Defence Helicopters news – Page 432
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Force of the future - The first option
The RAF has adopted the role of an expeditionary air force Stewart Penney/LONDON Air power will nearly always be the first option for governments that want to apply pressure to truculent regimes. Recent experience, particularly over the Balkans, has underlined that, according to Royal Air Force Chief of the ...
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Packing punch
Air power is the key to modern warfare, but it could be used differently, believes the US commander of the Kosovo air campaign DeeDee Doke/AVIANO AB As US Air Force Lt Gen Mike Short launched his command of the air campaign over Kosovo last March, he expected to ...
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Merger Mania
The Top 100 aerospace ranking, compiled by Flight International and leading industry experts IPG Consulting, shows an industry in the grip of consolidation. But how long will merger-mania hold sway - and what comes next? Chris Jasper/LONDON The aerospace industry, conventional wisdom would have it, is in less than ...
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Lack of orders may close AGM-130 line
The US Air Force is improving its Boeing AGM-130-powered stand-off weapon successfully used during Operation Allied Force, but has no plans to replace the examples used against Yugoslav forces, according to Frank Robbins, head of USAF precision strike weapons. He says enough AGM-130s are in the production process to satisfy ...
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Boeing and Northrop set up F/A-18 centre
Boeing and Northrop Grumman have taken further advantage of US military base closures to establish a joint F/A-18 Hornet modification and overhaul operation at the US Navy's soon to be vacated Cecil Field naval air station in Florida. The two companies are among a number of tenants to have ...
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Popeye fails in Kosovo, but wins S Korean order
South Korea has completed plans to procure 100 AGM-142 stand-off missiles, even as news is emerging of the air-launched stand-off missile's failure to hit targets in their debut during the Kosovo air campaign. US Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers forward based in the UK employed the AGM-142 during ...
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Algeria seeks maritime patrol aircraft
Stewart Penney/LONDON Algeria has an emerging requirement for up to 12 maritime surveillance aircraft. Political considerations mean the North African country could request bids only from European countries. The requirement could be met by a medium twin-turboprop, with ATR, British Aerospace and Casa among the likely bidders. Algeria - ...
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Pentagon to draw up export rules for AEW&C technology
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense (DoD) has launched a review of airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) technology with the aim of establishing export guidelines. The move follows Flight International's report that the DoD is reviewing whether the information provided by Boeing to Australia as ...
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UK wants more Sentry mission consoles
The UK Royal Air Force's experience during Operation Allied Force over Kosovo has confirmed a requirement to increase the number of mission consoles in its Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1s from nine to 14. A need to install additional radios on the airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft has also ...
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Shaped to compete
Consolidation has shaped the US military aircraft industry for the challenges of the next decade Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DCReshaped by the consolidation of recent years, US military aircraft manufacturers are undergoing another transition as programmes that have sustained the industry for decades reach the end of their lives. With fewer new ...
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AIDC still aims for privatisation
Andrzej Jeziorski/TAIPEI State-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) of Taiwan is to offer small stakes to potential investors in a bid to kick-start its privatisation, which it still hopes to complete this year. The company wants to sell up to 40% of its stock to a foreign strategic investor, ...
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USAF may arm AC-130s with Hellfire missiles
The US Air Force's Special Operations Command will test fire Boeing Hellfire missiles from an AC-130U Spectre gunship later this year. Efforts to give the aircraft a hard-target kill capability, along with other product improvements, are expected to extend the operational life of the 16th Special Operations Wing's (SOW) eight ...
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USAF widens role for airborne laser weapon
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Air Force and its Team ABL partners - Boeing, TRW and Lockheed Martin - are evaluating new roles for the 747-400-based AL-1A airborne laser (ABL) and will report this year to the head of Air Combat Command. Designed for theatre defence against ballistic ...
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North American C-27J assembly line hinges on US forces order
Paul Lewis/MARIETTA Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) is considering a full C-27J assembly line in North America if it can secure sufficient US Army and National Guard orders for the joint venture development. LMATTS plans to compete for the US Army's airborne common sensor (ACS) platform requirement with ...
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Military Aircraft Directory Part 2
Front-line fighters and bombers continue to exploit leading-edge technologies and are becoming increasingly complex as more sophisticated systems and weapons are crammed into them Stewart Penney/LONDONAs recent events over the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and on the India-Pakistan border prove, combat aircraft are as necessary now as they have ever been. ...
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The show goes on
As mainland China blusters and threatens, Taiwan stages its fifth Taipei Aerospace show, playing down its traditional defence slantAndrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Despite the continuing tense political situation between Taiwan and neighbouring mainland China across the Taiwan Strait, the Taipei Aerospace Technology Exhibition 99 (TATE99) has drawn increasing representation from Taiwan's own ...
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Stealthy investigation
Australia's request for stealth data for its Wedgetail AEW project has triggered a USA investigation into possible technology leaks Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Graham Warwick and Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCAn Australian request to US defence companies for data relating to stealth technology as part of their bids to secure a major ...
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Collins plans 'smart' radio for US Air Force
Rockwell Collins is to demonstrate a software-programmable radio to the USAir Force. It is being offered as a solution for a USAF requirement to equip fighters to operate in the future civil communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system. The demonstration, planned for mid-2000, will involve Collins' miniature modular ...
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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 ...