Russia has turned an Il-76 strategic cargo plane into bomber during recent trials.

The Russian Air Force has conducted tests with an Il-76MD (NATO codename Candid) aircraft carrying  training bombs during trials organized in the Tver region, north of Moscow, Ilyushin announced on January 30. According to the company, the aircraft carried four 50-kg P-50T dumb bombs on hard-points under the wings.

The “attack run” would see the crew find the airfield, visually inspect it with flares and then drop the bombs ahead of landing on the field, located well behind the enemy lines.

The drops should be conducted with 500 km/h of speed (ca. 270 knots) and 500-1000 m (1650 – 3280 feet) of altitude.

Ilyushin claims that bombs will make it possible to employ the Il-76MD in operations which would involve airfields with unprepared or unfamiliar runways, located in a contested territory.

VVS aims to train 10 crews in the new “strike” role; teams that, according to IHS Jane’s, will be stationed in the Tver, Orenburg, Pskov, and Taganrog regions.

IHS Jane’s additionally notes another issue – the place where the specially trained crews are stationed, excluding the Orenburg region, which borders Kazakhstan, will make it possible for the transport jets to conduct strikes over Ukraine or the Baltic States.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/02/06/russia-il76-bomber/

U.S. Marines EA-6B Prowlers refuel during mission over Afghanistan.

U.S. Marine Corps EA-6Bs are taking part to missions in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some of the 27 remaining U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler jets are currently deployed to conducts electronic air defenseover Afghanistan. The EA-6Bs belong to the VMAQ-4 that deployed to Al Udeid, in Qatar, in August 2014. Since they arrived in Qatar, the Prowlers have launched missions to Syria and Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. 

In spite of their age, the aircraft are still valuable platforms capable to support any contingencies or operations which may need kinetic electronic attack:  they can spot and identify enemy signals, jam radar emissions and radio communications as well as gather intelligence and pin-point enemy forces on the ground.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/02/04/marine-corps-ea-6b-afghanistan/

F-18s and F-5s provide Davos World Economic Forum 2015 Air Defense.

From January 21 to 24, the Swiss Air Force contributed to the security of the WEF international conference held at Davos, in Switzerland.

A circular No-Fly Zone, centered in Davos, with a radius of 25 NM, was enforced by the Swiss F/A-18 Hornets of the Fliegerstaffel 11 and the F-5E Tigers of the Fliegerstaffel 8 from Meiringen airbase, main operating base of the air security operation.

Needless to say, all the aircraft taking part in the air policing missions carried live air-to-air missiles: the Tiger jets carried AIM-9P Sidewinder IR-guided AAM (Air-to-Air Missiles) at the wingtips, whereas the Hornets carried 2 AIM-9X Sidewinders at the wingtips and either two AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles) or one AIM-120 and the ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infra Red) pod underneath the fuselage.

http://theaviationist.com/2015/02/02/wef-2015-air-security/

Legendary Swordfish bombers receive £500,000.

Half a million pounds will be spent keeping the Fleet Air Arm’s most iconic aircraft in the skies – wowing the crowds and serving as a living memorial to naval aviators. 

The Fly Navy Heritage Trust expects to receive £500,000 from fines imposed on the banks for the LIBOR scandal so it can carry out repairs and build up a surplus of spare parts for a pair of World War 2 Swordfish. 

The trust raises money to keep the vintage torpedo bombers airborne – as well as other legends of naval aviation in the Royal Navy Historic Flight, the Fleet Air Arm’s equivalent of the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2015/february/05/150205-swordfish

TransAsia Airways flight GE235 crash in Taipei.

(Reuters) - A TransAsia Airways plane with 58 passengers and crew on board careered into a river shortly after taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday, killing 23 people and leaving 20 missing, officials said.

Fifteen people survived the crash after the plane lurched between buildings, clipped a taxi and an overpass with its port-side wing and crashed upside down in the shallow water.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/04/us-taiwan-airplane-idUSKBN0L808520150204
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJu3z1Ud04
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31125052