June 9, 2016
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared earlier this week that the F-35 "does not work and is far from working," leading Lockheed executives to respond that "this aircraft is ready to go."
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/f-35-ready-to-go-company-says-as-u-s-air-force-prepares-to-declare-stealth-fighter-combat-ready
Dodging an outright rejection of the F-35, Canada's Cabinet has voted instead to purchase F/A-18E/F fighters as an "interim" replacement for Canada's fleet of F/A-18C/D aircraft. The arrangement would "delay" any decision on the F-35, avoiding an outright cancellation of Canada's commitment to the F-35 program that might lead to legal questions.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/canada-looks-to-delay-tricky-f-35-decision-by-buying-super-hornets/
The U.S. Senate has rejected proposals by the Pentagon for a multi-year "block buy" of the F-35.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/us-senate-not-sold-pentagons-f-35-block-buy-strategy-16512
The U.S. has criticized a recent "unsafe" intercept by Chinese J-10 fighters of a U.S. RC-135 surveillance aircraft that occurred on June 7th over the East China Sea. It was the second such incident to occur this year, the previous event occurring on May 17th when two Chinese J-11 (Su-27) fighters intercepted a U.S. Navy EP-3E over the South China Sea.
http://www.janes.com/article/61081/chinese-j-10-makes-unsafe-intercept-of-us-reconnaissance-aircraft-over-east-china-sea
Two South Carolina Air National Guard pilots successfully eject from their F-16 fighters following a midair collision over eastern Georgia.
http://www.businessinsider.com/air-national-guard-pilots-eject-before-2-f-16s-collide-in-midair-2016-6
As South Korea begins to ramp-up its KF-X development program to build its own homegrown stealth fighter, it is becoming increasingly apparant that such an effort will need to rely heavily on foreign technologies to succeed - including the development of an AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar, as well as the engines.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160606000140
Israeli warplanes reportedly targeted a missile storage facility in Syria this past weekend.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Report-Israeli-Air-Force-attacked-Syrian-weapons-facility-over-weekend-456178
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