All news – Page 6344
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LTU starts fleet update with A320s
Andrew Doyle/MUNICHGerman charter carrier LTU International Airways is acquiring 12 Airbus A320s in the first stage of a fleet restructuring that will lead to the selection of a new widebody type to replace its Boeing 767-300ERs. The company, 49.9%-owned by the SAirGroup, is also considering concluding a sale and leaseback ...
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KAI freezes KTX-2 configuration
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has frozen the configuration of the Samsung KTX-2 trainer, now under development for the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF). Alex Jun, KAI's general manager, says: "We have just passed an important milestone, in freezing the aircraft's outer mould line." This means the aerodynamic design is ...
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Mini munitions 'on track'
Ramon Lopez/EGLIN AFB Risk reduction work on the Miniature Munition Capability (MMC) being carried out at the US Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate will be part of a USAF programme review in December. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have contracts from the Eglin AFB-based Air ...
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CALCM convert
Boeing has rolled out the first of 322 Conventional Air- Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs) converted from nuclear-warheaded Air Launched Cruise Missiles. The first re-roled CALCMs will be delivered to the US Air Force later this month once warheads have been fitted and the weapons fuelled. Source: Flight International
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Russian Mil Mi-8s bound for Rwanda
Kazan Helicopter Plant has shipped several Mil Mi-8MTV-5 transport helicopters to Rwanda. Also known as the Mi-17MD, the variant is the latest incarnation of the Mi-8 Hip. The helicopter is fitted with a hydraulic ramp and wide doors on both sides of the cabin, a configuration developed using combat ...
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India to build Su-30MKI next year, get MiG-29Ks
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW India is to start licence production of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter next year. The agreement was finalised in early November during a visit to New Delhi by Ilya Klebanov, Russia's deputy prime minister, who has responsibility for the defence industry. A contract will be signed later this ...
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USN tests anti-missile laser
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON The US Navy has conducted the first live-fire test of laser missile jamming systems suitable for installation on fast-jet combat aircraft. The UK observed the trials, conducted under the Navy's Tactical Aircraft Directed Infrared Countermeasures (TADIRCM) advanced technology demonstrator programme. Prototype systems developed by Lockheed Martin Sanders ...
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Sikorsky Cypher in VTOL UAV hunt
Sikorsky has emerged as a late entrant in the US Navy's vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle competition. The helicopter manufacturer is offering a development of the Cypher II being tested by the US Marine Corps. Cypher III will be a scaled up, turbine-powered design based on the ...
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The Manufacturer's view
Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Roger Lecomte, Airbus Industrie's vice-president of engineering support, says: "The introduction of the A330-200 was like that of the A321 [after the A320] for us. We were able to benefit from the lessons we learned with the introduction of the A330-300 and A340." ...
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Boeing looks at 757 slowdown
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Falling order backlogs are forcing Boeing to study a production slowdown of the 757 earlier than expected next year. Boeing plans to deliver 53 757s next year, and has been preparing to cut the rate from the present five per month to around 4.5. But now ...
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Hyper-X test date put back to May
Flight testing of the first hypersonic X-43A air-breathing free-flight vehicle has slipped by around three months to the end of next May. The delay follows the later-than-expected arrival of the experimental craft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California. The 3.6m (12ft)-long X-43A is a key part ...
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Lockheed Martin wins FAME contract
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) has been awarded a $37 million NASA contract. It will provide the optical scientific instrument for NASA's $162 million Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer (FAME), to be launched in 2004. The instrument will determine, with unprecedented accuracy, the positions, distances ...
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Starsem is cleared for Baikonur
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Franco-Russian venture Starsem has been cleared to launch a Soyuz booster from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, this month. The launch had been jeopardised when the Kazakh Government banned all launches from Baikonur after the 27 October Proton booster failure - the second recently. Starsem president Jean-Yves ...
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X-33's first flight may be delayed until 2001
The maiden flight of the Lockheed Martin/NASA X-33 sub-orbital technology demonstrator for future single-stage-to-orbit vehicles is likely to be delayed from next July until early 2001. The hold-up is due to damage to the demonstrator's liquid hydrogen (LH) tanks. The outer wall of one of the X-33's two ...
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Long-range workout
How has the latest long-range A330 performed since its entry into service? Andrew Doyle/ZURICH Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC In its latest market forecast, Airbus Industrie predicts that 210/250-seaters like the A330-200 will make up one-fifth of the 14,800 new aircraft to be delivered over the next 20 years. The ...
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City Bird moves to short-haul as Branson deal expires
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS City Bird is undertaking a strategic change in direction early next year when the low-cost, long-haul airline begins short-haul charter operations with a fleet of Boeing 737s. The move was signalled when Brussels-based City Bird signed a lease deal with Boullioun Aviation Services for two Boeing ...
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Airports
All 565 US airports regulated by the US Federal Aviation Administration have passed millennium bug safety and security system compliance tests. The US Department of Transportation says it has achieved Y2K compliance objectives for its mission critical systems, including the FAA's air traffic control system. A $70 million upgrade of ...
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Beagle 2 Mars lander gets ESA go ahead
The European Space Agency (ESA) has given the go-ahead for the UK to build the Beagle 2 lander, which is scheduled to ride aboard the space agency's Mars Express orbiter when it launches in June 2003. The UK Beagle team, which is led by the country's Open University and ...
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Italian order launches C-27J
Andy Nativi/TURINThe Italian air force has ordered 12 Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) C-27J Spartans, becoming launch customer for the upgraded G222. Deliveries are to start in 2001 and last until 2004. LMATTS has not finalised the deal with the Italian air force but it will include an ...
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UK set to outsource RAF Eurofighter support with 'power by the hour'
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH The UK Government is expected to approve by the end of the year plans to hand the Eurofighter industrial consortium responsibility for long-term maintenance support of the Eurofighter being acquired by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The deal could be worth more than £10 billion to British Aerospace ...