Fixed-wing – Page 1163
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A safer place
Aviation will benefit from automobile air bag research Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC After a decade's research, the US Army will soon begin installing newly developed cockpit air bags in some of its helicopters, to improve the chances of survival in a crash. It recently placed an initial $7.1 million order with ...
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Pole position
Poland is the most strategically placed of the new NATO members Andrew Doyle/WARSAW Poland occupies the most strategically important geographical position of the three former Eastern Bloc countries recently admitted to NATO's ranks, buffering as it does northern Europe and the CIS countries of Belarus and Ukraine. In other ...
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Long wait
Hungary is struggling to perk up its air force in the face of a hostile economic climate Rene VanWoezik/BUDAPEST Poor economic conditions have forced Hungary's politicians to repeatedly delay the tough long term decisions necessary to revive the country's air force. The flying units form one of two ...
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Singapore joins Joint Strike Fighter programme
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Singapore has become the latest country to join the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, with Turkey and Israel expected to follow shortly. According to local defence sources, Singapore signed a letter of acceptance on 23 March to join the JSF's ongoing demonstration phase as a ...
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$5 billion war chest for Kosovo brings defence industry boom
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The Clinton Administration's $5.1 billion request for extra defence spending to support the air war in Yugoslavia could become only a down payment to the long term cost of the conflict. The supplemental spending is needed for US air operations until 30 September since the air war ...
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Italy lifts ban on air strikes as campaign targets government
The Italian Government has lifted operating restraints on Italian air force strike aircraft, allowing them to take part in the NATO air war against Yugoslavia, after almost a month of debate over whether to allow such action. The restrictions on the air force, which has previously only been operational ...
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Greece to make fighter move
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Greece is expected to decide shortly which route to take on its planned short-term and long-term fighter purchases. A key ministerial meeting planned for earlier in April, but delayed by the Kosovo crisis and NATO's 50th anniversary summit, is expected by the end of April. ...
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Stealthy JASSM fails in first flight test
The first flight test of the stealthy Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) ended in failure because of an apparent electrical problem, according to US Air Force officials. The 8 April unpowered test flight at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, was terminated after the missile's wings and ...
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Dutch eye F-16 replacement
Gert Kromhout/RIJNSBURG The Netherlands has launched a formal requirement study for a new fighter to replace its Lockheed Martin F-16MLUs between 2010 and 2025. The study will take into account expected long-term developments in the use of air power, and assess the potential of cruise missiles, armed helicopters ...
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Australia narrows scout helicopter choice to three
Australia has chosen the Agusta A129 Scorpion, Boeing AH-64 Apache and Eurocopter Tiger as the final three candidates for the armed scout helicopter purchase for the Australian army. The announcement confirms the elimination of the Bell AH-1Z Super Cobra, Denel Rooivalk and Sikorsky UH-60 Battle Hawk from the competition ...
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Ahead of the game
The Czech air force has an ambitious re-equipment programme in mind Andrew Doyle/PRAGUEOf NATO's new East European members, the Czech Republic has the most advanced re-equipment programme. It will take delivery later this year of the first five of 72 indigenously developed Aero Vodochody L-159 light attack and reconnaissance aircraft. ...
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Altered alliance
The potential for NATO's enlargement to destabilise the power balance in the east chills NATO-Russian relations Simon Brossard/BRUSSELS One of the first tangible results of the entry of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland into the NATO Alliance on 14 March was the announcement by the chairman of the ...
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Raytheon gains US Army upgrade work
Raytheon is to upgrade the US Army's special operations helicopter flight simulators to speed training and prepare for future aircraft design changes. The company has received a $5 million contract to update the mission processors, host computers and instructor stations in Boeing MH-47E and Sikorsky MH-60K combat mission simulators ...
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Concurrent sale
Concurrent Computer has sold 10 PowerMaxion systems, worth $1.6 million, to EER Systems for use in the production phase of the US Army's Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior crew station mission equipment trainer. Source: Flight International
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Sikorsky eyes Latin American Black Hawk orders
Sikorsky has set aside six completed S-70 Black Hawk helicopters for sale to Venezuela, which has yet to conclude a purchase contract, while pursuing follow-on orders from Brazil, Columbia and Chile, and potential new sales in Ecuador and Peru. Venezuela is trying to raise funding for the six machines - ...
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Sokol team tests Indian MiG-21
Howard Gethin/LONDON A Russian team including Sokol and Fazotron has made the first firing trials of Vympel R-73 infrared and R-77 active radar missiles from a modified prototype Mikoyan MiG-21bis fighter for the Indian air force. The tests give an impetus to the much delayed MiG-21-93 modernisation programme for the ...
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Pacer CRAG order
The US Air Force is to purchase an additional $50 million-worth of avionics from Rockwell Collins for the Pacer CRAG programme to upgrade Boeing KC-135 tankers with FMS 800 flight management systems. Source: Flight International
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F-111 crash
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) General Dynamics F-111G crashed into the South China Sea off the Malay peninsula on 19 April, killing both crew. The aircraft, of 6 Sqn, one of 15 acquired from the US Air Force in 1993, is reported to have hit a peak on the ...
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Alpha Jet accident
Two Belgian air force Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets of 1 (Training) Wing collided in mid-air after take-off from Beauvechain AB on 19 April, and crashed in a field at Opveld. The pilots ejected safely. An eyewitness says the aircraft collided during a formation barrel roll. Source: Flight International
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F-16 problems prompt rethink on update
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The US Air Force is pushing to accelerate a series of planned engine upgrades to the Pratt & Whitney F100-220 and -220E-powered Lockheed Martin F-16 fleet, following several engine related crashes, the latest in March near Luke AFB, Arizona. The Israeli air force temporarily grounded its F-16s ...