All news – Page 6532
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Smiths in US swoop
Merger-minded Smiths Industries of the UK has made its first purchase in what may be a series of acquisitions in 1999, with a $14.5 million swoop for US health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) manufacturer Strategic Technology Systems (STSI). Completion of the purchase is subject to US regulatory approval, ...
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Conflict of cost
With air superiority at the heart of NATO's current - and future - military doctrine, the cost debate over the alliance's next generation strike fighter has become critical to say the least. The issue becomes all the more poignant as the world watches some of the most advanced air ...
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US forces to push forward AIM-9XL flight tests
The US Navy and US Air Force are planning an aggressive 34-month flight-test programme for the Raytheon AIM-9X Evolved Sidewinder air-to-air missile following its first firing. Funding is being sought at the same time for initial low rate production of 150 missiles. About 16 separation firings and more than ...
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Elisra and Lockheed Martin team on F-16
Israeli company Elisra and Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sanders are to co-operate in developing electronic warfare (EW) suites for new and upgraded F-16s. The deal was agreed in principle during a visit to Israel on 28 March by Micky Blackwell, president and chief executive of Lockheed Martin's aeronautics sector. ...
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Proposals requested for F/A-18E/F active array
Boeing has issued a draft request for proposals for an active-array radar for the F/A-18E/FSuper Hornet. It is awaiting the US Navy's go-ahead to launch a competition between Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to develop the active electronically scanned array (AESA). A winner is expected to be named in the fourth ...
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Lockheed Martin optimistic about F-22 flight-test delays
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin believes that it can reduce F-22 flight-test delays caused by manufacturing problems to "a few weeks", despite wing deliveries from Boeing being several months behind schedule. Problems with the large titanium "side-of-body" castings which attach the wing to the fuselage have been solved, ...
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DGA reforms yield results for French defence projects
France's weapons procurement agency, the DGA, has completed two years of intense reforms and bought the major overbudget defence programmes back on track, according to the organisation's chief, Jean-Yves Helmer. The DGA handles around 70% of France's total defence budget, and has been forced into tough decisions in response ...
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Global Hawk is destroyed in China Lake crash
A Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was destroyed in a crash during a test flight at the NAS China Lake test centre on 29 March, just 20min after taking off from Edwards AFB in California. "We don't know what caused the crash, or any of the ...
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Gripen Aviatronics
Ericsson Saab Avionics has awarded a R6.2 million ($1 million) contract for electronic subsystems for the Gripen to South Africa's Avitronics. The deal covers development and manufacture of a display system power unit. Source: Flight International
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Boeing JSF improvements will meet payload shortfall 'four times over'
The Boeing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme team claims to have identified a range of installed thrust improvement and weight reduction options for the US Marine Corps and Royal Navy version of the X-32 demonstrator. The team says the improvements more than address the projected payload performance shortfall in the ...
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First NATO modified Polish MiG-29 makes its debut
Poland has deployed the first of its Mikoyan MiG-29A fighters fitted with Western identification friend or foe (IFF) and communications equipment, ready for air-defence duties with NATO following Poland's recent accession to the alliance. The new IFF blade antennas on the top of the nose to port of the electro-optical ...
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NFTC orders more Hawks as RAF signs for NATO training
The Royal Air Force is to join the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) scheme, becoming the third customer for the programme after Canada and Denmark. The RAF will send up to 20 pilots over 10 years, beginning in 2001, to take part in the tactics and weapons element ...
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Eagle vision
Orbital Sciences' affiliate Orbital Image has received a US National Reconnaissance Office contract to upgrade the Eagle Vision II transportable satellite ground station to receive high- resolution imagery from its OrbView-3 satellite, to be launched this year. Under a separate USAir Force contract, the company will operate the Warfighter hyper- ...
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Sikorsky advances S-92 utility
Paul Lewis/STRATFORD Sikorsky is bringing forward the planned military utility version of the S-92 Helibus, including study of marinised applications for the medium-size helicopter. The company seeks international market support for a mid-year production go-ahead. The S-92 was intended primarily as a 19-seat civil helicopter, to be followed ...
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French target added to USN supersonic competition
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A new air target being developed by Aerospatiale Missiles has been bid in the US Navy's Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target (SSST) competition. The bid was made after the USN extended its deadline by one month, to 14 April. Bids are expected from Allied Signal Aerospace, an ...
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US Army stays upbeat as THAAD misses again
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Army's experimental Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile failed to hit a test target for the sixth consecutive time in its latest test firing on 29 March, costing Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor, compensation to the US Department of Defense. As part of a ...
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Little relief in taxing times
Jack Sellsby/LONDON Tax law changes have put paid to cheap deals Until the final quarter of last year, potential aircraft purchasers could take advantage of major rivalry in the aircraft finance markets between finance houses and banks in different jurisdictions offering airlines attractive tax-based finance structures. These made financing aircraft ...
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Airlines keep options open
Jack Sellsby/LONDON A wide choice of financial packages brings its own complications Ask an aircraft financier about the best way to pay for an airliner and there is never a simple answer - either in healthy economic times or poor. But airlines may have a surprisingly wide choice of finance ...
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Credit search
Jack Sellsby/LONDON Financing aircraft can be a nightmare for some airlines and a hazard for lenders Airlines spend billions of dollars on new aircraft deliveries each year, and manufacturers - aided by their ever-willing and export-minded governments - ensure comparable amounts of commercial jets are financed. Airlines with ...
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Premium bond
Bond Helicopters has secured a £10 million ($17 million) three-year contract to supply joint offshore support to UK-based oil and gas companies BHP Petroleum and Hydro Carbon Resources. The Aberdeen, Scotland, UK-based operator will deploy two Eurocopter SA365Ns to transport personnel to and from the oil rigs operating off the ...