Lowpassage.com

David Cenciotti’s weblog

• U.S. drones and spyplanes involved in information gathering missions over Syria. As in Libya one year ago. More or less… February 21, 2012
  More or less one year ago, we were observing an increasing activity of U.S., British, French and Italian military spy planes perfoming information gathering missions along the northern border of the Tripoli FIR (Flight Information Region). Quite silently, those SIGINT (SIGnal INTelligence) platforms flew in the Maltese airspace to eavesdrop into Libyan commu […]
• Exclusive Infographic: all Cyber Attacks on Military Aviation and Aerospace Industry February 21, 2012
  2011 has been an annus horribilis for information security, and aviation has not been an exception to this rule: not only in 2011 the corporate networks of several aviation and aerospace industries have been targeted by digital storms (not a surprise in the so-called hackmageddon) but, above all, last year will be probably remembered for […]
• Here’s the M-346 in Israeli Air Force colors February 21, 2012
  As reported in a previous post, Israel has selected the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 as the advaced trainer for combat pilots designated for front line fighter jets. Since the Italian plane will replace the aging Israeli Air Force A-4s, based on the camouflage color scheme used on the Skyhawk, Al Clark has drawn a digital mock-up […]
• Photo: in a world of overall grey planes, a (rare) Tornado IDS-HARM in camouflage color scheme February 20, 2012
  Nowadays almost all the NATO combat planes (special colors aside) wears overall grey low visibility color schemes. Therefore, old fashioned camouflage color schemes are extremely rare. One of the last Italian tactical aircraft to wear a “camo” scheme is this Tornado IDS-HARM in a picture taken recently by Giovanni Maduli at Decimomannu airbase. Tagged: 155 [ […]
• Photo: Lockheed Martin F-35′s first mission with external weapons February 20, 2012
  On Feb. 16, 2012, an F-35A aircraft from Edwards AFB, California, flew for the first time with external weapons. Although no weapons were delivered during the sortie, the payload of the Joint Strike Fighter’s Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) variant in this test mission included two AIM-9X air-to-air missiles on the outboard wing stations, two […]
• U.S. special operations plane crashes in Djibouti killing four crew members February 20, 2012
  On Feb. 18, 2012, a U.S. spy plane crashed six miles from Djibouti International Airport during “a routine flight.” As a consequence, all four U.S. military personnel on board, belonging to the 319th and 34th Special Operations Squadrons, and to the 25th Intelligence Squadron, both based at Hurlburt field, Fla., died. The accidednt occurred around […]
• [Updated] Air Force Special Operations Command using Russian encryption software on made-in-China iPADs February 20, 2012
  Even if they might be called to face Chinese and Russia almost everywhere between Middle East and Asia (or even perform missions inside China or Russia in a less likely WWIII scenario), the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) planes will fly those special operations relying on products developed and sold by some of more […]
• Rare behind the scenes video of Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer operations February 19, 2012
  The following interesting video shows daily operations at the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer, belonging to the 72nd Bomber Squadron at TAB-7 in Shiraz. Mission briefing, dress rooms, flying clothing as well as a taxi ride by a journalist in the Fencer (this explains why he doesn’t wear a flight suit). […]
• The Agusta Westland AW159 Wildcat’s sea trials on HMS Iron Duke February 19, 2012
  The Royal Navy’s next generation of light utility helicopter, the Agusta Westland AW159 Wildcat prototype (serialled ZZ402) has recently been at sea for the first mini-cruise with HMS Iron Duke. Although it looks similar to the final variant of the Lynx Mk8 externally, the AW159 is much different from its predecessor: it is built using […]
• Alleged killing of two Indian fishermen in anti-piracy operation sparks diplomatic crisis between India and Italy February 19, 2012
  Two Italian Navy riflemen belonging to the San Marco Battalion, are currently under custody in India pending the investigation about the alleged killing of two Indian fishermen 30 miles off the southern Indian coast on Feb. 15. The two military were on board the merchant ship Enrica Lexie as Military Security Team on Italian ships […]