All news – Page 6697
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Midwest Express Airlines is to acquire four Boeing MD-80 series aircraft operated by SAS. After refurbishment and modification, three are expected to enter service in 2001 and one in 2002. The Milwaukee-based airline operates six MD-80s; four more are scheduled to enter service by mid-2000. Chile's Ladeco has acquired an ...
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IAI Airtruck details revealed
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Flight International has obtained the first detailed technical specifications on Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Airtruck, as the Israeli company struggles to find a large enough customer base to launch its proposed twin turboprop freighter. IAI began developing the Airtruck several years ...
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Boeing and Swissair will share damages for MD-11 accident
Boeing and Swissair have agreed to share financial responsibility for all proven damages resulting from the Swissair Boeing MD-11 crash in which all 229 people on board died. The announcement was made on 5 August, the opening day of a pre-trial conference in Philadelphia designed to "clarify procedural questions" ...
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UK ends strategic airlift leasing competition
The UK Ministry of Defence has abandoned the Royal Air Force's Short Term Strategic Airlifter (STSA) competition. The Defence Procurement Agency says none of the five solutions offered an acceptable solution at the right price. The STSA was launched following the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, which required "four Boeing ...
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Pentagon probes Boeing after alleged leak of stealth AEW data
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Paul Lewis and Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing is being investigated by the US Government for alleged breaches of US restrictions on the release of stealth technology as part of its bid for Australia's Project Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) contract. Investigations by Flight ...
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United follows seat cutting fashion
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC United Airlines is to remove one economy-class seat row from every aircraft in its domestic fleet to make room for a new "Economy Plus" product. The US carrier claims that the move is aimed at rewarding frequent and full-fare fliers with a new class offering increased-legroom - ...
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First prototype upgraded Seahawk is rolled out
Lockheed Martin Federal Systems (LMFS) has rolled out the first prototype modified Sikorsky SH-60R Seahawk as the US Navy firms up plans to remanufacture and upgrade 243 of its Seahawks over the next 12 years. The USN is to award systems integrator LMFS and airframe manufacturer Sikorsky an initial low ...
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Boeing optimistic as talks with 777X launch group continue
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing is in negotiations with a selected group of "tier one" airlines and leasing companies about deals for the 777X and is optimistic of meeting its launch schedule of the last quarter of this year for the General Electric GE90-powered twinjet, with a minimum of 35 ...
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Air France keen on Korean Air links
Air France has revealed that Korean Air (KAL) could be a founder member of the global alliance it plans to launch with Delta Air Lines this year - despite the two Western carriers' recent safety-related suspensions of codeshares with the Asian airline. The French flag carrier's chief executive Jean ...
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Airbus backs down from Boeing battle
Airbus Industrie has backed away from a full-blooded confrontation with Boeing over support for A340-300s being traded to its US rival by Singapore Airlines (SIA) in exchange for 777s. The consortium is also dismissing a claim from Boeing that it has undertaken similar aircraft buy-back deals. In the Airbus ...
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USAF targets new pod
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC) has drawn up an operational requirement for an advanced targeting pod and will shortly be seeking industry proposals as a result of lessons learned during the Kosovo conflict. "We're looking to field the system in a 2003 timeframe, ...
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Hummingbird tested
Frontier Systems has flight tested avionics and software for its A160 Hummingbird vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding development of the 48h endurance, 5,500km (3,000nm) range A160 (Flight International, 21-27 July). The key Hummingbird technologies were flown in ...
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F-16s to be given new smart-bomb rack
M Technologies, DRS Technologies and EDO have been awarded a $26 million five-year production contract by the US Air Force to produce a new bomb rack that will double the amount of munitions USAF Lockheed Martin F-16s can carry. The contract calls for the production of 378 BRU-57 smart-bomb ...
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Delayed KTX-2 passes preliminary design review
The Samsung/Lockheed Martin KTX-2 trainer/light combat aircraft project has slipped six months. But it continues to progress with the completion of the preliminary design review, clearing the way for the start of detailed design and fabrication. KTX-2 formal drawings release will start in September, allowing sheet metal fabrication to commence. ...
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US Taiwan E-2T Hawkeye sale strains relations with Beijing
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The USA has sold $550 million-worth of airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, spare parts and equipment to Taiwan, aggravating the already strained relations between Washington and Beijing. The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 30 July that it is proposing a $400 million deal for ...
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DERA presents Racal with a radar lifeline
Stewart Penney/LONDON Racal Defence Electronics' work with the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA)to define a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology demonstrator for fast jet low level reconnaissance missions has handed the UK company a lifeline that will allow it to continue developing SAR technology. This is despite its ...
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THAAD makes a hit
Project officials on the Lockheed Martin Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile programme are preparing for the next anti-ballistic missile test, set for late next month. They hope to maintain the momentum generated by two back-to-back THAAD test successes. The missile scored its second success on 2 August. ...
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All change at NATO
UK defence secretary George Robertson is to become NATO secretary-general, succeeding Javier Solana, who is joining the European Union. The US Clinton Administration is proposing US Air Force Gen Joe Ralston as the next NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Source: Flight International
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US Army rethinks Apache refit
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Army has cancelled an engineering and cost study contract to retrofit the Boeing AH64A/D Apache with a new second generation forward looking infrared (FLIR), but says it is committed to upgrading the attack helicopter with a new system by 2004. The study contract ...
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Software glitches delay Hawkeye 2000 computer
Software problems will delay the production of a new mission computer for the US Navy's Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 until at least March 2003, a year later than planned. In May, Northrop Grumman won a $1.3 billion five-year production contract for 22 Hawkeye 2000s - 21 for the ...