Grand Dane
Avion ApS, a leading Danish provider of aircraft services, signed a contract for one Grand light twin helicopter in corporate transport configuration yesterday at the show.
Launched in July 2004 and originally known as the Agusta A109S, the Grand is a stretched and upgraded civilian version of the basic A109. It is still an eight-seater, but is considerably more spacious, with a 2.3m-long cabin (giving 15% more volume than the Power) and a higher MTOW. The large sliding door allows easy loading of full-sized litters in the EMS role.
More than 160 orders have been placed for the Grand by customers worldwide and more than 40 aircraft are now in service for EMS, SAR and for corporate and VIP transport applications.
Rafale combat proven
Dassault’s Rafale has become the first fighter of its generation to drop bombs ‘in anger’ in combat operations, beating the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen and Lockheed Martin F-22A to earn this distinction.
This is the second operational milestone for Rafale, which previously flew flag-waving but notionally operational sorties also over Afghanistan during 2002, even before the aircraft had entered full operational service.
The Rafale Ms that were then embarked aboard the carrier Charles de Gaulle for evaluation were armed only with Magic IR-homing AAMs, and therefore flew very limited escort and tanker missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and did not see action.
Partnership plan
Northrop Grumman and Terma have signed a MOA which establishes a framework for cooperation between the companies.
The MoA encompasses the portfolio of both companies’ airborne EW products.
These include Terma's AN/ALQ-213(V) Electronic Warfare Management System (EWMS), F-16 Pylon Internal Dispenser System (PIDS), F-16 pylons and modular countermeasures pod (MCP). Additional products include Apache Modular Aircraft Survivability pods, AMASE, and the recently developed CHASE pods that integrate Northrop Grumman's directional infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems into a modular defensive systems solution for CH-47 Chinooks.
Source: Flight Daily News
