All news – Page 6416
-
News
Grounded Chinooks close to flying again
The US Army is hoping to return about half its grounded fleet of 466 Boeing CH-47D/MH-47E Chinooks to flight status after being inspected for potentially fatal cracked transmission gears first discovered on an RAF machine during a depot-level overhaul. A worldwide flight suspension order was issued as a result ...
-
News
Contracts
Raytheon has received a US Air Force contract, potentially worth $250 million over five years, to support all U-2 sensors, datalinks and ground systems. Raytheon has also won a four-year $130 million contract to provide contractor logistic support for the US Navy's 116 Bell TH-57B/C training helicopters. Racal Avionics has ...
-
News
Japan turns to Hawkeye as tanker has to wait
The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) is to again defer plans to seek funding for a tanker procurement until at least the end of this year, in the face of continued political opposition. In the meantime, it is pushing for funding to upgrade 13 Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye aircraft in the ...
-
News
Miniature air launched decoy nears flight test completion
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Flight testing of the Northrop Grumman miniature air launched decoy (MALD) is expected to be complete early next month, with the focus shifting to winning funding for an initial production run of 3,000 units. The MALD, built by Northrop Grumman's Ryan Aeronautical Center in San ...
-
News
NATO agency turns down MEADS protest
The NATO Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) management agency has rejected a Raytheon protest filed after Lockheed Martin's selection as the US participant in the international medium-range battlefield air defence system. Raytheon has three options. It can drop the matter, file a formal protest with the US General ...
-
News
India downs Atlantic
An Indian air force MikoyanMiG-21 shot down a Pakistan navy-operated Dassault Atlantic 1 on 10 August using a Vympel R-60/AA-8 Aphid infrared-guided missile. All 16 on board were killed. Both countries claim the wreckage lies on their territory. Source: Flight International
-
News
Land for aircraft
Ireland's defence minister Michael Smith is proposing that the Irish Air Corps' largest airbase at Baldonnel near Dublin is opened to commercial traffic to help raise I£235 million ($320 million) for new Air Corps equipment. A report on potential fund raising in lieu of central funding will be presented to ...
-
News
PAAMS contract signed
France, Italy and the UK have signed a £1.3 billion ($2 billion) contract for the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS), which will become the primary air defence system for the three countries' next generation warships. The contract covers full-scale engineering and development and initial production of an entire ...
-
News
Spanish and US navies look at Sikorsky modifications
Paul Lewis/OWEGO, NEW YORK Spain is looking at upgrading its Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawks to the planned new SH-60R configuration. The US Navy, in the meantime, has said it is following closely a US Army study to re-engine its UH-60L Black Hawks. The Spanish navy operates six SH-60Bs and is planning ...
-
News
Anger as MoD scraps competition
Stewart Penney/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence's decision to abandon its Short Term Strategic Airlifter (STSA) competition has left bidders surprised and angry. The competition was dropped as the five bids did not offer an acceptable solution at an affordable price, according to the MoD (Flight International, 11-17 August). The ...
-
News
Italian ISS module goes to Kennedy
Italy's second Alenia Aerospazio-built International Space Station (ISS) Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, aboard an Airbus Beluga freighter in preparation for its launch on the Space Shuttle STS100 Endeavour next July. The first MPLM - Leonardo - will fly in June, on ...
-
News
First ISS commercial deal won by Spacehab
Spacehab and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have signed an agreement which provides the US company with access to the International Space Station (ISS). In exchange for its contribution to the ISS, Canada is entitled to space on the ISS to conduct experiments. The CSA is letting half of ...
-
News
First European experiments for space station ready to fly
Two European Space Agency (ESA) experiments will be flying on the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. A global transmission service (GTS) and the Matroshka radiation monitor will be aboard Russia's Zvezda service module in November . The GTS uses a transmitter with two dedicated frequencies to ...
-
News
Globalstar services to begin in October
Globalstar will launch initial global mobile communications satellite services on 10 October, coinciding with the Geneva Telecom telecommunications show. The launch is being made possible following the company securing a $500 million credit facility with the Bank of America. The company, led by Loral Space and Communications and ...
-
News
Mir crew deploy delayed antenna
Mir space station cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Sergei Avdeyev completed a 5h 30min spacewalk on 25 July - probably the last to be made from the Russian craft. The cosmonauts completed the deployment of a prototype unfurlable communications antenna that could not be deployed during a walk on 23 July. ...
-
News
Pollution threat
It will not be possible to enter earth orbit or break into deep space safely in 50 years' time unless the rate of space pollution can be reduced, says Russian scientist Vladimir Lebedev. Eight thousand objects over 10cm in diameter are in orbit with 3.5 million pieces smaller than 1mm. ...
-
News
Canada turns to Europe after USA denies licence
Graham Warwick/VANCOUVER Canada is to order a European spacecraft bus for its Radarsat-2 earth observation satellite, after original supplier Orbital Sciences (OSC) was denied an export licence by the US Government. Industry minister John Manley says Canada will select a supplier within the next eight weeks. The move ...
-
News
Lunar Prospector fails to find water
NASA's Lunar Prospector hit the south pole of the moon as planned on 31 July, but no vapour plume was detected after the impact. Scientists hope that an as-yet undetected faint plume may contain traces of either water or the hydroxyl radical formed when sunlight splits a hydrogen atom away ...
-
News
Seal plug identified as culprit for Columbia's fuel leaks
Tim Furniss/LONDON Three liquid hydrogen coolant tubes - not one as had been presumed earlier - in one of the main engines of last month's Space Shuttle STS93 Columbia were punctured by a small plug used to seal a liquid oxygen injector tube which came loose as the ...
-
News
Airline presidents discuss Brazil's plight
The presidents of Varig, Vasp, Transbrasil and TAM have met to discuss ways of overcoming Brazil's recent economic difficulties, prompting speculation that the four carriers are about to merge into two companies. Brazil's airlines have been severely hit by the country's economic crash at the start of the year. ...