Colorful Harrier.

Another great shot from Joe Stremph.  How does he get these shots????

Latest F-35 pic...

Enjoy these pics of the Ark Royal...they will soon be historic.

Via Brian Aitkenhead at Warships...

Seems as if Turkey didn't get the message on European arms cuts...

Via AviationNews.EU

AgustaWestland  that it has been awarded a contract for nine T129 combat helicopters. The contract is valued at €150 million also including a spare parts package. The nine T129 helicopters will be assembled by Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) and delivered by mid 2012 in a basic configuration, one year earlier of the 51 T129s already on order. This contract increases the total ordered by the Turkish Land Forces Command to 60. TAI is the Prime Contractor for the overall ATAK Programme, with ASELSAN as the supplier of avionics and mission equipments while AgustaWestland is acting as subcontractor to TAI. As the Prime Contractor of the ATAK Program, TAI is responsible for ensuring the T129 ATAK helicopter meets all the operational requirements of the Turkish Land Forces Command.

Ironic that while the rest of Europe disarms, Turkey is going full speed ahead.  They have an original order for 100 F-35's and increased it by another 20.  They have a huge ship building program going on (definitely under the radar but real) and the armed forces in general are sharpening their teeth on insurgents in Northern Iraq.

Turkey might be the real future military power on the European continent...not the traditional powers. 

Between Turkey's rise, former Soviet Block Countries like Romania innovating to get better....what is the UK's answer to the challenge????

Cut its Army....Trim its Navy....and depend on a 4th Generation F-15 sized fighter with no performance benefits that the latest model (F-15SG) bring to the table.

We do live in interesting times.

F-35 to PaxRiver vid.

Japan inches toward the F-35! Good News!

From the Japan Times.

The Defense Ministry is setting its sights on making the F-35 joint strike fighter the Air Self-Defense Force's next mainstay combat jet after giving up a plan to buy more F-2s, sources said Sunday.The ministry plans to list the procurement costs for the next-generation jet in its budget request for fiscal 2012.The ministry, which is trying to update its fighter jet fleet, was planning to retool its F-15 Eagles and buy more F-2s as a stopgap measure, given the delay in the development of the F-35, a fifth-generation stealth jet capable of flying at supersonic speeds, and its climbing price tag.But the ministry has determined that procuring the less-functional F-2 would be unwise in terms of deterrent capability and cost.Since China has been mass-producing its own fighter planes, which are comparable to the F-15, and is also seeking to develop a next-generation aircraft of its own, the ministry is looking to purchase about 40 F-35s or other fifth-generation fighters, they said.

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