Defence Helicopters news – Page 457
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Boeing rolls out model of Space Maneuver Vehicle
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing and the US Air Force's Phillips Laboratory have rolled out a 90%-scale test version of the Space Maneuver Vehicle (SMV) at the former Rockwell site in Seal Beach, California. The SMV is now being prepared for flight tests in November at Holloman AFB, New ...
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Demand for cuts may delay JASDF tanker plans
Paul Lewis/Singapore Demands for the Japan Defence Agency (JDA) to cut expenditure over the three remaining years of its 1996-2000 mid-term plan is threatening further delays for the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) in its plans for the acquisition of its first in-flight refuelling tanker. The ...
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USNavy sinks Adour plan
Plans to transfer assembly of Rolls-Royce Turboméca Adour 871 (F405) engines to R-R's US subsidiary Allison Engine have been suspended after the US Navy killed the effort by calling it "unnecessarily risky". The decision comes as a blow to Allison, which has been working on the transfer plan ...
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Boeing talks up its MD-95
Boeing talks up its MD-95 fter clearing the last regulatory hurdle in Brussels at the eleventh hour, the newly merged Boeing-McDonnell Douglas is making one last bid to breathe new life into marketing efforts for the MD-95. The 'new' Boeing, which began operations on 4 August, has a ...
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GE details F110 programme for F-15/F-16
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES General Electric plans to run a signiÌcantly upgraded version of its F110-129 engine as early as the last quarter of 1998 if the United Arab Emirates (UAE) selects the proposed Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60 with its engine rather than the competing Pratt & Whitney F100-229. The ...
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Boeing studies composite primary-wing technology
Guy Norris/Los Angeles Boeing Commercial Airplane Group is drawing on expertise at the former McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Phantom Works to study composite primary wing structures. Before the recent merger, Boeing and MDC were separately involved in NASA's $130million Advanced Composites Technology (ACT) effort. MDC focused on ...
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Antonov An-70 has its public debut at show
The Kiev Aviant plant in Ukraine has started to raise funds to finance a commercial version of the Antonov An-70 four-propfan military transport, the An-70T, according to plant manager Alexander Kharlov. Aviant is collaborating with the Aviakor plant in Samara, Russia, in preparing the An-70 for series production. ...
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Level playing field?
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Canada's quest for a new search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter has attracted the usual bidders - with a twist. One candidate helicopter used to be operated by Canada, until all examples were sold; two were considered in a previous competition, but rejected; and one was ordered by ...
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AIDC turns to civil-manufacturing plans
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) is looking to civil-sector manufacturing to secure its future beyond the end of its Ching Kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) programme in 1999. It has teamed up with France's Latecoère on a joint bid to build fuselage-extension plugs for the Airbus A340. It ...
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RoCAFseeks C-119 successor
Taiwan's air force, the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF), is seeking funding to order up to 18 new tactical transport aircraft to replace its fleet of elderly Fairchild C-119s, many of which are now grounded because of a lack of spare parts. Taiwan has issued a request ...
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US Navy looks to refine CSA cofiguration
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON The US Navy (USN) is expected to release Common Support Aircraft (CSA) definition studies in early 1998. It is keen to bring forward the aircraft's initial operational capability (IOC) to between 2005 and 2008. The USN has a requirement for some 250 CSA aircraft, ...
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USBorder Patrol picks MD 600N to replace Hughes OH-6A
THE US BORDER Patrol has ordered 45 Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems)MD600Ns in a deal worth almost $71 million. The aircraft will replace the agency's fleet of Hughes OH-6A helicopters, with deliveries of nine MD600Ns a year starting n 1998. The eight-seat, single-turbine MD600N was ...
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US military considers civil helicopter lease
The US military is considering leasing civil helicopter services as a substitute for procuring new military rotorcraft. The US Navy's Military Sealift Command plans to launch a competition in fiscal year 1998 for commercially-operated vertical replenishment (VERTREP) of its warships. The contract is designed to meet a projected ...
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Cold climate Hornet
Finland's air force looks forward to operating the Boeing F-18 Hornet Rene van Woezik/Tampere-Pirkkala AB The motto of the Finnish air force is "Qualitas Potentia Nostra: In Quality Lies Our Power". In terms of its front-line hardware, however, this quality has recently teetered on the verge of ...
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Taiwan starts to consider fifth-generation fighters
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Taiwan's air force has begun planning the procurement of a fifth-generation fighter as a follow-on to the Dassault Mirage 2000-5s and Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs on order and now entering service. "We're now drafting a plan to study and evaluate the next-generation fighter," ...
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Increased potency
Bell's continued investment in the Cobra and Huey programmes may save money Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC VALUEFORMONEY is an overused phrase, but it is the central tenet of the US Marine Corps' programme to upgrade its Bell AH-1WSuperCobra and UH-1N Huey helicopters for continued service through to 2020. To ...
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Civil and military helicopter directory
Compiled by Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC and John Christovassilis/LONDON Helicopter manufacturers are working, with some success, to stimulate the civil market with the introduction of new designs. Bell Helicopter Textron, the leading civil-helicopter manufacturer with around half the world market, has revamped its commercial product-line, most recently ...
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Korean Air investigators focus on possible CFIT
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The investigation into the crash of a Korean Air (KAL) Boeing 747-300 in Guam which killed 227 people, has begun to focus on controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) as a possible cause. US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team leader George Black has stated ...
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Retina-projected images may have civil application
MICROVISION HAS signed agreements to demonstrate helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) using technology which projects images directly into the pilot's eye. The company will deliver one virtual retinal display (VRD) to Boeing Saab and two to an unnamed systems integrator. The Seattle, Washington-based company plans to have production VRD-based displays ...
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Military helicopters
The military helicopter arena continues to be a case of too many cooks chasing a limited amount of kitchen space: the market is oversubscribed with suppliers battling for too few buyers. Just when it appeared some progress towards rationalisation was taking place - the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas ...