All news – Page 6620
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US tests Little Birds for clandestine operations
Ramon Lopez/WILLIAMSBURG The US Army's elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) is conducting flight tests of a further enhanced "Little Bird" helicopter destined to conduct clandestine missions until it is replaced by the RW-X rotorcraft in the 2015-18 timeframe, say US Army aviation officials. First fielded in ...
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Marconi tests Diamond Back wing kit on Boeing munitions
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Marconi Electronic Systems' Diamond Back wing kit is to be flight tested on the Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Boeing Small Smart Bomb (SSB) within the next two years, in a bid to extend the range of a new family of smart bombs. ...
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GKN Westland grabs maintenance deal
GKN Westland and the UK's Defence Helicopter Support Agency have signed a 10-year partnership agreement for the repair and overhaul of the UK Ministry of Defence's entire Westland Lynx and Sea King naval helicopter fleet. The deal is likely to cover the Merlin helicopter when it comes into service in ...
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Powerplant manufacturers face off for NH90 competition
Julian Moxon/PARIS Engine suppliers for the four-nation NH Industries NH90 military transport helicopter are in the final stages of an all-out competition to provide powerplants for aircraft which are being ordered by Germany and the Netherlands. The two teams - Rolls-Royce/Turboméca/BMW R-R, with the RTM322, and General Electric/Fiat/Alfa ...
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On the record
Analysis, Management & Systems has won a contract to supply engine life recorders for the Royal Australian Air Force and NATO Flying Training Canada British Aerospace Hawk trainer fleets' Rolls-Royce Adour turbofans. The systems are required for monitoring engine use. Source: Flight International
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C-130 ticket
Spain's National Institute of Aerospace Techniques (INTA) has certified cockpit modifications by CASA to the Spanish air force's fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130 transports. Modernisation of the whole fleet is expected to be complete by 2000. Source: Flight International
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Australia gears up for combat
Proposals from Cubic Defense Systems and Raytheon Systems have been shortlisted by the Australian Department of Defence for the development of an instrumented air combat manoeuvre facility located at the Delamare bombing range in Australia's Northern Territory, with a source selection to be made "in the next few months." ...
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Russian air force calls for fresh injection of attack capability
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Russia needs to bolster its ground attack and strike capability by modernising existing designs as well as introducing new air-to-ground weapons and aircraft, according to Russian air force commander in chief Col Gen Anatoly Kornukov. "Efficient aviation support is a key factor for success for the ...
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Raytheon completes third land missile
Raytheon Systems has completed the third flight test of the Land Attack Standard Missile (LASM), when the weapon's Mk125 warhead underwent testing. The missile flew for 80km (50 miles) on a preprogrammed route in the trial, which took place at White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, in September. ...
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Lockheed Martin gives C-130J ergonomic refit
Lockheed Martin is to introduce a series of alterations to the cockpit of the C-130J tactical transport aircraft to overcome ergonomic problems experienced by short pilots, including visibility through the aircraft's advanced headup display (HUD) and reach to the throttle in certain flight parameters. The problem has been caused ...
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Russian Topol flops during launch
A Topol-M (RS-12M2) intercontinental ballistic missile, fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, self-destructed during the system's fifth test on 22 October, following first stage engine burn-out. The Strategic Rocket Forces denies that the missile's destruction was caused by a system failure, claiming that the incident was a ...
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Building boom
Paul Lewis/BEIJING China has embarked on an ambitious programme of new airport construction and expansion of existing facilities as the country's infrastructure plays catch-up with breakneck growth in air transport since the mid-1980s. This building boom is now at its peak, with the government projected to spend some yuan100 ...
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Unwanted overlay?
Emma Kelly/LONDON Europe is on course to make "a historical decision" on the second stage of its satellite navigation programme in the first half of 1999, says Neil Kinnock, European Commission (EC) transport commissioner. Since Kinnock presented the EC's satellite navigation strategy at the beginning of this year, the Commission ...
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Muscular Malibu
Dave Higdon/WITCHITA In developing the Meridian, a turboprop derivative of its Malibu high-performance piston single, New Piper Aircraft is counting on the fact that customers will find the transition to turbine power both attractive and manageable. To test this premise, Flight International evaluated the Malibu turboprop conversion developed by JetProp ...
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Mini-missile to take away
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Weapons a fraction of the size of today's munitions are being considered by the US Air Force to increase the firepower of the planned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and smaller unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) that might follow. Internal weapons carriage, when required for stealth, limits the ...
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Ion cruiser
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA's Deep Space 1 (DS1) spacecraft is being propelled to its rendezvous with an asteroid by an ion propulsion system, the first use of such a system in the history of interplanetary exploration. The DS1, which was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 24 October, is the first ...
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Airbus steps up its efforts to market A319 Corporate Jet
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Airbus Industrie is to dedicate up to 12 A319 delivery positions a year to its Corporate Jet, in a bid to convince customers that it is serious about the business aviation market. The European consortium has booked commitments for 12 aircraft since launching the A319CJ ...
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Eurocopter achieves sales boom in US market
Off-shore operator Tex-Air Helicopters has purchased 11 Eurocopter helicopters for use in the Gulf of Mexico. The Houston, Texas-based company will take delivery of six AS350s by year-end, and seven EC120s will arrive next April. The aircraft will be used on contracts for Amoco and other oil companies. The ...
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US aircraft deliveries accelerate by 50%
Aircraft shipments by US general aviation manufacturers in the first nine months of the year increased by more than half, with deliveries of piston-powered aircraft almost doubling over those of the same period last year. The US General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) says that piston aircraft deliveries increased by ...
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Sikorsky schedules December date for first Helibus flight
Ramon Lopez/WILLIAMSBURG The first flight of the Sikorsky S-92 Helibus medium-weight helicopter is now planned to take place in late December, three months later than expected, says Randy Oliver, Sikorsky's S-92 flight test director. Delivery of the first of five prototypes of the twin-turbine helicopter, the ground-test vehicle ...