Defence Helicopters news – Page 438
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Spain opens C295 account
The Spanish Government has opened the orderbook for the CASA C295 military transport with a deal for nine aircraft. "We have started marketing the aircraft worldwide as a natural complement to the smaller CN235 and C212," says CASA. It adds that there are "excellent prospects" for sales of around 20 ...
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Suite tests
Flight tests will begin this year of the ITT Industries ALQ-211 suite of integrated RF countermeasures (SIRFC). Two self-protection suites have been delivered to the US Army for ground tests. Operational test and evaluation and production will begin in 2000. The army is to fit SIRFC to Boeing AH-64D Longbow ...
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US Army nears decision on Apache requirement
The US Army hopes to decide towards year-end on the number of Boeing AH-64D Apache helicopters it plans to remanufacture, as well as the mix and quantity of Lockheed Martin Longbow fire control radars needed to equip the fleet. It originally planned to modernise 748 AH-64As and acquire enough ...
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India considers SAR pod for MiG-27 Floggers
The Indian air force is considering equipping its Mikoyan MiG-27 Floggers with an Elta synthetic aperture radar (SAR) pod, and with an electronic warfare suite also developed by the Israeli company. Elta, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), has signed major deals with India in recent months, ...
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USAF seeks to block Boeing/Elta AEW
The US Air Force has raised objections to Boeing and Elta teaming up to meet an Israeli air force requirement for advanced airborne warning and command aircraft. The pair will install an Elta Phalcon-based phased-array radar as the main sensor on a Boeing 767, or similar platform. Boeing was ...
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Embraer to roll out aircraft for Amazon surveillance
Paul Lewis/RIO DE JANEIRO Embraer is planning to roll out the first of five ERJ-145SA airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft later this month, along with the first ALX light attack version of the EMB-314 Super Tucano. The aircraft form two of the three airborne systems that make up ...
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New Zealand F-16s to get strike capability
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRAThe Royal New Zealand Air Force is to upgrade the strike capabilities of its planned force of 28 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 15 fighters with pod-based ECM jamming and laser target designation systems. The office of New Zealand defence minister Max Bradford has confirmed that a range of ...
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UK may shadow UAV trials for US Navy
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The UK may exercise a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate alongside US Navy vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV) sea trials. It is funding a study to define what is required for full function and control of VTUAV flight operations from warships. The ...
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Pole position
Poland is the most strategically placed of the new NATO members Andrew Doyle/WARSAW Poland occupies the most strategically important geographical position of the three former Eastern Bloc countries recently admitted to NATO's ranks, buffering as it does northern Europe and the CIS countries of Belarus and Ukraine. In other ...
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$5 billion war chest for Kosovo brings defence industry boom
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The Clinton Administration's $5.1 billion request for extra defence spending to support the air war in Yugoslavia could become only a down payment to the long term cost of the conflict. The supplemental spending is needed for US air operations until 30 September since the air war ...
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Tactical laser weapon could be available in two years
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing believes that successful proof-of-concept testing could lead to US military testing of a helicopter-borne airborne tactical laser (ATL) within two years. The optimism is fuelled by preliminary testing of a new high-energy chemical laser designed specifically for directed-energy tactical weapons applications. The device is ...
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Dutch eye F-16 replacement
Gert Kromhout/RIJNSBURG The Netherlands has launched a formal requirement study for a new fighter to replace its Lockheed Martin F-16MLUs between 2010 and 2025. The study will take into account expected long-term developments in the use of air power, and assess the potential of cruise missiles, armed helicopters ...
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Ahead of the game
The Czech air force has an ambitious re-equipment programme in mind Andrew Doyle/PRAGUEOf NATO's new East European members, the Czech Republic has the most advanced re-equipment programme. It will take delivery later this year of the first five of 72 indigenously developed Aero Vodochody L-159 light attack and reconnaissance aircraft. ...
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New from old
PaulLewis/WASHINGTON DC The remanufacturing of military helicopters is not a new business. For the US aerospace industry it is set to become a proportionally more important source of rotary-wing revenue over the next 10 years. There are around 6,500 helicopters in the US military inventory, significantly down from the Vietnam ...
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Staying one step ahead
Paul Lewis/STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT Sikorsky has adopted a three-step strategy to keep it at the forefront of the world's helicopter industry. Its immediate goal is to sustain output through US domestic UH-60/CH-60 and international S-70 sales, while continuing to press ahead in the long term with the RAH-66 Comanche. It hopes ...
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Israel's Elta develops miniature synthetic aperture radar pod
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV Israeli electronics manufacturer Elta has developed and begun manufacture of the first podded synthetic-aperture radar (SAR)system that can be carried on fighter-sized aircraft as small as the Lockheed Martin F-16. Lockheed Martin's tactical aircraft division will work with Elta to market the radar. The EL/M-2060P ...
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Perfect partner?
CASA's Alberto Fernandez has steered the Spanish manufacturer in a clear strategic direction, creating 'a lovely bride' for European manufacturers courting it Julian Moxon/MADRIDFor a 75-year-old national aerospace company on the verge of being sold to one of four European suitors, it would seem reasonable to assume that the atmosphere ...
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Civilian casualties rise as air attacks intensify
NATO aircraft and missiles attacking targets in Yugoslavia caused significant collateral damage to civilian targets for the first time last week, as hundreds more aircraft were sent from the USA to Europe to join the campaign. The heaviest raids yet were mounted against Serbian capital Belgrade and several other cities ...
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Yellowgate
Racal has won a £5 million ($8 million)contract to upgrade the Yellowgate ESM system fitted to the RAF's Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW aircraft. The work will enhance the threat warning and surveillance capability of the system. Source: Flight International
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Four companies to battle for Spanish aero manufacturer
Julian Moxon/MADRID British Aerospace, Aerospatiale of France, Italy's Alenia and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany are all candidates for the purchase of up to 100% of CASA from Spanish holding company SEPI, the aero-structures manufacturer has revealed. CASA chairman Alberto Fernandez tells Flight International "...there is no particular scheme for ...