All news – Page 6651
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Missile assembly
Shorts Missile Systems (SMS) has opened its Multiple Ordnance Assembly and Test facility. The factory will carry out final assembly of the company's Starburst and Starstreak short-range air defence missile systems, and caters for flexible manufacturing of a range of missiles, utilising advanced assembly techniques. As a direct result, ...
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Joint pressure
Togetherness is the byword for modern military operations as nations get round tight budgets by sharing resources Stewart Penney and DeeDee Doke/LONDON Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DCThe Australian-led Operation Stabilise in East Timor has at least 11 nations involved and Operation Allied Force over Kosovo and Yugoslavia included contributions from 14 NATO ...
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Czech striker
Aero Vodochody earns an A for ambition with its L-159 light combat aircraft Michael Gerzanics/PRAGUE Based on its L-39 Albatros, Aero Vodochody's L-159 is the latest and most capable version of the world's most prolific jet training aircraft. Since 1968, Czech manufacturer Aero has delivered over 3,000 L-39s and variants ...
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Tailored to fit
Airbus has developed a flexible aircraft system, reducing lead times, cutting costs and trimming parts inventories Julian Moxon/TOULOUSE Until recently, the manufacture of aircraft was driven by forces that had little in common with the markets into which the resulting products were sold. Lead times were long and out of ...
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Pylons for all
Aerospatiale Matra's St Eloi factory in suburban Toulouse is notable for one thing - the manufacture of engine pylons for all aircraft models built by the consortium, today numbering 13, but soon to be 15. St Eloi is a good example of lean manufacturing: flexibility and ever-shorter production cycles. Airbus' ...
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Wiring snags delay ISS module
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Proton launch of the Russian Zvezda service module to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for 12 November, has been put back to between 26 December and 16 January, with more delays possible. Although Russian launch site testing of the module has been slower than intended, the ...
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Lockheed Martin poised for VentureStar review
A critical design review of the proposed VentureStar reusable launch vehicle, based on the Lockheed Martin X-33 advanced technology demonstrator, will take place this month. Work on the X-33 has convinced Lockheed Martin that the VentureStar will use an external payload bay, says Jerry Rising, Lockheed Martin's X-33 and ...
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Arianespace win
Arianespace, which leads the commercial launcher market, has increased its orderbook to 42 satellites with a contract from GE Americom to launch a new spacecraft. The undesignated GE satellite is scheduled to be launched on an Ariane 5 in 2001. Arianespace will also offer a quick-reaction launch in December for ...
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NASA panels to probe loss of Mars Orbiter
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has established three investigation panels to look into the failure of the Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) on 23 September. NASA's $125 million craft was lost 5min after the firing of its orbital-insertion engine burn. The Orbiter was flying at up to 80-90km too low because the ...
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Telescope launch
Integral, the European Space Agency's (ESA) International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory will be launched on a Russian Proton booster in 2001. The spacecraft will be placed into a highly elliptical Earth orbit. Meanwhile, the ESA's X-Ray Multi Mirror telescope has arrived at Kourou in preparation for its launch aboard the ...
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Military weather satellite launch delayed
The launch of the first uprated series of the US Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Programme (DMSP) weather satellite from Vandenberg AFB, California, has been postponed until December at the earliest. The launch, by Titan II, of the Block 5D-3 series spacecraft, was scheduled for later this month. It ...
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MD Helicopters will cut link with Boeing
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON MD Helicopters plans to sever its manufacturing ties with Boeing when the contract to build parts for the five-strong civil helicopter line is fulfilled in early 2001. "As part of the deal to buy Boeing civil helicopters, we signed a binding manufacturing agreement," says MD Helicopters chief executive ...
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Groen Hawk 4 gyro makes maiden flight
Groen Brothers Aviation (GBA) flew the first production Hawk 4 gyroplane for the first time on 29 September at the company's Buckeye, Arizona, operations base, following a 13-year development programme. Three Hawk prototypes have been flown. Certification and first deliveries are to start in the second quarter of 2001, ...
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Kaman clinches sale for external-seat K-MAX
Kaman Aerospace has clinched its first order for a K-MAX helicopter equipped with its external passenger seat. The sale to an unnamed European customer comes around three years after development the "Class A" seat began. The detachable metal seat, developed solely for the external lift helicopter, is designed to ...
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FAA programme outlines general aviation safety goals
General aviation in the USA has been given a target for safety improvement under the Federal Aviation Administration's Safer Skies programme, which until now has concentrated on commercial air transport safety. A 20% reduction in the fatal GA accident rate by 2007 has been deemed a feasible "safety metric", ...
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New Piper ponders jet move
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC New Piper Aircraft, buoyed by increasing piston and turboprop sales, continues to explore a venture into the jet-powered aircraft market. The move will be contingent on a future public stock offering. Vero Beach, Florida-based New Piper estimates the cost of developing a jet-powered light aircraft ...
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Personal VTOL maker ties up NASA deal
A previously unknown company in Santa Clara, California, has signed a three-year agreement with NASA to help develop its single-passenger "personal" vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Millennium Jet completed the first test flight of its SoloTrek Exo-Skeletor Flying Vehicle in April. The machine has been under development secretly ...
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WAAS appeal
The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has called on the US Federal Aviation Administration to "move forward aggressively" to implement its Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) satellite navigation system. "It is time for the FAA to eliminate the paralysis of analysis," says AOPA. WAAS is due to go ...
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Cessna tests reveal flaws
Developmental flight tests of Cessna's Citation Encore light business jet have revealed the need for alterations to the twin-engined aircraft. These will delay certification and first deliveries until the second and fourth quarters of next year. Wichita, Kansas-based Cessna will add 36cm (14in) wing tip extensions to shorten take-off distances, ...
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Mooney aims to deliver more powerful Ovation
Mooney Aircraft plans to offer a more powerful variant of the four-seat Ovation. The manufacturer is working with McCauley Propeller on a new propeller design for the aircraft with "fewer blades". Mooney president Chris Dopp says: "The new McCauley model is an adaptation of a four-blade design used on ...