Aviation News
An Italian AV-8B Harrier landed on board USS Bataan on Jan. 13. The aircraft is being transported to the depot repair facility at MCAS Cherry Point for its periodic maintenance interval.
[thumb]http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=64785[/thumb]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is expected to announce the decision to lift the probation on the F-35B during a visit to Naval Air Station Patuxent River on Friday.
[thumb]http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/01/19/the-end-of-the-f-35bs-probation/[/thumb]
The first night flight of the F-35 was completed Wednesday at Edwards Air Force Base using AF-6. The testing will clear the way for night refueling and formation testing later this year.
Lockheed Martin photo
[thumb]http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/january/120119ae_f-35a-first-night-flight.html[/thumb]
In this op-edi, former U.S. deputy secretary of Defense, Gordon England warned that deep cuts to the defense budget could cripple American weapons export in the future as new research and modernization programs could be curtailed.
[thumb]http://thehill.com/opinion/letters/204721-deep-budget-cuts-endanger-crucial-us-defense-exports[/thumb]
Pentagon testers found that the reliability rates for the V-22 has improved in 2011 but it was at 53 percent rather than the specified 82 percent.
[thumb]http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-14/v-22-osprey-aircraft-s-reliability-improves-in-pentagon-testing.html[/thumb]