Fixed-wing – Page 1138
-
News
Consolidate to accumulate
The maintenance, repair and overhaul market is expected to swell to around $35.9 billion by 2004, according to Doug Birch/LONDON Think of consolidation within the aviation industry and the frenzied merger activity gripping the aerospace manufacturing sector immediately springs to mind. Yet consolidation is also beginning to change the ...
-
News
Safety team to probe Shuttle maintenance
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has appointed an independent industry team to review the overall safety of the Space Shuttle and its maintenance and refurbishment practices. The team will be led by Dr Henry McDonald, director of NASA's Ames Research Center. The move follows the discovery of maintenance-related damage to ...
-
News
USN gives Tomcat more bite
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCThe US Navy is upgrading its Northrop Grumman F-14s with an improved LANTIRN targeting pod and new global positioning system (GPS)-guided weapons as part of a continuing series of incremental extensions to the fighter's strike capabilities. Following the LANTIRN-equipped F-14's combat debut in Kosovo, the navy will raise ...
-
News
X-32B wings in
Boeing fitted the single piece wing for its X-32B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator at Palmdale, California on 20 September. The assembly of the X32B wing took one third less time than its predecessor, the X-32A, says Boeing which attributes the increased speed to "lean concepts" and an innovative management ...
-
News
USA gives approval for South American attack helicopter buy
Chile and Colombia are set to become the first Latin American nations to deploy attack helicopters following recent US Government approval to supply both countries with pricing and availability data for the Bell MH-1W SuperCobra. The US Navy foreign military sales office has responded after price and availability requests were ...
-
News
Michot backs Airbus bilaterals
Julian Moxon/PARIS Chris Jasper/LONDONAerospatiale Matra president Yves Michot has endorsed the British Aerospace view that the restructuring of Airbus Industrie can now best be achieved through bilateral mergers of the consortium's interests. This consigns to the scrap heap two years of negotiations which had sought to transform the consortium into ...
-
News
UTC closes US plants and sheds jobs in latest restructure
United Technologies (UTC) has announced plans for the further restructuring of its Hamilton Sundstrand subsidiary, formed from the recent merger of Hamilton Standard with Sundstrand. The division will shed 1,500 jobs by the end of next year, reducing its workforce to 16,500, in a move related partly to the merger ...
-
News
1998 world military incidents
Compiled by David Learmount/LONDON The Flight International annual listing of military accidents and incidents is as complete as possible, but it inevitably reflects varying national attitudes to the release of information on military operations. Some countries release no accident, attrition or safety-related information as a matter of policy, ...
-
News
Dassault Aviation enters the arena for stake in Embraer
Julian Moxon/PARIS Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Dassault Aviation has announced its interest in becoming an investor in Brazilian regional aircraft manufacturer Embraer as the latter's principal shareholder, Bozano Simonsen, prepares to sell a 20% holding. Dassault says that it is keen to bid for a stake in booming Embraer and ...
-
News
Australia looks at C-130J alternatives
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA An Australian Air Force follow-on purchase of Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules airlifters is in doubt after a decision by Australian Defence Force capability planners to consider alternative solutions. These include the Boeing C-17 and the Airbus A400M future large aircraft. Australia has options on 27 additional ...
-
News
French air force takes first Cougar CSAR
Eurocopter has delivered the first Cougar Mk2 combat search and rescue helicopter to the French air force. Service entry is planned in around 18 months. The air force requires up to 14 machines, but the latest defence budget provides funding for only four. The remaining three have yet to ...
-
News
Team spirit
Improved co-operation, communication and openness are the chosen military flight safety tools of the future David Learmount/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Paul Phelan/CAIRNS In 1998, the Australian Defence Force, (ADF), which has about 450 aircraft, had a flying accident-free year throughout its services for the first time. That, however, according to ...
-
News
Four bid for USAF C-130 avionics upgrade work
The US Air Force has formally launched the $4.2 billion avionics modernisation programme (AMP) to upgrade 510 Lockheed Martin C-130E/H transport and special operations aircraft, with the release of a draft request for proposals (RFP). Four system integrators have emerged to bid for the upgrade. They are soliciting teaming partners ...
-
News
S Africa approves plans for armed forces modernisation
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Jonathan Rosenthal/JOHANNESBURG The South African cabinet has approved plans for a sweeping modernisation of the country's armed forces but slashed the initial cost by nearly one-third to R21.3 billion ($3.5 billion). The bulk of the savings has been achieved by trimming early purchases of Saab/British Aerospace ...
-
News
Six bidders contend for RAF strategic tanker requirement
Stewart Penney/LONDON Six companies have been selected by the UK Ministry of Defence to submit outline proposals for the Royal Air Force's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft requirement. The deal is potentially worth £9 billion ($14.6million) over 20 years and will be funded via a Private Finance Initiative. British ...
-
News
Taiwan compensation
Taiwan is to pursue compensation from US engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, after declaring that the 18 August crash of an air force Lockheed Martin F-16A was caused exclusively by engine failure. The Taiwanese aircraft are powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220. Source: Flight International
-
News
Su-27KUB begins naval operations tests
The Sukhoi Su-27KUB (Su-33UB) twin-seat naval fighter/trainer prototype has begun arrested landing and ski-jump take-off flight tests at Nitka in the Crimea. Facilities at Nitka include a representation of the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, including a ski jump and a four-wire arresting gear. Tests are being flown ...
-
News
DC-9 age leads to calls for checks
Old Age is catching up with the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 fleet as the US Federal Aviation Administration issues directives on two electrical modifications and a revision on the safe life of structural components. Reporting incidents in which short-circuiting has caused "severe smoke and burn damage which could result in ...
-
News
Boeing ready to produce more F-15s
Boeing is preserving sufficient long lead items to produce a further six F-15s for the US Air Force in anticipation of a US Congressionally mandated order, after a $270 million write-off on unused equipment. The USAF is also being briefed on a proposed low-cost F-15 development. The US Congress ...
-
News
'JSF by stages' under study
Incremental development of the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) capabilities is being considered as a way to reduce cost. The move could avoid budget problems later in the programme. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are designing their JSFs to provide the full capability specified by the operational requirements agreed by the ...