News Archive

June 2004


30 June 2004 Thunderbirds suffer minor bird-strike damage during air show
The USAF Thunderbirds evidently suffered a bird-strike, Saturday, June 26, 2004, during an air show at the Southern Wisconsin Air Fest, at Rock County Airport, near Janesville, Wisconsin. ...
30 June 2004 European rivals pitch JSF 25mm munition research
Two competing industry and defence research teams from Europe - one Dutch and Swiss; the other Norwegian - are proposing to develop an optimised 25mm ammunition for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter....
30 June 2004 JSF is gaining weight and price again.
In June 2004 the price fot the JSF increased to 45.2 billion US dollar, in September 2003 the price allready increased to 42.6 billion US dollar. The price was originally estimated at approximately 35 billion USD....
30 June 2004 F-16 pilot won't face court-martial
An Air Force F-16 pilot who in 2002 mistakenly dropped a 500-pound bomb on a group of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four, will not face court-martial, the Air Force said last Thursday....
30 June 2004 Officials release F-16 accident report
Pilot error caused two F-16 Fighting Falcons to collide March 9, during a training mission over the Atlantic Ocean about 35 miles southeast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to a report Air Force officials released June 15....
24 June 2004 PoAF F-16s intercept airliner
Two Portuguese Air Force (PoAF) F-16s intercepted an airliner on June 23rd. As part of security measures related to the EURO 2004 - European Soccer Championship - there are always 2 F-16s fully armed in the air at the time of the games to patrol the no fly zones around the stadiums. ...
20 June 2004 Danish firm teams with Lockheed Martin for F-35 test pods
Terma A/S of Lystrup, Denmark, and Lockheed Martin have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a framework for cooperation in the design, development, integration, testing and production of test pods for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter....
19 June 2004 20th FW at Shaw to get new commander
Veteran F-16 pilot Col. Philip Ruhlman is due to take up command of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base on June 24....
19 June 2004 UFO sighting appears to be Unidentified Flying Dutchmen
According to a story from Manchester Online, 6 Dutch F-16s caused some interest in the U.K. when people thought that they were unidentified flying objects....
18 June 2004 Belgian F-16s intercept airliner feared hijacked
Two Belgian Air Force F-16 fighter jets intercepted an airliner in Belgian airspace on June 17th. The aircraft was feared hijacked after all communication had been lost. However, this turned out to be caused by defective radio equipment....
18 June 2004 F-16C crashes on Luke AFB runway - Pilot OK
F-16C #83-1161 from the 61st Fighter Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ performed a belly landing on the Luke AFB runway on June 17, 2004 at approximately 1416. The pilot is tought to be OK; the aircraft sustained fire damage....
17 June 2004 USAF 79th FS mid-air collision accident report released
The March 9th, 2004, mid-air collision over the Atlantic Ocean involving 2 F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 79th FS was attributed to pilot error, according to the accident report released by the US Air Force....
17 June 2004 "Dutch" YF-16 celebrates 25 years of F-16
Wednesday June 16th, 2004, saw the rollout at Volkel AB of a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16A in a "Dutch" YF-16 color scheme. The special color scheme celebrates 25 years of F-16 service with the RNLAF....
14 June 2004 NATO F-16s deployed to Lithuania scramble to intercept Russian IL-18
Belgian F-16 fighter jets from 349 Sqn, stationed at Zokniai airbase in northwestern Lithuania as part of NATO's Baltic air-policing mission, were srambled on June 2nd to intercept a Russian IL-18 approaching Estonian airspace....
09 June 2004 Luke AFB has new Commanding Officer
Brigadier General select Robin Rand took command of Luke Air Force Base on Tuesday June 8, 2004. Luke AFB is the USAF's largest Wing and will typically put out 900 pilots and 900 crew chiefs in a single year. ...
09 June 2004 Spangdahlem aircraft to move to Incirlik, Turkey?
Pentagon planners have announced a request for more rights for the use of Incirlik AB, Turkey and intend to move the aircraft from Spangdahlem AB Germany. Their reason as stated is to put these units closer to the Middle East to be better responsive. This is part of a major plan to change the European based USAF....
04 June 2004 US Air National Guard 107th Fighter Squadron pilots return from Iraq
Six F-16 pilots from the Air National Guard's 107th Fighter Squadron returned to their Selfridge ANGB home base after three months of combat operations in Iraq. The 107th FS deployed to Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq on February 27th, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom....
03 June 2004 Osan's 36th Fighter Squadron participates in exercise Commando Sling 04-3
Airmen and F-16s from the 36th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, South Korea, have deployed to Paya Lebar AB in Singapore to train with Singaporean Airmen during exercise Commando Sling 04-3....
02 June 2004 F-16 pilot wins $25,000 for doing her job
According to the Ivilliage website, A USAF F-16 pilot received the Good Housekeeping Award for Women in Government. Captain Christina Hopper, a USAF F-16 fighter pilot would be the first to tell you she was just doing her job, and got to be a pilot through plain hard work and determination. ...
01 June 2004 Turkey selects BAE for block 50 self-protection
BAE Systems has been selected by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, Undersecretariat for Defense Industries and the Turkish Air Force as the key subcontractor for an integrated electronic self-protection system to be installed on that nation's F-16 fighters....