All news – Page 6313
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Unhappy month
December 1999 was an unhappy month for airline safety in a year which has been better than most. In the last four weeks of 1999 there were eight fatal accidents involving airlines as diverse as small regional operators flying twin turboprops to majors flying widebodies. With Korean Air's Boeing ...
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Uganda slashes services ahead of SAA takeover
Michael Wakabi/KAMPALA Ailing Uganda Airlines has reduced its services to a minimum in anticipation of its takeover by South African Airways (SAA) in March. A top-level meeting between Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni and an SAA delegation last month appeared to iron out remaining obstacles to the deal. Uganda is to ...
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SIA/Virgin work out fine print
Chris Jasper/LONDON Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Atlantic are hammering out the details of their recently agreed deal. Under it, the Asian giant takes a 49% stake in the UK holding company, which owns Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Sun and cargo operation Virgin Aviation Services. The £600 ...
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Mergers
The UK's Smiths Industries has agreed to buy the US aerospace arm of UK industrial group Invensys, formed last year from the merger of engineering groups BTR and Seibe. The $175 million deal strengthens Smiths' position in supplying integrated systems for civil and military aircraft, and includes environmental control systems ...
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Union opposition kills Elta/Elisra plans
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV Plans to form a joint marketing company to handle the sale of early warning systems offered by Israel's Elta and Elisra have failed because of fierce opposition from trade unions at state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), Elta's parent. Elisra's owner, Koor - Israel's largest industrial concern ...
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Investor alliance clinches Fairchild takeover
Regional jet maker Fairchild Aerospace is to be bought by an alliance led by US investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and German insurance company Allianz. The $1.2 billion deal, plans for which were revealed by Flight International in October, will provide funding for Fairchild's 728JET family. The ...
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SAirGroup expands maintenance businesses
Maintenance giant SR Technics is to establish a US centre after signing a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to purchase a hangar at Palmdale, California. Another SAirGroup company, Crossair, is expanding its maintenance capabilities by purchasing the repair business of Switzerland's Sulzer Industries. SR Technics America will focus initially ...
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Brazilian Cougars
The Brazilian army has ordered eight Eurocopter AS532 Cougar helicopters in a deal valued at $90.5 million. The Cougars will be tasked with surveillance and border patrol duties in the Amazon Basin. All but four of the army's helicopters are Eurocopters, while the Cougar is in Brazilian navy service. Source: ...
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T-6 resolution paves way for NATO school
Bombardier's NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme is expected to be operational in March, after delayed delivery of Raytheon T-6A-1 Harvard II turboprop trainers. Training of Canadian Forces student pilots is expected to begin as soon as aircraft are delivered to Moose Jaw, Alberta, says Jim Richardson, NFTC programme ...
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USMC holds fire on joint rotorcraft
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Marine Corps is reserving judgement on participating in the US Army-led Joint Transport Rotorcraft (JTR) programme until the joint staff's critical Overarching Rotorcraft Capabilities Assessment (ORCA) is completed. Meanwhile, the USMC is drawing up plans to extend the service life of its Sikorsky CH-53E helicopters. ...
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Italy moves on UAV purchases after Yugoslavia campaign
Andy Nativi/GENOA The Italian armed forces are launching a series of unmanned air vehicle (UAV) procurement programmes following the extensive use of such systems during Operation Allied Force against Yugoslavia last year. A "lesson learned" study has pushed the Italian defence ministry to accelerate its UAV acquisition plans. As ...
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Global Hawk procedures changed
Flight procedures for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) have been modified following the US Air Force's investigation of the crash on 29 March last year that destroyed a $45 million Global Hawk. The accident occurred when the UAV inadvertently received a flight ...
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USAF spotlights F-22 savings
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force has identified additional cost savings worth $200 million from the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor development programme. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney have won contracts from the US Air Force to build six F-22 Raptor production-representative test vehicles (PRTVs) (Flight International, ...
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Japan's F-2 service entry delayed again
The Japanese Defence Agency (JDA) has extended development of the Mitsubishi F-2A/B support fighter by another three months after the discovery of fresh structural load problems, this time at the base of the aircraft's fin. Recent XF-2 flight tests revealed excessive loads at the root of the tail while ...
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Contracts
Raytheon has received a $44.3 million US Air Force contract to upgrade over 1,200 GBU-15 glide bombs with global positioning system guidance. Boeing Wichita has won a $109 million US Air Force contract for the B-52 Avionics Midlife Improvement programme. The inertial navigation system will be replaced by the laser-gyro ...
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CASA wins double approval for C295
CASA has received civil and military certification for its C295 tactical transport. The aircraft is a stretch of the CASA/IPTN CN235 and has 50% more cargo volume than the CN235. Pratt &Whitney PW127G turboprops replace General Electric CT7s. The C295 is competing in Australia, Greece and South Korea. The Spanish ...
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Bangladesh air force receives first four MiG-29 Fulcrums
Bangladesh has received the first four of eight MAPO MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters. The air force ordered the aircraft and a support package last June in a $125 million deal. The remaining four MiG-29s are due for delivery next month. Following the order, the opposition party tried to block the ...
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France sinks ANF supersonic anti-ship missile programme
Julian Moxon/PARIS The French Ministry of Defence has suspended the Aerospatiale Matra ANF supersonic anti-ship missile programme, citing threat studies that indicate such a missile is no longer needed. The decision was a surprise to Aerospatiale Matra. ANF development had been funded in the 2000 defence budget and ...
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JSF programme aims for more countries as EMD stage nears
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme will be open to wider international involvement once full-scale engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) is launched in April 2001. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to sign the nine nations participating in the concept demonstration phase up to EMD. "We're ...