All news – Page 6504
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Rotary Rocket holds Virgin funding talks
Andrzej Jeziorski/PARIS California's Rotary Rocket is in talks with UK millionaire and Virgin founder Richard Branson on funding for its Roton re-usable launch vehicle (RLV) programme. Rotary Rocket chief executive Gary Hudson is understood to have met Branson to discuss the programme. The company needs about $150 million ...
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Long March variant offers greater payload
China Great Wall Industry is developing a variant of the Long March launcher to place satellites in low-earth orbit (LEO). The LM-2E/A will be an enhanced version of the current LM-2E, with improved payload capability and reliability. According to China Great Wall vice-president Liu Zhixiong, the LM-2E/A will be ...
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ISS Shuttle mission set for launch
The Space Shuttle Discovery will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 20 May on STS96, to rendezvous and dock with the first two elements on the International Space Station (ISS). A week's delay because of damage to the insulation of the external tank, caused by hailstones, may ...
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Rising Star
Global alliances are in style, but their benefits are only now becoming clear Chris Jasper/SYDNEY Global airline alliances are the height of fashion, with two major groupings operating and possibly two more hurrying to enter the fray. Yet despite this scramble, the true importance of alliances has been ...
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European airlines' profits slip
Julian Moxon/BRUSSELSEuropean airlines remained profitable last year and ordered record numbers of aircraft, but it was a "black" year for punctuality, according to the Association of European Airlines (AEA) Operating profits, at $1.94 billion, were $400 million lower than for the previous year. Although 1997 figures were a record, much ...
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Delta completes acquisition of Atlantic Southeast
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines following the approval of a shareholders' meeting of ASA Holding, the parent company of the regional airline. Delta and ASA have announced schedule changes, beginning on 1 June, that will include ASA jet service to ...
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AlliedSignal plans structural realignment to reduce costs
AlliedSignal Aerospace will complete a major restructuring of its organisation by the end of this month, in a move designed to reduce costs and complexity, and to simplify supply chains and improve market focus and profitability. "We've organised our businesses in the way our customers buy," says AlliedSignal Aerospace ...
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BFGoodrich goes for growth
Guy Norris/SAN DIEGOBFGoodrich's newly enlarged Aerospace business is forecasting continuous growth from this year, thanks largely to sustained high volumes, fresh acquisitions and special diversification initiatives at its California-based Aerostructures Group, formerly known as Rohr. The growth strategy hinges on staying closely allied to Boeing and its future airliner programmes. ...
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R-R sharpens blade business with Israeli venture
Rolls-Royce is expanding control over manufacture of compressor blades for its engines with the setting up of a joint venture in northern Israel with two local companies and a large investment at its own factory in Scotland. The new company, Techjet (Israel), will be 50% owned by the UK ...
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Australian defence budget gives priority to missiles
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australia's 1999 defence budget gives the go-ahead for the purchase of warstock quantities of advanced short range and medium range air to air missiles (ASRAAMs and AMRAAMs) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ...
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Cannon decision
Joint Strike Fighter rivals Lockheed Martin and Boeing have picked Germany's Mauser 27mm cannon to arm the next-generation tactical aircraft. Boeing's ordnance division will build the gun under licence at Mesa, Arizona. The same business unit has won a 2.5-year, $5 million contract from the US Army to develop an ...
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Older E-2Cs may be sold
Paul Lewis/BETHPAGE Northrop Grumman and the US Navy are discussing offering older Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft for sale on the international market, while also negotiating to place retired A-6E Intruders with at least one potential operator. The US Navy is starting to phase ...
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NH90 consortium reaches price agreement
NH Industries consortium members and the four customer nations for the NH90 helicopter have agreed a 12.9% cost reduction of July 1998 prices on condition that the contract is signed this year. The signing of a memorandum of understanding covering the pre-production and production phases of the project has been ...
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First upgraded Greek Phantom flies
The first Greek air force McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom fighter to be upgraded by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) has had its maiden flight from the German company's Manching test centre. The aircraft reached a speed of Mach 1.5 and an altitude of 45,000ft (13,750m), flown by German air force test pilot ...
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Israel prepares to make fighter choice
The Israeli Ministry of Defence is poised to make a decision on selection of a new fighter once the first round of voting in the general elections is complete on 17 May. The outcome is likely to be a purchase split between the Lockheed Martin F-16I and the Boeing ...
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BAe set to proceed with re-engined RJ-X
British Aerospace hopes to be in a position to make a formal go-ahead decision for the re-engined Avro RJ-X family by the end of September, even if not backed by commitments from a launch customer. The RJ-X, unveiled by BAe in mid-February, is a proposed updated development of the ...
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Commuter Air predicts revival for Beech 200 conversion
Commuter Air Technology (CAT) is predicting an upsurge in demand for its 13-seat airliner conversion of the Raytheon Beech 200, dubbed the CATPASS 250. The programme was launched in 1986, taking used King Air airframes and modifying them for airline operations. Eight-two aircraft have been delivered, most operated in regional/commuter ...
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Fairchild Aerospace predicts business boom
Buoyed by its recent Lufthansa 728JET launch order, Fairchild Aerospace says its option and order backlog will exceed $10 billion by the end of 1999. The company predicts "substantial" new business for its 328JET/428JET family, particularly in North America, where scope clauses changes are expected. "We think it's the ...
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Embraer expands ERJ designs
Embraer has revealed a surprise, 108-seat, stretch of its ERJ-190 regional jet which effectively provides the Brazilian manufacturer with a direct competitor to Bombardier's proposed BRJ-X. The move comes in response to input from Embraer's recently completed airline advisory board survey which helped freeze the smaller ERJ-170 design at ...
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GE outlines development plans for CF34-8 family
General Electric is finalising development plans for a 17,000-18,000lb-thrust (75.6 -80kN) growth derivative of the CF34-8D, dubbed the -8XX, for Fairchild's 928JET programme. The engine is expected to make its first test flight in mid-2003, and could be certificated by the US Federal Aviation Administration as early as the fourth ...