Russia tests fighter jets before delivery to India

October 8th, 2009 ISTANBUL - Turkey may purchase 120 new-generation fighter jets against the previously decided 100 such fighters at a total cost of $13 billion, a media report said Thursday. "We may buy 120 JSF aircraft, instead of 100," Murad Bayar, head of the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries, was quoted by Daily News newspaper as saying.

September 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Eyeing India's estimated $100 billion defence pie, major US arms suppliers are wooing Indian defence agents and officials as New Delhi embarks on a major military shopping spree to modernise its Soviet-era arsenal, a US media report said. At the US embassy in New Delhi, defence contractors such as Northrop Grumman are sponsoring little league baseball teams, the companies' names stitched onto the uniforms, the Washington Post said in a report from New Delhi.

September 25th, 2009 QUITO - Ecuador is in talks to purchase 12 Cheetah C fighter jets from South Africa for the armed forces, a media report said citing Defence Minister Javier Ponce. Ecuador Air Force has recommended the purchase of South African warplanes due to its low cost, the El Universo daily reported.

September 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Two NATO fighter jets reportedly flew inside Pakistan's airspace for nearly two hours on Saturday. The airspace violation took place in different parts of the Khyber Agency bordering the Afghan border.

September 7th, 2009 PARIS - Brazil is planning to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, officials said Monday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is currently in Brazil to negotiate the aircraft deal.

August 18th, 2009 Putin opens air show, pays tribute to crash victimZHUKOVSKY, Russia — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged billions more in government funding to support Russia's aging aerospace industries at the opening of the country's largest air show Tuesday, two days after a fatal air force crash. The International Aviation and Space Show's opening has been overshadowed by Sunday's collision of two air force stunt jets, which killed the leader of an elite aerobatic squadron, as they practiced for the exposition.

August 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Two pilots narrowly escaped with their lives when their Sukhoi-27 fighter jets collided during an air show near Moscow, a Russian military spokesman said Sunday. The pilots managed to eject to safety after the collision, the Interfax news agency quoted a military spokesman as saying, adding that the wreckage landed in an uninhabited area outside the capital city.

August 16th, 2009 MOSCOW - Two Russian Su- 27 fighter jets collided during a training exercise Sunday killing one pilot, a media report said. "According to updated information, one of the three pilots was killed in the air disaster," the Interfax news agency said quoting air force spokesman Vladimir Drik.

August 14th, 2009 NIZHNY NOVOGORD - Production of MiG-35 multirole fighters offered for sale to India cannot start before 2013 or 2014, a Russian aircraft maker has said. "We have begun testing the MiG-35 fighter for the Indian tender," Alexander Karezin, general director of the Sokol company based in Nizhny Novgorod, said Thursday.

August 2nd, 2009 JERUSALEM - The Israeli Air Force is planning to purchase South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle fighter jets in a bid to replace its ageing Skyhawk fleet, the Ha'aretz daily reported Sunday. A three-member delegation of the Israeli Air Force is expected to visit Seoul next week to discuss the matter with their South Korean counterparts.

July 21st, 2009 Senate roll vote on fighter jet productionThe 58-40 roll call Tuesday by which the Senate voted Tuesday to halt further production of the Air Force's missile-eluding F-22 Raptor fighter jets. A "yes" vote is a vote in favor of an amendment to halt further production of the planes.

May 14th, 2009 Navy: F-35 fighter jets needed by 2015 deadlineWASHINGTON — The chief of naval operations said Thursday on-time delivery of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s next-generation Joint Strike Fighter will be critical in closing the gap of the fighter jets needed to match current and future threats. Navy Adm. Gary Roughead told the House Armed Services Committee that the service's current fleet of legacy F-18s from Boeing Co.

April 21st, 2009 MOSCOW - India will remain the main purchaser of Russian-made combat aircraft for the next 15 years under existing and prospective contracts, a Russian think tank has said. In its report titled 'The Forecast for Combat Aircraft Deliveries to India', the Center for Analysis and Technologies outlined the prospects for Russian-Indian cooperation.

March 11th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia has refused to sell its Su-33 carrier-based fighters to China over fears that Beijing could produce cheaper export versions of the aircraft, a Russian daily said Tuesday. The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said that since 2006 China and Russia had been in negotiations for the sale of 50 Su-33 Flanker-D fighters, to be used on future Chinese aircraft carriers.

February 2nd, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia will showcase its MiG-35 advanced jet fighter, a contender for an Indian combat jet order, at an upcoming air show in India, an official from Russia's state arms exporter has said. Aero India-2009, which will be held in Bangalore Feb 11-15, is one the largest aerospace shows in the Asia-Pacific region, hosting leading manufacturers, vendors and suppliers from 35 countries.