DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Japan Expert Panel To Assess Safety Of US Military Aircraft

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Japan Expert Panel To Assess Safety Of US Military Aircraft

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RTT
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 26, 2012: Japan has set up a panel of experts to make its own assessment on the safety of the U.S. military's Osprey transport aircraft brought to the country on Monday.

Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto presided over the first meeting of the panel, headed by Defense Ministry's Deputy Director-General for Policy Tetsuro Kuroe, on Wednesday.

Other members include a Self-Defense Force helicopter pilot, an aircraft accident investigator from the Transport Ministry, and an expert in aeronautical engineering. The team plans to visit the United States sometime over the next few weeks to interview U.S. military officials about the cause of the recent Osprey accidents and measures to prevent a recurrence. They will also observe emergency training for Osprey pilots.

A series of accidents involving Osprey, including one in Morocco in April and another in the U.S. state of Florida in June, has triggered concerns in Japan over the planned deployment of the aircraft at the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma air station in Okinawa prefecture.

Morimoto said he hoped the experts would carefully investigate the accidents and provide an objective view so that people's apprehension about the aircraft's safety could be removed, Japanese media reported.

A fleet of 12 MV-22 Ospreys arrived on Monday at the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni air station in Yamaguchi prefecture, despite objections from local residents.

The Marines plan to conduct test flights near the base next month and begin full operations of the aircraft at the Futenma air station in Ginown, Okinawa prefecture, in early October.

Officials of 14 prefectures hosting U.S. bases have asked the Foreign Ministry details on the training flights over Japan which is having about 50,000 American soldiers on its soil as part of a bilateral military pact.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RTT
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Lockheed Martin Delivers Another Super Galaxy

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:  Lockheed Martin Delivers Another Super Galaxy

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lockheed Martin
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 26, 2012: Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered the fifth production C-5M Super Galaxy to the Air Force, July 20, 2012, at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

The Super Galaxy is the eight overall C-5M for the Air Force and will undergo internal paint restoration at Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., before traveling to its permanent home at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

The Super Galaxy is America’s premier global direct delivery weapon system and the only strategic airlifter capable of linking the homeland directly to the warfighter in all theaters of combat without refueling.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

The C-5 is a large high-wing cargo aircraft. It has a distinctive high T-tail, 25 degree wing sweep, and four TF39 turbofan engines mounted on pylons beneath the wings. The C-5 is similar in layout to its smaller predecessor, the C-141 Starlifter. The C-5 has 12 internal wing tanks and is equipped for aerial refueling. It has both nose and aft doors for "drive-through" loading and unloading of cargo. The C-5 is also known as FRED (fucking, sometimes written as "fantastic", ridiculous, economic/environmental disaster) by its crews due to its maintenance/reliability issues and large consumption of fuel.

A total of 52 C-5s are contracted to be modernized, consisting of 49 B-, two C- and one A-model aircraft through the Reliability Enhancement and Re-Engining Program (RERP). Over 70 changes and upgrades are incorporated in the program, including the newer General Electric engines. Five C-5M Super Galaxies have been produced. The RERP upgrade program is to be completed in 2016.

The first C-5A was delivered to the USAF on 17 December 1969. Wings were built up in the early 1970s at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, Charleston AFB, Dover AFB, Delaware, and Travis AFB, California. The C-5's first mission was on 9 July 1970, in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. C-5s were used to transport equipment and troops, including Army tanks and even some small aircraft, throughout the later years of the US action in Vietnam. In the final weeks of the war, prior to the Fall of Saigon, several C-5s were involved in evacuation efforts; during one such mission a C-5A crashed while transporting a large number of orphans.

C-5s have also been used to deliver support and reinforce various US allies over the years. During the Yom Kippur war in 1973, multiple C-5s and C-141 Starlifters delivered critical supplies of ammunition, replacement weaponry and other forms of aid to Israel, the US effort was named as Operation Nickel Grass. The C-5 Galaxy's performance in Israel was such that the Pentagon began to consider further purchases. The C-5 was regularly made available to support American allies, such as the British-led peacekeeper initiative in Zimbabwe in 1979.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Lockheed Martin
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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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