All news – Page 7353
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Galaxy 10 booked as first Delta 3 payload
HUGHES Communications' Galaxy 10 satellite will be the first payload of the new McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Delta 3 booster on its maiden flight in 1998. The HS-601HP Galaxy satellite is one of ten payloads which Hughes assigned to the Delta 3 in 1995. With Hughes exercising another Delta ...
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Chinese Radarsats
Spar Aerospace has held preliminary discussions with China, which would like to buy two Earth-observation satellites based on the Canadian Radarsat spacecraft. The potential value of a contract is $600 million. Source: Flight International
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Ilyushin plans Il-114 military derivative
Ilyushin is working on a heavily modified Il-114 derivative, the Il-114FK, as a replacement for the Antonov An-30 Clank and Ilyushin Il-20 Coot military utility aircraft. A prototype could be flown in 1997. The Russian air force operates some 30 Clanks in the aerial-cartography role, with the Coots being used ...
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MoD looks at 'marinised' Apache
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is studying a "marinised" variant of the Westland/McDonnell Douglas (MDC) WAH-64 Longbow Apache helicopter for the Royal Navy, which could provoke an ownership fight between the Army Air Corps and the Royal Navy. The Apaches would replace ...
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Darkstar UAV software bugs mean 12-month flight hiatus
THE LOCKHEED Martin/ Boeing Darkstar long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) will not be flown before May 1997, to enable the US team to conduct an in-depth audit of all hardware and software. Repairs made since the April crash will be verified in an informal critical-design review due ...
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Canadair offers enhanced Sentinel UAV with improved engine
BOMBARDIER CANADAIR Defence Systems says that its CL-227 Sentinel unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has successfully undergone a US Department of Defense UAV Joint Project Office (JPO)-funded heavy-fuel engine-improvement programme. The Williams International WTS-125 gas-turbine powerplant will power the CL-327, the improved Sentinel UAV. The UAV JPO awarded ...
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US DoD continues with Nautilus laser
THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) has awarded TRW a $22 million contract to continue development of the Nautilus tactical high-energy laser (THEL) which could be used to counter Russian Katyusha rockets. The US defence firm can expect to earn a further $89 million in development and testing ...
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Hughes continues JASSM legal battle
HUGHES AIRCRAFT is to appeal against a US Federal District Court decision which allows Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) to continue development of the USAir Force/Navy Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM). The US defence company had won a ten-day temporary restraining order from the court after ...
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Aviastar builds the first 'Westernised' An-124
AVIASTAR IS nearing completion of the first "Westernised" Antonov An-124 at its Ulyanovsk factory, although the Russian manufacturer's claims that the aircraft is being fitted with General Electric CF6-80 engines are being disputed by GE and Antonov. "The aircraft, line number 08-03 and designated An-124-130, will be ...
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BA uses rule-change to purchase remainder of TAT shares
Julian Moxon/PARIS BRITISH AIRWAYS has acquired the remainder of the shares in its French regional subsidiary TAT, becoming the first European flag carrier to take major advantage of the changing cross-border ownership rules in Europe. BA took a 49.9% stake in TAT in 1992, with ...
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Pilatus improves PC-12 range
Julian Moxon/PARIS SWISS general-aviation manufacturer Pilatus is introducing a range of factory options to improve the payload and range performance of the PC-12 business and utility aircraft. The first option in the Pilatus Power Products range became available on new production aircraft in July, with ...
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Antonov's second An-70 nears completion despite lack of funding
THE SECOND Antonov An-70 propfan-powered medium transport is nearing completion at the design bureau's prototype plant in Kiev. The programme has been stalled since the first aircraft crashed in early 1995. Antonov deputy general designer Oleg Bogdanov says that the airframe and wiring has been completed, and ...
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Gallois moves to take over at French railways
Julian Moxon/PARIS THE FRENCH Government has appointed Aerospatiale president Louis Gallois to run the state-owned railway company, SNCF, leaving at least four men in contention for his vacated position. The decision to move Gallois has been prompted by the poor state of SNCF's finances and the ...
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BWIA takes first Airbus A321
BWIA INTERNATIONAL HAS TAKEN delivery of its first Airbus A321-100, on lease from International Lease Finance. The type entered service with BWIA on 13 July, on flights from Port of Spain, Trinidad, to New York Kennedy, via Antigua. BWIA, which will take a second A321 in October and has an ...
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ARIA looks to PW2000s to improve Il-96-300s
ILYUSHIN IS TO DEVELOP modifications to the Il-96-300 to allow Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines (ARIA) to re-engine its Il-96 fleet with Pratt & Whitney PW2037 turbofans, and improve reliability. A formal agreement on the design work, which was signed recently by ARIA's general director Marshal Evgeni ...
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Japan eyes attack helicopter
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE JAPANESE AEROSPACE companies are beginning to manoeuvre in anticipation of a Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) requirement for a new attack helicopter after 2000. A new advanced attack helicopter (AH-X) is needed eventually to replace the JGSDF's fleet of Bell AH-1S Cobras, licence-built ...
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USA and Japan settle on F-2 workshare
THE JAPANESE and US Governments have finally reached an agreement on workshare for production of the new Mitsubishi F-2A/B support fighter, with officials expected to sign an accord in Tokyo by the end of July. Director of the US Defence Security Assistance Agency (DSAA), Lt Gen Thomas Rhame, ...
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UK firms gain most as RAF wins order battle
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE UK GOVERNMENT has headed off an embarrassing political and military confrontation with a last-minute decision to award three key Royal Air Force contracts, worth almost £4 billion, which were being blocked by the UK Treasury. British Aerospace is the prime beneficiary, winning ...
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Lucas is again free to bid forUS contracts
LUCAS AEROSPACE'S Geared Systems division (GSD) is again free to tender for US Government contracts, a reprieve which opens the way to a potential sale of the troublesome US unit by its UK parent. The threat of debarment from Government tenders was raised last year after a bitter ...
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Lockheed Martin leads profit roll from merged US defence industry
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON LOCKHEED MARTIN is well on course to achieve merger benefits of more than $2 billion by the turn of the century, and has already begun to integrate the Loral acquisitions into the group, according to chief executive Norman Augustine, leading an upbeat set of half-year reports ...