Fixed-wing – Page 1176
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USA clears Singapore for Longbow attack radar
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is preparing to release the Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin Longbow millimetre-wave radar to Singapore, clearing the way for the first sale of the Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopter to a South-East Asian nation. It is understood from US defence sources that a supplementary ...
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Ethiopian deal sees new skies open up for Sukhoi Su-27
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Ethiopia has taken delivery of about 10 Sukhoi Su-27 fighters, becoming only the third non-CIS nation after China and Vietnam to operate the aircraft. The ex-Russian air force aircraft were delivered by An-22 transport aircraft from Krasnodar. One of the Su-27s is thought to be at ...
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X directory
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC X is for experimental, and the USA's famous X-planes have played a key role in advancing aerospace technology over the more than 50 years since the Bell X-1 first flew. The nature of the X-series is changing, however. There is greater emphasis on ...
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Helicopter deliveries predicted to rise over next 10 years
More than 8,000 helicopters worth over $19 billion will be delivered over the next 10 years, according to a study by US-based market analyst Forecast International/ DMS. In its report The World Commercial Rotorcraft Market 1998-2007, Forecast predicts that, in terms of unit production, the market will be led ...
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USAF to accept first C-130Js as utility tests are concluded
The US Air Force is finalising acceptance paperwork for its first Lockheed Martin C-130J transports, following the successful completion of utility flight tests. Tests included drops of heavy equipment weighing up to 19,000kg (42,000lb), parachute drops of up to 53 jumpers and operations from short and improvised airstrips. ...
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Hostilities resume with Iraqi SAM attacks
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Sporadic hostilities continued after US and UK forces ended four nights of attacks on targets in Iraq under Operation Desert Fox. On 28 December, the US Air Force attacked an SA-3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) site near Mosul which it says fired on aircraft enforcing the ...
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RTIP deal agreed
Northrop Grumman's bid to win the UK's Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) has been strengthened by a contract to begin development of an upgrade for the US Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. An advanced active-array radar to be developed under the Radar Technology Insertion Programme (RTIP) forms the basis ...
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US majors aim to break the cycle
The US majors have just ended another year of record profits, but can the industry now avoid descending into losses once the market turns? Airline managers are confident they can. It will be different next time. How familiar that message must sound to the Wall Street analysts who track ...
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Brazilian seeks trainer backing
Kate Sarsfield Backers are being sought for a Brazilian basic trainer which its designer says has attracted attention from several potential customers. Joseph Kovacs, who led design of the Brazilian Neiva Universal and Embraer Tucano trainers, has built and flown a prototype of his K-51 Peregrino. His son, Andr‚ ...
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Eritrea Fulcrums
Eritrea has acquired up to 10 MAPO MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters. Moldova is believed to have been the source of the aircraft. The fighters were the leftovers from a force inherited with the break-up of the Soviet Union. Up to 21 of the most airworthy were purchased by the US in ...
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Japan suspends Fuji deals after bribery
Japan's Defence Agency is to suspend all transactions with Fuji Heavy Industries for the next 12 months from April to penalise it for its role in a bribery scandal. Several aerospace programmes could be affected, most notably the T-3 trainer replacement programme. The government says only essential work will ...
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ACTIVE takes step to propulsion control
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A NASA-led research team has taken what it calls the "first step" towards achieving full control of an aircraft using propulsion alone for all phases of flight and not just emergency situations. The landmark was achieved during Phase III of the F-15 ACTIVE (Advanced Control ...
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Embraer demands share of fighter programme
Embraer is reiterating its demand for a share of the Brazilian air force's next generation fighter programme, ahead of an anticipated contender shortlist and release of a request for proposals (RFP) in 1999. The Brazilian Government has not yet stipulated the level of required local industrial participation, but this ...
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Greek air force gives the wink to Ericsson's Erieye system
Howard Gethin/LONDON The Greek Government has selected the Ericsson Erieye system for the Greek air force's airborne warning and control system requirement in a deal worth more than $500 million for four systems integrated with the Embraer EMB-145. The sale is the first export success for the industrial ...
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Clean-up under way on F/A-18E/F wingdrop solution
A "transonic clean-up" is under way on the Boeing F/A-18E/F to reduce the performance penalties associated with the solution devised for the earlier wing drop problem. The porous wing fold fairing which eliminated the manoeuvre wing drop has increased drag, which has reduced range and acceleration marginally. While the ...
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JSF engines tested in STOVL modes
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Pratt &Whitney has exercised all short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) modes of the propulsion systems under test for the Boeing and Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept demonstrators. All four JSF119 engine variants were on test by late November. Programme manager Bob Cea says the ...
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Darting towards retirement
Peter Henley/BOURNEMOUTH HURN Flying a 35-year-old Handley Page Dart Herald was markedly different from Flight International's usual flight tests of aircraft closer to the leading edge of technology. It was, however, a fascinating experience piloting one of the last operational examples of this first generation turboprop regional airliner. ...
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Gulf strikes
US forces launched a series of cruise missile strikes on targets in Iraq on 16 December, in response to the latest impasse in United Nations Arms Control Commission monitoring work in Baghdad. The attacks, codenamed Desert Fox, were a precursor to further strikes involving manned aircraft likely to include Royal ...
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Major move makes Evensen a first
Major Frode Evensen of the Royal Norwegian Air Force has become the first pilot from outside the four nations participating in the Eurofighter consortium to fly the EF2000 fighter, completing three sorties on 15-16 December. Evensen, a test pilot for Norway's Air Material Command, performed simulated air combat and air-to-air ...
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Thomson to provide RAF Tornado training
Thomson Training &Simulation (TTS) is planning to build and operate two mission simulators under a UK Ministry of Defence contract to provide the Royal Air Force's Panavia Tornado GR4 synthetic training service. TTS was selected in November as the preferred bidder to provide Tornado training under the UK's Private ...