Fixed-wing – Page 1123
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Australia to benefit first as USA offers to change policy
Peter La Franchi/SYDNEY The USA is offering to lift restrictions on technology release to Australia as part of a Department of Defense (DoD) push to establish closer interoperability arrangements with key allies. The move comes at a time when a series of sales have been held up due to ...
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RNZAF faces weapons stocks and readiness headaches
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The New Zealand Ministry of Defence has warned the newly elected Labour/Alliance coalition government that the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) is in danger of failing to meet combat readiness targets. A shortfall in weapons stocks and reliability problems with the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk are the ...
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JSF EW selection
BAE Systems is to join the Litton/Lockheed Martin Sanders electronic warfare (EW)/countermeasures team for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. BAE will support the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the EW programme. Source: Flight International
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F-22 bases
The US Air Force says Langley AFB, Virginia, is the preferred location for the first Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor operational wing. Alternatives include Eglin and Tyndall in Florida, Elmendorf, Alaska, and Mountain Home, Idaho. Langley is headquarters to Air Combat Command. Source: Flight International
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Poland leans towards used F-16s
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Poland is preparing to issue a formal tender for its 60-fighter requirement amid strong indications that the government favours an offer of used Lockheed Martin F-16s from the USA. Industry sources say Poland's finance ministry has informally agreed to allocate $1.5 billion for the purchase. The ...
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US Navy SLAM-ER scores direct hit
The US Navy has launched a Boeing Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) with a live warhead at a decommissioned cruiser to validate missile guidance and warhead effectiveness against a warship. The SLAM-ER live-fire mission - conducted from a Boeing F/A-18 Hornet- will also help naval warship designers increase survivability ...
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In the hot seat
Flight International's test pilot is the only person to have flown all three of Europe's fourth-generation fighters, the Eurofighter, Dassault Rafale and now, the Saab Gripen Chris Yeo/Linköping The problems confronting a fighter design team are broadly the same, whatever their nationality. The best solutions to maximise aerodynamic performance while ...
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KAL recovery plans hit
NICHOLAS IONIDES ATI SINGAPORE Korean Air (KAL) crowned a disastrous year in which its reputation was further muddied by losing another aircraft in a crash near London Stansted Airport. The accident on 22 December involved a Boeing 747-200 freighter and killed all four people on board. It was the ...
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Northrop Grumman looks at ways to extend AWACS range
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Northrop Grumman plans to demonstrate bistatic-radar airborne early warning to extend the range of the Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). Using the company's Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as a receive-only platform in a bistatic-radar application would "almost double the ...
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USN draws blueprint for versatile UAV
The US Navy is in the initial stages of developing a requirement for a warship-based, medium-altitude, multi-role endurance (MRE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV). An analysis of alternatives study is to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2001 and will define the number of UAV systems to be ...
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Maintaining the margin
In the maintenance industry, the big are getting bigger Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC North America's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry enters the new millennium in a healthy condition, having changed shape substantially in the closing years of the 20th century. In South America, recovering economies and increasing liberalisation of ...
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A400M powerplant rivals begin joint bid discussions
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Julian Moxon/PARIS Rolls-Royce, Snecma and MTU are talking about offering a joint powerplant for the Airbus Military Company (AMC) A400M. Political pressure is forcing the companies to find a way of merging their rival bids. AMC shelved its engine selection for the A400M last July, citing ...
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JSF selection strategy in doubt
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC US defence acquisition undersecretary Jacques Gansler has ordered a potentially far-reaching review of the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) "winner-take-all" selection strategy as part of a wider push to ensure a continuing competitive industrial base. Gansler has given the review 90 days to identify JSF acquisition options and ...
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Ailing Lockheed Martin cuts 2,800 jobs
Lockheed Martin has streamlined its aeronautical and space systems businesses and is to eliminate more than 2,800 jobs in a bid to reduce costs by $200 million a year. The US giant saw net profit drop 62% to $382 million last year. It hopes the restructuring will help improve performance. ...
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Belgium plans forces shake-up
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELSThe Belgian Government plans to create a unified command structure for its armed forces. It will abandon its system of independent air force, army and navy staffs, which was established in the 1940s. Belgian defence minister André Flahaut has asked the three chiefs of staff to recommend a ...
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Squeeze may dilute Canada's helicopter plans
Paul Lewis/LAS VEGASCanada is shortly expected to formally start its maritime helicopter project (MHP) with the release of a statement of requirement. Budget restrictions, however, may force a cut in the size of the planned purchase. According to industry officials, the Canadian Government has completed drafting an operational requirements and ...
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Rockwell woos Turkey with new glass cockpit
Rockwell Collins is proposing an upgraded glass cockpit to Turkey for a planned purchase of eight Sikorsky CH-53E Stallions, in a common configuration to that ordered for its S-70A Black Hawks. Turkey is negotiating a contract with Sikorsky for an initial eight CH-53E helicopters for the army and has ...
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Contracts
Thomson Dasa Armaments has awarded Team Fuzing - a consortium including Societa Esplosivi Industriali (SEI) of Italy, Dayron, KDI Precision Products and Kaman Aerospace/Raymond Engineering Operations in the USA - a contract for "several thousand" FMU-139A/B electronic bomb fuses. Manufacturing will be spread around Team Fusing, but SEI will being ...
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Elbit and IAI win Croatian deal
Elbit Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) have won a $100 million contract to upgrade 20 Mikoyan MiG-21bis fighters for the Croatian air force. Contract signature is expected shortly once the Israeli companies have arranged a financing package for the Croatian Government and a co-operation deal with the local ...
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US helicopters face growing threat
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Proliferation of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and the integration of sensors and processors to low-altitude missile systems are increasing threats to military helicopters. Short-range, man-portable, air-defence missiles, however, remain the primary threat to US helicopters, according to US Army director of foreign intelligence Col Jan Karcz. ...