Indonesia takes delivery of first C-130J

Lockheed Martin, the American aerospace and defence company, has delivered the first of five C-130J-30 cargo planes to the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU). The ceremony commemorated a new era in Hercules operations for the long-time C-130 operator, as the new C-130J-30s offer increased cargo capacity, speed, range, power, performance, and lower operating costs. This will support the TNI-AU’s wide range of mission requirements for decades to come.

Lockheed Martin delivered the first of five C-130J-30s to the Indonesian Air Force on Feb. 21, 2023. Lockheed Martin photo by Thinh D. Nguyen.

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Airbus’ plans to increase military aircraft production thwarted by lack of government orders

Airbus SE’s plans to increase production of its Eurofighter aircraft and other key weapons systems are being hampered due to a lack of commitment from governments to place orders, according to Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. Despite the expected increase in orders for jets, drones and space-based products in the coming years, Airbus has not received the necessary orders to scale up production.

Airbus Logo 2017
Airbus SEvector version by BegbertBiggs Own work based on: File:Airbus Group Logo 2014.svg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Malaysia likely to pick KAI FA-50, HAL concedes defeat in fighter tender

HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) CB Ananthakrishnan has acknowledged that Malaysia has not chosen his company’s Tejas fighter for its Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program despite being among the two shortlisted out of eight companies that participated. Malaysia is now expected to select the South Korean supersonic fighter KAI FA-50 for the contract, dealing a blow to HAL’s hopes.

KH-2013 IAF Tejas 2 (33026195996)
Venkat Mangudi [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Asylum-seeking Russian engineer offers access to Tu-160 program

A Russian aerospace engineer approached the U.S. authorities in late December seeking asylum and offering to share information on Russia’s Tu-160 bomber program. The offer, if genuine, could provide an insight into Russia’s most advanced strategic bomber, a plane that has been used in the Ukrainian conflict, Yahoo News reports.

Tupolev Tu-160 Pichugin-2
Dmitriy Pichugin (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2), via Wikimedia Commons
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