All news – Page 6591
-
News
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: ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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. ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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, ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
El Al resists US pressureand opts for Trent
Israeli flag carrier El Al is buying Rolls-Royce Trent 800s to power three Boeing 777-200ERs on firm order, despite efforts by the US Government to have the powerplant selection overturned in favour of the General Electric GE90 (Flight International, 15-21 December 1999). The R-R Trent-powered 777s will be delivered ...
-
News
Late rash mars safer than average year
Despite the rash of serious airline accidents in December which made 1999 appear a bad year for safety, initial figures indicate that last year was safer than average for the 1990s. The number of crew and passenger deaths in all categories of airliner worldwide was 730, compared with a decade ...
-
News
Pentagon aims to speed up C-130J procurement
The US Department of Defense (DoD) plans to accelerate the procurement of Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transports for the US Air Force and Marine Corps, but has declined the company's offer of a substantial discount in return for buying more aircraft earlier. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, has signed a contract ...
-
News
Olympic takes 717s on Bavaria lease
Olympic Aviation accepted two Boeing 717-200s at Long Beach, California, on 7 January and plans to begin services with the new aircraft by the end of this month. The 717s have been leased from Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing, which placed firm orders for five aircraft in May 1998. Four of ...
-
News
777-100X revived to counter A330 at Singapore Airlines
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing is looking at reviving the shelved 777-100X shrink derivative as a counter to Airbus Industrie's A330-200 and its proposed -100 variant ahead of an expected Singapore Airlines (SIA) request for proposals (RFP) for an A310 replacement. SIA is expected to release ...
-
News
NTSB calls for T-34 Mentor to be grounded
All Beech T-34s used for mock air-combat "thrill" flights should be grounded until they are inspected for serious structural faults, says the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The recommendation follows the board's investigation of a T-34A Mentor crash on 19 April last year involving wing failure. The former ...
-
News
Flight test delays hit Raytheon Premier I certification plans
Raytheon Aircraft has postponed certification of its Premier I entry-level business jet to the second quarter of this year. Flight-test delays prevented the company meeting its target of certificating the aircraft by the end of last year - a year later than originally planned. Three aircraft had accumulated over ...
-
News
Gulfstream centre
Gulfstream is expanding its business aircraft completions centre at Brunswick, Georgia, USA. The project, valued at around $3 million, will include the construction of a 2,140m² (23,000ft²) completion hangar and the upgrade and lease of a 1,860m2 storage and maintenance building. The new facility will provide additional capacity to support ...