All news – Page 7046
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Development of new JSF gun is planned
DEVELOPMENT OF AN advanced gun has been proposed for the US/UK Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) because of concerns over the weight, cost and effectiveness of the current M61 20mm cannon. The four services planning to buy the JSF have yet to agree whether it should have an internal gun. ...
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Czechs guarantee cash for production of Aero L-159s
The Czech government has finally guaranteed funding for the production of 72 Aero Vodochody L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft for its air force. The move was revealed by Czech defence minister Miloslav Vyborny at the roll-out on 12 June of the first prototype at Aero's production plant, near ...
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Belgian Airbus hunt
The Belgian air force wants to replace the ageing Boeing 727-100QCs of its 21 squadron with two Airbus Industrie A310s. Belgium's defence minister Jean-Pol Poncelet has asked the country's national airline Sabena to buy two of the airliners for use in the troop transport role. "The Boeings have reached the ...
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More UC-35As
The US Army has awarded Cessna Aircraft a further $52 million to build five additional UC-35A (military Citation V Ultra) transports. The US Department of Defense is buying 35 of the medium-range aircraft over five years, plus contractor logistic support and pilot training worth an estimated $157 million. ...
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Pentagon extends Outrider probation
Flight testing of the Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV) is being put on the fast track as the company has been given additional time by the US Deparmtment of Defense to prove the drone's capabilities. The Outrider was six months late in being flown, and ...
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China reveals F-7 armed with Python 3
China has released for the first time pictures of the Rafael Python 3 short-range air-to-air missile being carried by a Chinese air force Chengdu F-7. Python-3 AAMs, known as PL-8s within the Chinese armed forces, were bought from Israel in the late 1980s. China has shown a short-range surface-to-air missile ...
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Russian air force/air defence units face merger proposal
The merger of Russia's air-defence forces with the air force is high on the agenda of a restructuring plan to be submitted to President Boris Yeltsin in July. The plan has been drawn up by the recently established commission on military reform, led by Russian prime minister Victor ...
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Taiwan hopes to see more Mirages
Taiwanese officials are hoping that the newly elected French socialist Government will approve the possible sale of a follow-on batch of 60 Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighters. According to Taiwan's China Times newspaper, Taiwanese minister without portfolio Tsai Cheng-wen says that Paris is considering a planned new deal to ...
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Meeting the FANS
WORLDWIDE implementation of the future air-navigation system (FANS) is still years away, but civil-aircraft manufacturers and operators are already adopting satellite-based avionics, for several near-term reasons. These include the availability of fuel-saving routes for suitably equipped aircraft, the pending decommissioning of the Omega navigation system, and the approaching ...
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Super survivor
Ghost Connie, you're cleared for flypast," calls the tower as Captain Charles "Chuck" Grant drops the nose of the Lockheed C-121C and asks flight engineer Jerry Steele for more power. The four turbo-compound Wright R-3350-93s howl louder and the Super Constellation thunders along the crowd line at El ...
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India's jet challenger
Even its most ardent supporters would have to concede that India's airline deregulation has been less than successful. Of the wave of airlines which emerged in the early 1990s to challenge the Indian Airlines domestic monopoly, only a handful are still flying. Their cause has not been helped by a ...
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Fast exit
It is almost 51 years since, on 24 July, 1946, the first live test-ejection took place using a Martin-Baker ejection seat, and 49 years since Jo Lancaster made the first emergency Martin-Baker ejection from the prototype Armstrong Whitworth AW.52 flying wing. Those ejections used pre-production versions of Martin-Baker's ...
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Redesigned part puts MDHS Explorer back on the trail
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Explorer helicopters, grounded on 29 May after discovery of a broken drive-link, have been cleared to resume flying after the US Federal Aviation Administration approved a redesigned part. MDHS originally discovered the problem on 8 May when a US operator found a broken ...
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AS350 transatlantic crossing attempt fails
THE ATTEMPT by a Eurocopter AS350B3 civil-helicopter crew to fly non-stop from New York to Paris has failed because of a faulty fuel-tank weld. The two French pilots, trying to follow the path of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, had to abandon the effort in mid-journey when a fuel ...
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Corporate shuttle
British Aerospace Asset Management - Turboprops has leased a Jetstream 31 to Nashville, Tennessee-based Corporate Flight Management. The aircraft has a ten-seat corporate-shuttle interior and will be used for on-demand charter work. Corporate Flight Management is a subsidiary of Nashville-based Corporate Express Airlines. Medical Air Services Association, of Roanoke, Texas, ...
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US National Oceanic and Atmospheric receives GIV
The US NATIONAL Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has begun operating a specially configured Gulfstream IV-SP. The heavily modified business aircraft is being used for high-altitude, atmospheric data collection, to improve hurricane forecasting. Raytheon E-Systems installed an electrical-power management system and atmospheric sensor arrays, while the ...
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BAeFT and Manx Airlines sponsor pilot-training scheme
British Aerospace Flight Training (BAeFT) has signed a deal with UK regional carrier Manx Airlines for a three-way-sponsored ab initio pilot-training scheme operated by British Aerospace Flight Training (BAeFT). The partnership airline selection scheme (PASS) is also interesting several other airlines, says BAeFT's marketing director Capt Chris Long. ...
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Pawan aims for link in north-east India
Pawan Hans Helicopters is in talks with the Indian Government to link remote north-eastern states with a helicopter service. The proposal includes purchasing new helicopters and taking over emergency air-services from the Indian air force in the north-eastern state of Arunanchal Pradesh. The proposed service, initiated ...
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'White Shark' snaps up 737BJ
AUSTRALIAN GOLFER Greg Norman has ordered a $36 million Boeing 737-based business jet, and signed a seven-year deal to promote Boeing Business Jets, a joint venture formed by Boeing and engine manufacturer General Electric in 1996. Norman's Great White Shark Enterprises company will receive its aircraft, which has ...
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Sino Swearingen upgrades SJ30-2's turbofans
SINOSWEARINGEN Aircraft (SSAC) has grounded its prototype SJ30-2 light business jet for installation of the uprated Williams Rolls-Royce FJ44-2 turbofans planned for the production aircraft. The company has completed some 100h of flight testing of the prototype, following its modification to represent the stretched SJ30-2. The original FJ44-1 ...