Defence Helicopters news – Page 449
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Budget cuts force Chile to shelve fighter plans
Chile has postponed indefinitely the $600 million purchase of up to 24 new fighters, following Government budget cuts forced by the effects of the Asian economic crisis. Buffeted by falling copper prices and a growing budget deficit, the Chilean Government has imposed austerity measures, including "temporarily" delaying the fighter ...
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Turkish navy will buy six CASA CN-235s
The Turkish Navy is to buy six CASA CN-235 Persuader maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) to fulfil a naval aviation requirement. The aircraft will be manufactured by Tusas Aircraft Industries, which already has 52 CN-235s on order for the Turkish defence ministry, 48 of which have been delivered. Selection of mission ...
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Additional Chinooks bound for Australia
Boeing is to provide the Australian Defence Forces with two additional Boeing CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopters as part of a $45 million contract signed on 19 June. The deal covers two of six CH-47Ds that were being built for an unnamed customer which cancelled the purchase. The other four ...
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Joining the jet set
An early look at Fairchild Dornier's 328JET suggests a successful change to jet power Peter Henley/Oberpfaffenhofen Fairchild Dornier's 328JET, a derivative of the company's twin turboprop 328, is aimed at the regional and corporate markets and will be offered as a 34-seat commuter aircraft or as a business jet ...
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Partners find X-31 funding
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) says that Government financing for the trinational VECTOR follow-on to the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Manoeuvrability programme is now secure, and a final go-ahead is expected later this year. "The financing questions have been resolved, and the partners are now in programme planning activities," says project ...
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A matter of modernisation
Maj Gen Eitan Ben-Eliahu, Commander of the Israeli air force, sees the "main goal" of his tenure as shepherding through critical modernisation programmes. For Ben-Eliahu, a fast jet pilot by trade, the obvious priority is the fighter fleet, although he adds that the air force's transport and helicopter fleets ...
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Indonesia tries to rescue Malaysian IPTN deal
Indonesia and Malaysia are trying to resolve financial and certification issues that have threatened to derail the delivery of six IPTN CN-235 tactical transport aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The Malaysian defence ministry has been re-examining its planned acquisition of the aircraft in the light of its ...
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NRO flies atlas
The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has contracted ILS International Launch Services to launch a satellite in 1999 aboard the new Atlas 3A booster. ILS beat Boeing's Delta III in a head to head sealed-bid competition. The NRO, which normally uses Titan IV boosters, will be the second customer for ...
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Facing the future
Fifty years into their lives, the Israeli air force and the country's defence aerospace industry are confronted by a rapidly changing strategic environment and industrial challenges as the global defence market restructures. In the first five decades of their existence both have proved adept at meeting these. As Israel begins ...
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Aerospatiale continues work on long range UAV
Julian Moxon/Paris Aerospatiale is working on a follow-on to work on high altitude, long endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in a programme, called SAROHALE. Delivery of the initial system is set for "around 2007-10", says project manager Philippe Matharan. The project aims to develop a fully automated twinjet-powered ...
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Ready for launch
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Events taking place 10,000km (6,200 miles) apart could prove pivotal to the long-awaited deployment by military forces of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). US Navy officials now believe that VTOLUAV technology is mature enough for the service to begin equipping its warships ...
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FTC bans Boeing sale to Bell
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US government's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has blocked the sale of Boeing MD500/600 helicopters to Bell Helicopter Textron, forcing Boeing to put the two production lines back on the market. The MD500/600 lines were sold to Bell in March following Boeing's decision to opt ...
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DARO recommends intelligence consolidation
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense should consider consolidating some of its intelligence-gathering aircraft and recon- naissance pod programmes, according to an architecture study released by the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). Unclassified portions of the study look at development of a framework for designing an ...
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V-22 tilt rotor ploughs critical path
Across the base, flight testing of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport is "on a critical path" leading to operational evaluation in 1999. Late delivery of the four development aircraft has left the integrated test team facing the challenges of meeting deadlines for sea trials, operational evaluation and testing ...
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BAeA offers Rooivalk for Australian project
British Aerospace Australia (BAeA) has teamed with South Africa's Denel Aviation to offer the CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter for the Australian Army's Project Air 87. Formal agreement was reached between the two companies at the end of last month. The Army is looking for an armed helicopter to replace ...
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USN faces funding gap for new aircraft
Efforts by the US Navy to develop a Common Support Aircraft (CSA) are continuing to founder because of opposition by US legislators. The recent rejection of a $27 million fiscal year 1999 request by the House National Security Committee (HNSC) means that the future of the project will be determined ...
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Australia request
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has launched its requirement for an armed reconnaissance helicopter in a request for proposals (RFP) released to industry earlier this month. The total requirement is likely to be for between 25 and 30 aircraft, although airframe numbers are not detailed. Tandem seating is strongly preferred, ...
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GEC-Marconi's Chinese Argus negotiations reach deadlock
Paul Lewis/BEIJING GEC-Marconi's drawn-out contractual negotiations with the Chinese air force to supply the Argus 2000 airborne early warning (AEW) radar system are in danger of reaching an impasse over the issue of pricing. The two sides have been engaged in negotiations since late last year on the ...
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Motorola drops Celestri for Teledesic project
Motorola has abandoned plans to develop its Celestri "Internet-in-the-sky" satellite system and has signed a $750 million deal to take a stake in the rival Teledesic network. The move will result in Motorola securing a 26% share of the Teledesic system, which is already backed by Microsoft's Bill Gates, ...
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AMC rebuffs An-70 as basis of Future Large Aircraft project
Airbus Military Company (AMC) has rejected any possibility of it using the Antonov An-70 as the basis for a European Future Large Aircraft (FLA). The timing of the statement during the Berlin air show angered senior Airbus Industrie management, apparently concerned that the rejection of a German-led initiative to ...