All news – Page 6672
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Venezuela resurrects trainer competition
Venezuela has re-opened its advanced trainer/light attack aircraft contest and is evaluating new tenders after reversing its selection of the Aermacchi MB339 and Alenia/Embraer AMX-ATA. Last year, the country split its decision between the MB339 and a new tandem-seat AMX-T version offered by Embraer and fitted with Elbit avionics. ...
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Sweden pressed over funding next phase of X-31 programme
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Germany and the USA are pressing Sweden to decide on whether it will fund its share of the planned second phase of the tri-national X-31 experimental aircraft programme. Spain, meanwhile, is interested in joining the project to provide Spanish engine manufacturer ITP with a platform to ...
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Strike spearheads
Strike aircraft are still the teeth of any air campaign, but investment in training, as well as assets, is crucial Stewart Penney/RAF MARHAM & RAF WITTERING During the past decade, fighters have flown into harm's way over Iraq and Yugoslavia almost daily to ram home the international community's determination ...
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Force of the future - Coping with demand
Preparing for the unknown is central to USAF's concept of air power Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Air power has been a reality since the early days of aviation, but only recently has it come to be regarded as the preferred means of waging war. Air power is mobile, lethal ...
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Mission possible
EW aircraft, tankers and AWACS turn the impossible into the achievable Stewart Penney/RAF Brize Norton & RAF Waddington DeeDee Doke/Aviano AB & RAF Mildenhall Missions over Iraqi and Yugoslavia would not be possible without force multipliers such as the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), electronic warfare (EW) assets ...
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Key RAAF decisions imminent on future refuelling needs
Peter La Franchi/RAAF RICHMOND Key decisions on the future shape of the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) tanker requirement are expected this week. Australian capability planners are pushing for an all-jet solution, using private finance initiative (PFI) type funding, a lease or an outright capital purchase. A submission prepared ...
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Light Defender deal signed
Israel Military Industries (IMI) and Lockheed Martin have signed a deal to develop jointly the Light Defender stand-off weapon. The move follows the collapse of talks between Boeing and IMI earlier this year (Flight International, 26 May-1 June). Lockheed Martin has significant offset commitments to Israeli defence companies related ...
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Northrop awaits USAF decision after completing DIRCM tests
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Northrop Grumman has completed a second series of live-fire tests of its AAQ-24(V) directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system, paving the way for a US Air Force decision on production for special-operations Lockheed Martin C-130s. The company has also demonstrated an upgrade to the system, which replaces ...
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'Fighter phonebox' studies expand
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON Lockheed Martin plans to widen its study into using commercial satellites for military telecommunications following the successful demonstration of a call from a supersonic F-16 fighter using the Iridium low-earth orbit constellation. Commercial off-the-shelf communication systems are being viewed as a low-cost alternative to increasingly oversubscribed military ...
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US GAO queries effectiveness of JSOW
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) says the US Air Force and US Navy should buy fewer Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand-off Weapons (JSOW) because the missile does not offer significant improvements over other in-service air-launched weapons. A $5 billion plan calls for the purchase of 11,000 soft-target AGM-154As, 4,200 ...
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Germany poised to seal Tiger helmet contract
Stewart Penney/LONDON Marconi Electronic Systems expects this week to complete negotiations with German procurement agency BWB for production investment and series production of the Knighthelm helmet-mounted display system for the Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter. The system is also on offer from Boeing as part of an AH-64 Apache bid in ...
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Marconi kits out Aero L-159 with Brimstone
Marconi Electronic Systems has carried out fit tests of its Brimstone anti-armour weapon, TIALD targeting pod and Apollo radar jammer on the Aero Vodochody light-attack L-159. The UK company, to be merged with British Aerospace this month, is competing for an expected Czech requirement to equip some of the 72 ...
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Malaysia eyes Su-27s and Mi-17s
Stewart Penney/LONDON Malaysia is considering a purchase of Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighters and Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters. This follows a visit by Malaysian prime minister Mathatir Mohammad to Russia. Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysian Navy has signed a $100 million deal for six GKN Westland Super Lynx naval helicopters. ...
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MiG-21-93 hits target with Vympel missile
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW A prototype MAPO/Sokol MiG-21-93 upgrade has shot down an aerial target with a beyond-visual-range Vympel RVV-AE missile (R-77/AA-12 Adder). The active radar-guided RVV-AE and Phazotron Kopyo (Spear) lightweight multimode radar are key elements of the MiG-21-93 upgrade being developed for Indian air force aircraft. A subsonic target ...
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T-6As await NFTC go-ahead
Raytheon Aircraft has yet to receive a licence to export the 24 T-6A turboprop trainers ordered for the Bombardier-run NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme. The US company still hopes to begin deliveries before year-end. The US Government is concerned about ownership of the aircraft and what will ...
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BA shake-up claims victims
Chris Jasper/LONDON British Airways' sweeping executive reshuffle has removed at least two senior figures from the carrier's upper management. It has effectively elevated or demoted others as its old horizontally oriented structure is replaced by a vertically oriented model through which the airline says it hopes to "sharpen its ...
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Air force project hits Aero profit
Andrew Doyle/PRAGUE Aero Vodochody remained firmly in the red last year, but claims to be on course to make a net profit in 2001 as it gears up to begin delivering light attack L-159s to the Czech air force. The Czech aircraft manufacturer lost CKr2.2 billion ($64 million) last ...
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Air France closes on new allies
Chris Jasper/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France is moving closer to enlisting new airline allies to launch a global grouping alongside Delta Air Lines. Austrian Airlines is thought to be close to defecting from the Swissair-led Qualiflyer alliance and British Midland (BM) is being targeted as part of the recruitment offensive. ...
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Aerolineas ready for October merger
Aerolineas Argentinas is to merge with Austral Lineas Aereas by 1 October, the final move in preparing the pair's parent company Interinvest for sale. The merged airline will operate under Aerolineas' code, with a new livery to be unveiled in December. Following a review conducted by international consultancy Arthur ...
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Australasian profits herald return to financial health
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS The Australasian airline market has confirmed its return to comparatively good health, with the region's three majors - Qantas, Air New Zealand (ANZ) and Ansett Australia - all reporting major improvements in performance for the financial year ended 30 June. The three are all confident of further ...