Royal Air Force - Royaume-Uni

UK defence cuts to force Sea King 7 life extension

EDIT
UK to stretch Puma life-extension study with Eurocopter

Bon, c'est pour anglophones seulement, mais je ne résiste pas au plaisir de vous faire partager cette "interview d'un amiral britannique".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6h8i8wrajA&feature=related

Le lien fonctionne bien chez moi, j'ai pu enregistrer "l'interview" sans problème.

Raf

Tuckson a écrit

Wildcat a écrit

Bon, c'est pour anglophones seulement, mais je ne résiste pas au plaisir de vous faire partager cette "interview d'un amiral britannique".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6h8i8wrajA&feature=related

C'est la sécurité chez moi qui me bloque l'accès, ou c'est pour tout le monde ? Même le copier / coller ne marche pas.

Pas de souci pour moi Sonny

Tornado squadrons going to Iraq

Three Tornado squadrons from RAF Lossiemouth are to deploy to Iraq over the summer, it has been announced. The RAF said each of the squadrons will take its turn spending two months on duty. The main duties for the Tornados will be to patrol the skies over Iraq, and to help the ground forces with missions. The operation will see 14 Squadron, followed by 12 (Bomber) Squadron then 617 Squadron deployed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7305266.stm

EADS a annoncé que le consortium AirTanker qu'il dirige a signé un contrat de services de ravitaillement en vol pour 27 ans avec la Défense britannique portant sur la fourniture de capacités de transport et de ravitaillement aérien à la Royal Air Force (RAF). Le groupe d'aéronautique estime que ce contrat est la plus importante initiative de financement privé (PFI) jamais signée au monde dans la défense, de près de 13 milliards sur 27 ans. Le consortium AirTanker a également finalisé le volet financier de ce programme en parvenant à lever près de 2,5 milliards de livres sterling (3,2 milliards d'euros) pour couvrir l'acquisition de la flotte et l'aménagement d'une base opérationnelle ultramoderne et des infrastructures associées. Le programme FSTA (Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft) porte sur la fourniture d'une flotte de 14 avions-ravitailleurs stratégiques basés sur l'Airbus A330-200 en vue d'une mise en service à partir de 20 11 en remplacement du parc vieillissant de ravitailleurs VC-10 et ristar. Le contrat prévoit également l'aménagement de toutes les infrastructures nécessaires, ainsi que les services de formation, maintenance, gestion des vols et de la flotte, et servitudes au sol pour permettre à la RAF d'accomplir ses missions de ravitaillement en vol et de transport partout dans le monde.

http://bourse.lci.fr/news.hts?urlAction=news.hts&idnews=CFX080327_15120000&numligne=0&date=080327

Que de succès pour ce nouveau ravitailleur européen…

Maintenant, on arrive vraiment à un point où les capacités opérationnelles militaires repose(ro)nt sur les épaules de sociétés privées. Est-ce que bientôt un investisseur privé achètera des Typhoon pour les envoyer en Irak en soutien de bataillons de commandos tout autant privés ?

Au rythme où on va… Ils ont déjà des Hip, et acheter des paniers de roquettes n'est pas la chose la plus ardue à faire.

Boeing Modifies 5th C-17 For Royal Air Force
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q2/080407c_pr.html

Le prince William a reçu ses insignes de pilote de la RAF

"Le prince William, deuxième dans l'ordre de succession à la couronne britannique, a reçu vendredi des mains de son père le prince Charles ses insignes de pilote de la Royal Air Force (RAF), au terme d'une formation accélérée.
Après seulement 12 semaines d'un entraînement sur mesure, raccourci par rapport aux formations de pilotes complètes qui durent de 3 à 4 ans, William, 25 ans, est officiellement devenu un pilote de la RAF, marchant ainsi sur les traces de son père et de son grand-père le duc d'Edimbourg."

RAF flying instructor terrorised golf fans by flying low over the Open to impress student

Rafighter a écrit

RAF flying instructor terrorised golf fans by flying low over the Open to impress student

Entrainement type guerre du Golf

1 of Two RAF Reaper UAVs Crashes in Afghanistan
By andrew chuter
Published: 18 Apr 16:06 EDT (12:06 GMT) Print | Email

LONDON - One of the Royal Air Force's two Reaper UAVs operating in Afghanistan has crashed following a suspected mechanical failure.

The British military purchased the General Atomics-developed MQ-9 Reaper, formerly known as the Predator B, as part of an urgent operational requirement to give troops fighting Taliban insurgents in the Helmand Province better intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities (ISTAR).
Two of the vehicles were delivered to the British in Afghanistan late last year; one crashed in the late evening of April 9. The third Reaper ordered by the Ministry of Defence will not be delivered until midyear.

In a statement, the MoD said the vehicle "made a forced landing whilst on an operation over a remote unpopulated area of southern Afghanistan. Sensitive items were recovered and the remaining wreckage was destroyed. The reason for the forced landing is under investigation; however, mechanical issues are suspected."

The MoD declined to comment on whether another Reaper would be purchased immediately to plug the hole in British ISTAR capabilities. However, it is known that plans were afoot to purchase another four to six vehicles before the crash.
In January, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of up to 10 MQ-9s with associated ground stations to the British military in a deal that could cost up to $1 billion.
It's the first crash of a military Reaper since its introduction into service with the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan last year. The vehicle offers greater performance and a much increased payload over the earlier General Atomics Predator A.
Unlike their U.S. counterparts, the British vehicles are not currently armed. However, an MoD spokesman conceded that in the near future, the UAVs were likely to carry precision-guided bombs and missiles.
"We are in the process of procuring GBU-12 precision-guided bombs and Hellfire P laser-guided missiles," he said.
April has been a bad month for the Predator family. The U.S. Air Force lost two Predator MQ-1s in the space of a week earlier this month in Iraq.

British Reapers are based at Kandahar in Afghanistan but operated by personnel from the RAF's 39 Squadron based at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where a U.S./U.K. Combined Joint Predator Task Force has been in existence for several years.
When the first British Reaper arrived in Kandahar, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glen Torpy, chief of the Air Staff, described its introduction into service as a "major milestone for the RAF, which will significantly enhance the U.K.'s surveillance capability in Afghanistan."
The MoD wasn't prepared to discuss operational issues resulting from the crash, but one MoD source said he expected the shortfall in ISTAR capability would be covered by U.S. assets over Afghanistan.

Aside from the Reaper, the British also have several Elbit-built Hermes 450 UAVs operating in Afghanistan under a pay-as-you-fly arrangement with contractor Thales UK.
The deal got under way last year as a stop-gap to provide ISTAR capability ahead of the launch of the British Army's Watchkeeper UAV program.
The first of the new Watchkeeper vehicles, a much-modified Hermes 450, is due in service in late 2010, although work is under way to see if the system can be introduced earlier.
Britain's only other tactical UAV, the Phoenix, was pensioned off last month.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3487241&c=AIR&s=MID

Wichita-based Hawker Beechcraft Corp. has delivered the first Beechcraft King Air B200GT aircraft to United Kingdom's Royal Air Force as a multi-engine pilot trainer. The second King Air B200GT will be delivered this summer, Hawker says. The aircraft is in addition to fleet of seven Beechcraft King Air B200s in service with the Royal Air Force. "As our requirement for multi-engine pilots has changed in response to a rapidly evolving strategic environment, we look forward to supplementing our existing fleet with these additional two new aircraft," said Air Commodore Brian Newby, director flying training, in a written statement.

http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2008/04/28/daily18.html

RAF fighter jets have been launched at least 21 times to respond to Russian military planes in the last year, the armed forces minister has revealed. Flights rose after President Vladimir Putin reinstated Cold War-style long range air patrols last August. In a Commons written answer, Bob Ainsworth said that no Russian aircraft had entered UK airspace, although some had penetrated the Nato policing area. Quick reaction alert aircraft have been launched on three days this year. Mr Ainsworth said that British fighter planes - such as the Eurofighter Typhoon - took off to inspect Russian aircraft on 21 days between March 2007 and April 2008. The minister was responding to a query from Conservative defence select committee member Bernard Jenkin. "In the last 12 months no Russian aircraft have penetrated UK national airspace. However Russian aircraft have approached or entered the Nato air policing area (APA) for which the UK has responsibility," he said. However, he would not state the exact dates and duration of time that Russian military aircraft had entered the APA because "its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7376336.stm