28 February 2022
by Gareth Jennings
Along with Poland and Slovakia, Bulgaria is a European operator of the MiG-29 combat aircraft (pictured) that the EU is looking to supply to Ukraine to help replace the country's battlefield losses. (Bulgarian Air Force)
The European Union (EU) is to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with combat aircraft to help replace battlefield losses in the face of Russia's renewed invasion of the country.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell, made the announcement on 27 February, saying that Kyiv had requested the aircraft as part of a wider package of military support from the EU and the West.
“We are going to provide even fighting jets,” Borrell said. “[Kyiv] has been asking us that they need the kind of fighting jets that the Ukrainian [Air Force] is able to operate. We know that some [EU] member states have these kind of planes, and the western borders of Ukraine are still open and several [of these] member states have a border with Ukraine.”
As noted by the EU foreign policy chief, Kyiv is requesting specifically those Soviet-era combat aircraft that the Ukrainian Air Force inherited in 1991 and still operates today. These are the MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum' and Sukhoi Su-27 ‘Flanker' multirole combat aircraft, and the Sukhoi Su-24 ‘Fencer' and Su-25 ‘Frogfoot' ground attack aircraft. Of these, EU member states could supply the MiG-29 and Su-25.
As noted by Janes World Air Forces, the Polish Air Force fields 21 single-seat and six twin-seat MiG-29s; the Bulgarian Air Force fields 11 single-seat and three twin-seat MiG-29s; while the Slovak Air Force fields nine single-seat and two twin-seat MiG-29 aircraft (although only a small number is thought to still be in an airworthy condition). The Bulgarian Air Force also fields six single-seat and two twin-seat Su-25s.
If these aircraft were to be donated, the Ukrainian Air Force could receive as many as 52 MiG-29s and eight Su-25s. Although not confirmed, it has been reported that the United States could look to backfill these donated aircraft with Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons that are in service with Poland, and which are on order for Bulgaria and Slovakia.
While supplying aircraft would address the immediate problem of replacing attrition losses, Ukraine's main airbases have been subjected to attack, with at least six MiG-29s destroyed on the ground at Ivano-Frankivsk Airport in the southwest of the country. However, as was common with Soviet-designed aircraft, both the MiG-29 and Su-25 operate from less than sterile airfields, with features such as air intake gates to prevent the ingestion of foreign object debris (FOD) and nosewheel protectors to prevent stones damaging the underfuselage. Also, the Ukrainian Air Force is known to have trained for off-site operations, and so could conceivably move its aircraft away from its airfields and on to the country's roads.
29 March 2024
by Akhil Kadidal
The first production Tejas Mk 1A takes off from the HAL airport in Bangalore on 28 March 2024. (HAL)
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has test-flown its first production Tejas Mk 1A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). However, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is unlikely to get the aircraft until mid-2024, an industry source told Janes .
According to HAL, the first production aircraft, serial no LA-5033, conducted an 18-minute successful sortie from the HAL airport in Bengaluru on 28 March. HAL intended to deliver at least one Tejas Mk 1A to the IAF by February 2024, a deadline that was subsequently moved up to 31 March. Janes understands that the handover of LA-5033 to the IAF could possibly require at least two additional months.
An industry source told Janes that the delay in delivery is because of ongoing “disruptions in the supply chain” for the programme.
28 March 2024
by Akhil Kadidal
This concept image of China's new attack helicopter, tentatively designated as Z-21, is based on photographs of the prototype aircraft in flight. (Janes)
China is developing a new attack helicopter that appears to be in the same weight class as the US Boeing AH-64 Apache and the Russian Mil Mi-28 Havoc.
Images of the new helicopter, which emerged on Chinese social media in March 2024, show an aircraft that is larger than the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) in-service AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) Changhe Aircraft Industries Group (CHAIG) Z-10 attack helicopter, and with a wider central fuselage that is comparable with the Apache. The fuselage includes cheek fairings similar to the AH-64 Apache and a nose configuration similar to the Mi-28. The AH-64E and the Mi-28N have a maximum operating weight of 10–12 tons.
The new helicopter (tentatively designated as Z-21 by Chinese military observers) also appears to incorporate some of the PLA's latest combat helicopter features such as upward-facing engine exhausts to reduce its infrared signature.
27 March 2024
by Gareth Jennings
The Bird AeroSystems defensive aids installation fitted to an A319 airliner (pictured here) of an undisclosed European operator. (Bird AeroSystems)
Bird AeroSystems has fitted its aircraft defensive aids system (DAS) for an undisclosed European A319 operator, likely the Hungarian Air Force (HuAF).
The Israeli company said on 27 March that its Self Protection Radar Electro-Optic System (SPREOS) directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) and Aeroshield Missile Protection System (AMPS) had been fitted to multiple A319 aircraft for an undisclosed customer to protect against surface-to-air missile threats.
“At the core of this project is the SPREOS, a patented DIRCM system for missile approach verification, tracking, and laser jamming,” the company said. “The installation also included Bird's versatile AMPS solution, designed for both military and civilian markets, providing complete protection against ground-to-air threats, including [manportable air-defence system] MANPADS attacks, for helicopters and VVIP aircraft for heads of states. Additionally, the installation of the AeroShield pod solution on the Airbus A319 aircraft was expanded to be installed also for Dassault Falcon 7X aircraft,” it added.
The European Union (EU) is to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with combat aircraft to help replac...
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