Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




AEROSPACE
US gives Israeli minister a ride in V-22 Osprey aircraft
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) June 14, 2013


Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon got to fly in a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft during a US visit Friday, as his country weighs whether to buy the American military plane.

Yaalon arrived for talks at the Pentagon in unusual fashion, with the hybrid aircraft -- which hovers like a helicopter -- floating down for a landing outside the steps of the Defense Department.

Washington has offered the Osprey to Israel along with advanced missiles, sophisticated radar and aerial refueling tankers. If the deal goes through, Israel would be the first foreign country allowed to buy the Osprey.

Yaalon earlier flew in the Osprey 37 miles (60 kilometers) to a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, where pilots demonstrated the plane's capabilities.

The Israelis came away impressed by the speed of the aircraft, and one said it could "extend the night" for Israeli special forces, a US defense official said on condition of anonymity.

The V-22, which has two rotors that tilt up for landing and take-off, was plagued by technical problems and a spate of crashes in the 1990s.

But the plane, manufactured by Boeing, has become a favored workhorse in Afghanistan and elsewhere for the US Marine Corps, which has a fleet of more than 200.

The US Navy recently announced plans to buy 99 V-22s for $6.5 billion in a five-year contract.

After landing, Yaalon entered the Pentagon for talks with his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, that covered Syria's civil war and tensions with Iran.

The two men "discussed the ongoing violence in Syria and condemned the use of chemical weapons" by President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement.

"Both noted the complexities of the situation and resolved to remain in close contact and continue to share information to support the defense of Israel."

The talks came a day after President Barack Obama's administration said Assad's forces had used sarin gas in the war and hinted that Washington would begin supplying arms to Syrian rebels.

On Iran, which both countries accuse of pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program, Hagel and Yaalon "reaffirmed that the United States and Israel will continue to work together to counter threats posed by Iran and remain prepared for a range of contingencies," the statement said.

.


Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








AEROSPACE
Boeing gets $4 bn US Army helicopter deal
New York (AFP) June 11, 2013
US aerospace giant Boeing announced Tuesday it has received a multi-year $4 billion order from the US Army for 177 more CH-47F Chinook helicopters. The five-year deal includes an option for the army to buy 38 additional Chinooks, a multi-mission, twin-engine transport helicopter, Boeing said in a statement. "This order would eventually bring the Army's CH-47F total procurement close to i ... read more


AEROSPACE
LADEE Arrives at Wallops for Moon Mission

NASA's GRAIL Mission Solves Mystery of Moon's Surface Gravity

Moon dust samples missing for 40 years found in Calif. warehouse

Unusual minerals in moon craters may have been delivered from space

AEROSPACE
Mars Water-Ice Clouds Are Key to Odd Thermal Rhythm

Marks on Martian Dunes May Reveal Tracks of Dry-Ice Sleds

UH Astrobiologists Find Martian Clay Contains Chemical Implicated in the Origin of Life

Mars Rover Opportunity Trekking Toward More Layers

AEROSPACE
China confident in space exploration

A letter to China's first space teacher from U.S. predecessor

Space enthusiasts dream big after Shenzhou-10 launch

The Body Electric: Researchers Move Closer to Low-Cost, Implantable Electronics

AEROSPACE
China's Naughty Space Models

China's space dream crystallized with Shenzhou-10 launch

China astronauts enter space module

China to send second woman into space: officials

AEROSPACE
Europe's space truck docks with ISS

Russian cargo supply craft separates from International Space Station

Russian Space Freighter to Depart From Orbital Station

Star Canadian spaceman Chris Hadfield retiring

AEROSPACE
INSAT-3D is delivered to French Guiana for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 launch

A dream launch for Shenzhou X

Mitsubishi Heavy and Arianespace conclude MOU on commercial launches

Sea Launch IS-27 FROB Report Complete

AEROSPACE
Sunny Super-Earth?

Kepler Stars and Planets are Bigger than Previously Thought

Astronomers gear up to discover Earth-like planets

Stars Don't Obliterate Their Planets (Very Often)

AEROSPACE
MakerBot Opens New Manufacturing Factory in Brooklyn

Echoes can reveal the shape of a room

Chinese astronauts complete warm-up maintenance work in space module

Raytheon awarded contract for F-15C AESA radars




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement