active service, the Indian Air Force is the world's fourth largest. In recent years, the IAF has undertaken an ambitious expansion and modernisation program to replace its aging Soviet-era fighter jets. Among the various expansion plans is the MRCA program under which the IAF plans to induct 126 fighter jets at a cost of US$12 billion.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Royal Saudi Arabia Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية الملكية السعودية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Malakhiah as Sa'udiya), is the air force branch of Saudi Arabian armed forces. After the Turkish Air Force and the Israeli Air Force the RSAF has the third largest air combat capability in the Middle East. The RSAF has developed from a largely defensive military force into one with an advanced offensive capability. The RSAF maintains the third largest fleet of F-15's after the USAF and the JASDF.
The backbone of the RSAF today is the Panavia Tornado, with the Boeing F-15 Eagle aircraft, also forming a major component. The Tornado and many other aircraft were delivered under the Al Yamamah contracts with British Aerospace (now BAE Systems). The RSAF ordered various weapons in the 1990s, including Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles, laser-guided bombs, and gravity bombs.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Taiwan Air Force....
Taiwan is considering to cut her military strength; but let us see where Taiwan Air Force stands today.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Iran Air Force (Let us see these guys)
The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) (Persian: نیروی هوایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران) is the aviation branch of the Iranian armed forces.
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Taiwan Air Force .... A Look
The Republic of China Air Force (traditional Chinese: 中華民國空軍; simplified Chinese: 中华民国空军; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Kōngjūn) is the aviation branch of the military of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The ROCAF's primary mission is the defense of the airspace over and around Taiwan against an attack by the People's Republic of China. Current priorities of the ROCAF include the development of long range reconnaissance and surveillance networks, integrating C4ISTAR systems to increase battle effectiveness, procuring counterstrike weapons, next generation fighters, and hardening airfields and other facilities to survive a surprise attack.
In May 2005, the Ministry of National Defense indicated its intention to transfer command of all defensive missile systems to the ROCAF, while future offensive missiles would be placed under a newly-formed missile command.
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