Aviation News
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has once again sent two of its P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Base Butterworth. This deployment is part of Operation Gateway, Australia’s longest-running defence operation. Flight tracking data from airplanes.live reveals that the two aircraft touched down in Malaysia on Nov. 23.
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The U.S. Air Force will begin replacing Misawa Air Base’s 36 Lockheed Martin F-16s with 48 F-35As in the spring of 2026, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense. The service plans to start phasing out the F-16s in the summer of 2025. The move comes as part of the Pentagon’s plan to modernise US airpower in the Indo-Pacific.
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The French Air Force is set to receive a major upgrade to their Rafale combat aircraft in 2026 with the introduction of an AI-equipped Talios targeting pod. The new pod, developed by Thales, will mark the first time a French combat aircraft will carry a system that makes “intensive use” of deep learning technology.
Maj. Gen. Juha-Pekka Keränen, outgoing Commander of the Finnish Air Force, recently offered insights into Finland’s progress toward transitioning to the F-35A. The first aircraft are due to arrive in Finland in late 2026, with full operational capability (FOC) scheduled for the end of 2030. Keränen is confident that the ambitious transition timeline, which sees the Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet phased out completely by 2028, will be met. He was quoted as saying, “I see no major obstacles ahead of us – on a large scale we’re doing well and I’m pleased with the progress of the program.”
Photo: Finnish Air Force
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Elbit Systems of America has scored a major win with the U.S. Air Force, securing an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract with a ceiling of $89 million for replacing outdated Head-Up Displays (HUDs) in the service’s F-16 Block 40/42 fleet. The contract, announced on Nov. 21, calls for the installation of Elbit’s Wide-Angle Conventional Head-Up Display (WACHUD) in place of the existing Diffractive Optic HUDs currently in use. The first delivery order, worth over $57.5 million, was placed in September 2024, with work scheduled to be carried out at Elbit America’s Talladega, Alabama facility and systems expected to be delivered by September 2027.
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