Amidst the power vacuum left by the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, both Israel and the U.S. have wasted no time in conducting airstrikes within Syria.
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Osprey grounded again
The Pentagon has once again grounded its entire fleet of V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. This comes after a worrying incident at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico on Nov. 20, where a CV-22 Osprey experienced a near-crash shortly after takeoff. Initial investigations suggest that weakened metal components in a critical part may have been a contributing factor.
U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey, assigned to 352d Special Operations Wing, during Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System training near Amari, Estonia, Sep. 3, 2019. During the week-long training, U.S. and Estonian special operation forces partnered on FRIES familiarization, casualty evacuation and rapidly loading and off-loading a tactical vehicle onto the aircraft. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Pena)
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Exodus from Canada’s spy plane unit
An internal Canadian Forces investigation found that a lack of leadership and training opportunities were to blame for the exodus of most of the specialists needed to operate a new fleet of military surveillance aircraft. This information comes from reporting by David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen. The investigation, completed in May 2023, found that sensor operators at CFB Trenton, Ontario, were left largely on their own with no training program or overall direction from the Special Forces headquarters in Ottawa or their home unit, 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron in Petawawa.
JMSDF, U.S. Navy sign new electronic attack pact as EP-3 era ends
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the U.S. Navy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Dec. 6 aimed at bolstering cooperation between their electronic attack squadrons. The agreement, inked at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, marks a new chapter for the JMSDF’s VQ-81, which for decades has trained closely with the U.S. Navy’s VQ-1, a squadron now in the midst of retiring its venerable EP-3E Aries II aircraft.
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Saab’s Giraffe 4A radar set to enhance U.S. Air Force’s European presence
Saab has snagged a noteworthy contract, worth $48 million, to supply its cutting-edge Giraffe 4A radar systems to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Deliveries of these mobile, multi-function radar systems are expected to commence in 2027 with BAE Systems Technical Solutions & Services Inc. serving as the prime contractor for this award.
Photo: Saab
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