Air refueling

Five U.S. servicepeople were killed when a military helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The military's European Command said all five crew members on board were killed when the aircraft went down "during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training."

The readiness to activate contingency plans for the evacuation of US nationals from Israel and Lebanon is the primary reason that a large number of US military transport aircraft have been transferred to Crete Air Base at Souda Bay in recent days.

Aircraft from the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) conducted aerial refueling drills on June 20.

The Hellenic Air Force participated with 50 flights by F-16 fighter jets with two KC-135s of the 134 Refueling Wing of the USAF based with the 110 HAF Combat Wing at the Larissa military airport.

Nine US soldiers died in a plane crash crashing into Savannah, Georgia, the BNR reported.

The plane is a cargo C-130 "Hercules", which belongs to Puerto Rico's National Guard.

It crashed in the immediate vicinity of Savannah Hilton Headquarters International Airport, the US Air Force said in a statement.

The plane carried out a training flight, added the National Radio.

Australia will end air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and bring its six Super Hornet planes home after three years as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the Middle East, Defense Minister Marise Payne said on Dec. 22.

Lockheed Martin has tapped Rockwell Collins for its Flight2 integrated avionics system, Rockwell Collins said. The system is to be used to upgrade the Greek navy’s Lockheed Martin P-3 aircraft.

A U.S. military plane used for refueling crashed into a field in rural Mississippi, killing at least 16 people aboard and spreading debris for miles and creating a fiery wreckage, officials said.

Swedish defense giant Saab has offered to build a state-of-the-art fighter jet factory in India should it seal a lucrative deal to supply hundreds of military jets to New Delhi.

Saab and its U.S. competitor Lockheed Martin have emerged as the frontrunners to supply around 250 single-engine combat planes to India's air force which wants to revamp its Soviet-era military hardware.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered cost-cutting reviews of two major aircraft acquisition programs, the F-35 fighter jet and Boeing Co's next-generation of the Air Force One presidential plane, according to Pentagon memos released on Jan. 27.

Just a month after signing a government-to-government deal with France's Dassault Aviation for acquiring 36 Rafale fighter jets, India has hinted that it will purchase 200-300 more fighters, if foreign companies agree to manufacture those aircraft under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' programme.