Defence Helicopters news – Page 430
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Bell challenges Australian Army's helicopter shortlist
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The Australian Army's Air 87 armed reconnaissance helicopter project is being reviewed by the Australian Defence Inspector General following a Bell Helicopter Textron challenge to the shortlist process. The 88-point challenge, lodged with Australian defence minister John Moore at the beginning of October, alleges that the ...
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Australia looks at splitting defence purchases
A draft paper being circulated within the Australian Department of Defence is proposing a shift to "block buys" for new major equipment orders. This is expected to directly affect the Project Air 6000 replacement for the Royal Australian Air Force's Boeing F/A-18 Hornets. A separate issues-paper dealing with the ...
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Hard to digest
Whether it is clever politics, a knee-jerk reaction or just well-meant advice, the "closed" sign has gone up in the window of the transatlantic merger diner at which Europe has been trying to book a table since merger-mania gripped the industry earlier this year. Clever politics, perhaps, because Washington ...
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Mergers
United Technologies is to acquire composite components overhaul specialist Cade Industries for $129 million and engine parts supplier Dallas Aerospace for $57 million. Both companies will become part of UTC's Pratt & Whitney Engine Services unit. Dallas Aerospace is owned by the parent company of Fairchild Fasteners. Derlan Industries is ...
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Contracts
United Industrial subsidiary ACL Technologies is to build a Lockheed Martin F-16 component overhaul depot near Cairo, Egypt. The $28 million centre will handle electrical, fuel, hydraulics, pneumatics, oxygen and landing gear systems. Raytheon has received a $16 million US foreign military sales contract to provide AGM-65 Mavericks trainers and ...
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USAF selects upgrade team for Stratotankers
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force has selected a Rockwell Collins/Raytheon Systems team to upgrade more than 500 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers to meet global air traffic management (GATM) requirements. At the same time, the USAF has slowed down the $4.2 billion avionics modernisation programme (AMP) for 510 Lockheed ...
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Italian air force upgrades approved
The Italian Parliament has approved upgrades for the air force's Aermacchi MB339 advanced trainers, Alenia/Aermacchi/Embraer AMX fighter-bombers and Boeing 707 tankers. A mid-life update of the MB339 fleet will start by year-end and will last for five years. The L110 billion ($62 million) update will allow the Italian air force ...
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IAI warns Raytheon on Phalcon pricing
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)has told Raytheon, its airborne early warning (AEW) programmes partner, that a high price on its proposal for Turkey could mean an end to their teaming agreement. An IAI/Raytheon team was one of the losers in the Australian Wedgetail AEW competition, won by Boeing offering 737-700s ...
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Austria ready to modernise
Keen to show its neutrality, Austria has long kept its air force to a minimum. This strategy could soon change René van Woezik/VIENNA Austria spends less than most European countries on defence, as a proportion of its GDP that is, and stretches the lives of its aircraft to their ...
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USAF gets funding to begin work on Galaxy re-engining
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force has secured $18 million in long lead funding to begin work on re-engining the Lockheed Martin C-5A/B Galaxy, as the Air Mobility Command (AMC) prepares to conclude a critical study of its future heavylift transport options. Congress has approved initial funding in ...
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US Army seeks new Huey upgrade
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Army is again studying a series of industry suggestions for sustaining its remaining fleet of Bell UH-1 Huey utility helicopters. The service is doing so against the backdrop of a fundamental shift in military planning and uncertain future funding. According to the ...
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Greece to buy PGMs and more Chinooks
The Greek armed forces have concluded a deal to buy more Boeing CH-47D Chinooks and are close to finalising a deal for US-supplied AGM-142 Have Nap stand-off missiles. According to industry sources, the Clinton Administration will shortly notify the US Congress of its intention to sell an undisclosed number ...
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Kosovo air campaign shows up US and NATO disparities
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US secretary of State for Defense William Cohen says the Kosovo air campaign highlighted disparities between US military forces and those of NATO allies, including precision strike capabilities. Cohen's assessment is contained in an initial Kosovo after-action report from the Department of Defense containing early lessons from ...
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Boeing joins Meteor missile group
Stewart Penney/LONDONBoeing is joining Team Meteor, the European consortium competing in the UK's Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) competition to select a weapon to arm the Eurofighter. A decision is expected by early next year. Boeing joins a European grouping that includes the Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD), Alenia Marconi ...
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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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EC tells tiltrotor bidders to merge
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Commission's (EC) research directorate has rejected the two proposals for tiltrotor wing concepts under its Fifth Framework aeronautics research programme, demanding that Eurocopter and Agusta submissions are merged. Eurocopter, leading a European consortium, had proposed its Eurotilt concept, while Agusta, leading a group which included ...
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RN/RAF support helicopter programmes merge
The UK has merged Royal Navy and Royal Air Force future support helicopter programmes into a single requirement. The Ministry of Defence is now analysing operational requirements for a common joint medium lift rotorcraft with an in-service date of 2008. The result of marrying the RN's Future Amphibious Support Helicopter ...
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A321 'preferred' for Joint STARS bid
Paul Lewis/MELBOURNE, FLORIDA Northrop Grumman is recommending the Airbus Industrie A321 as its preferred Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) platform to compete for NATO's Airborne Ground Surveillance (AGS) requirement. The company has settled on the mid-size A320 series after studying and ruling out business jets as ...
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US sets Honeywell merger rules
Emma Kelly/LONDON Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES AlliedSignal and Honeywell must shed large parts of their avionics businesses as the price for US regulatory approval of their planned merger, although only in areas of product overlap. While approving the merger in principle, the US Department of Justice says Honeywell must give ...