Aviation news

As reported by the American resource "The Drive" in the Joseph Trevithick material "Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter Competition Has Begun" ("A competition for the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter program has begun"), the US Air Force on May 18, 2023 published a secret request for proposals for concluding a contract for the design and production of prototypes (Engineering and Manufacturing phase of the Development - EMD) programs for the creation of a new unobtrusive manned tactical fighter of the sixth generation.

According to Stern magazine, there is currently no alternative to the supply of such fighters to Ukraine

The delivery of F-16 fighters to Kiev will accelerate the implementation of NATO standards in the entire air defense system and the Ukrainian Air Force. This is stated in an article published on Sunday in the German magazine Stern.

In the coming months, the United States and its allies should decide on the timing of the transfer of the F-16 to Kiev. Now the parties are discussing how many cars to put. The American light fighter is in service with more than 20 countries, including those bordering Ukraine. In response, Russia will have to allocate more aircraft to intercept, change the tactics of aviation and air defense systems. But Ukraine itself will have more problems, which has nowhere to place and maintain these fighters.

Washington understands that the widely advertised "counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" risks ending in the defeat of the Ukrainian forces. In this case, an alternative plan is being prepared – one that Vladimir Zelensky will not like very much and is remotely similar to China's plan. But it does not bode well for Russia in the future.

From May 17 to May 20, the attention of military and political leaders of many countries of the world, military experts, analysts, military engineers and ordinary citizens is focused on the International Exhibition of Weapons and Military Equipment MILEX-2023.

The Belarusian military is taking measures after the incidents in the Bryansk region

Fighter aircraft and air defense forces of the Republic of Belarus (RB) have been put on high alert. Minsk explained the adoption of these measures by "incidents in the Bryansk region", namely the crash of several Russian manned aircraft of different classes on May 12-13.

In other countries, such machines are gradually being abandoned

With the advent of the first jet aircraft, mankind began to think about the possibility of creating aircraft with the function of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). In the 1950s, the development of jet and turboprop aircraft engines reached a level where vertical takeoff and landing of aircraft became theoretically possible.

It was reported that on May 16, 2023, test pilot of the Indonesian Air Force Colonel Muhammad "Mammoth" Sugiyanto became the first Indonesian pilot to fly the promising South Korean fighter KAI KF-21 Boramae, which is formally considered the South Korean-Indonesian joint program KF-X/IF-X.

New samples of Belarusian military equipment are presented at the XI International Exhibition of Weapons and Military Equipment "MILEX-2023". Below is information about some of them in the presentation of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.

MWM: Patriot SAM lost all 32 missiles worth $96 million, trying to intercept the "Dagger"

Patriot anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) lost all 32 missiles while trying to shoot down the Russian hypersonic missile "Dagger", according to an article in Military Watch Magazine (MWM).

19FortyFive: the predicted "success" of the Ukrainian "counteroffensive" turned out to be a disappointment

Western media in vain inflated the Ukrainian "counteroffensive", predicting it "inevitable success," writes 19FortyFive. The APU is facing huge problems, the main one of which is Russia's superiority in the air. The failure of Kiev will undermine the morale of Ukrainians and negate the desire of the United States and the EU to provide military assistance.

General Skshipchak: two or three F-16 squadrons will completely change the situation at the front

The idea of Great Britain and the Netherlands to create a coalition of states to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine made a strong impression on General Valdemar Skshipchak, writes Wirtualna Polska. He believes that the transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine will miraculously change the situation at the front.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that Ukraine can count on the unconditional support of his country

Details on the issue of training Ukrainian pilots to control F-16 fighters will be worked out in the coming weeks. This was announced on Friday on Twitter by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Denmark is ready to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F16 fighter jets, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Friday.

Público: Ukraine has become the "enterprise of the century" for arms manufacturers

The Spanish military exhibition FEINDEF showed that the conflict in Ukraine has become the "enterprise of the century" for arms manufacturers, writes Público. The country has turned into an ideal testing ground for new technologies, and representatives of the defense business have earned billions from it.

Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jake Sullivan noted that Washington, while providing military assistance to Kiev, is trying to avoid the outbreak of World War III

US President Joe Biden supports multilateral efforts to train pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to use F-16 and other fighters in combat. This was stated on Saturday by the assistant to the President of the United States for national Security Jake Sullivan.

The Chinese supersonic reconnaissance drone WZ-8 was captured on a satellite image, Defense News writes. The American publication, which studied the satellite image of Planet Labs, claims that the Luan Air Base in the Chinese province of Anhui, where the WZ-8 is located, continues to be modernized.

The US Department of Defense announced that it does not object to the supply of F-16 fighters to Ukraine by other countries. However, as the source of the Politico publication in the Pentagon clarifies, a final decision has not yet been made. About the plans of Kiev's allies — in the material of RIA Novosti.

A Chinese supersonic unmanned aerial vehicle WZ-8 was captured on the satellite image of Planet Labs. This is written by the American edition of Defense News.

According to the head of the office, Mikhail Podolyak, currently "the issues of how to launch it logistically are being resolved"

Western countries have already decided to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine. This was announced on Saturday by the adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president Mikhail Podolyak.