Fixed-wing – Page 1201
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US Air Force makes a start on $1 billion upgrade of F-16C/Ds
US Air Force makes a start on $1 billion upgrade of F-16C/DsThe USAir Force has embarked on a $1 billion programme to upgrade and standardise 700 Lockheed Martin F-16C/ Ds to improve reliability and increase capability. There is already some international interest in the update, the company says. Under ...
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Ukraine tries to fan interest in Tupolev upgrades
Paul Duffy/Moscow Russian and Ukrainian engine manufacturers are touting re-engineing programmes for the Tupolev Tu-134 and Tu-154 passenger aircraft, which, despite their age, continue in widespread service in the CIS. The re-engineing projects were among several similar schemes being offered at the recent Moscow Aeroengine Show. Ukrainian ...
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Partners find X-31 funding
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) says that Government financing for the trinational VECTOR follow-on to the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Manoeuvrability programme is now secure, and a final go-ahead is expected later this year. "The financing questions have been resolved, and the partners are now in programme planning activities," says project ...
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A matter of modernisation
Maj Gen Eitan Ben-Eliahu, Commander of the Israeli air force, sees the "main goal" of his tenure as shepherding through critical modernisation programmes. For Ben-Eliahu, a fast jet pilot by trade, the obvious priority is the fighter fleet, although he adds that the air force's transport and helicopter fleets ...
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IAI
IAI With Israel's defence spending staying stable, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is not relying on domestic largess to achieve its ambitions for growth. Commercial, non-defence, business accounted for 35% of revenues last year, beating the target set in 1993 when IAI began a painful restructuring. That restructuring is ...
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Hunting sells cargo airline to complete aviation disposals
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON The UK's Hunting group has completed the last major piece in the year-long dismantling of its loss-making aviation division, with the sale of the Hunting Cargo Airlines business. It has gone to Belgian shipping group CMB, which bid jointly with South African freight carrier Safair. The ...
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BASC joins in MD-10 freighter conversion effort
The newly formed Boeing Aerospace Support Center (BASC) at the former Kelly US Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, will begin undertaking McDonnell Douglas DC-10 freighter conversions later this year. The division has initially been contracted to convert a single DC-10-10 to freighter configuration as part of the ...
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Dasa prepares to give go ahead for EF2000 simulator battle
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) is planning to issue requests for quotations (RFQs) on the Eurofighter EF2000 aircrew synthetic training aids (ASTA) package by the end of this year. Dasa has project authority on the programme, and issued requests for information (RFIs) last year to European and US ...
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Russians reveal multi-axis nozzles
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Russian fighter engine manufacturers Lyulka and Klimov have separately unveiled two-axis thrust vectoring nozzle designs for their respective combat aircraft engine projects. The nozzles for the Lyulka RD-33 and Klimov AL-31 turbofans were revealed at the 5th Moscow Aeroengine Show in June. The Lyulka nozzle, designated ...
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Kamov Ka-50 crash kills Torzhok training base commander
Russian Army Maj Gen Boris Vorbiev was killed on 17 June, when the Kamov Ka-50 Hokum he was piloting crashed at the Torzhok combat training centre. Vorbiev, commander of the Torzhok centre, was an experienced helicopter pilot. According to witnesses, the accident occurred as the Ka-50 was being ...
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JSF engines 'running smoothly' as test programme begins
The first Pratt & Whitney F119 derivative engine for Lockheed Martin's X-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept demonstrator began test runs on 11 June. As Flight International went to press, it was expected to be followed by the engine for Boeing's X-32 contender. "The engine is running ...
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Philippine Government stalls on interim fighter purchase
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The new Philippine Government of president-elect Joseph Estrada has poured cold water on the outgoing Administration's proposed purchase of 23 ex-Kuwaiti McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawks as an interim solution to the Philippine air force's chronic shortage of fighter aircraft. The A-4s form part of a "joint ...
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Franco/German armies start to shape up Tiger training school
Julian Moxon/PARIS France's army light aviation corps (ALAT) is about to begin work with its German counterpart, the Heeresflieger, on developing the specifications for a major simulation contract for the Tiger anti-tank helicopter. The simulators will form part of the EFA (Ecole Franco-Allemand) joint Tiger training school now being created ...
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CFMI tackles A340 engine cracks
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES CFM International (CFMI) is being forced to inspect and repair about 200 CFM56-5C4s used on Airbus Industrie A340s after a China Eastern aircraft suffered an in-flight shut down. The Chinese A340 experienced a first stage high pressure turbine (HPT) blade fracture in the number three engine on ...
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Ultra prepares STC application for contactless prop de-icer
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Ultra Electronics has successfully test flown a propeller de-icing system which avoids the need for a slip-ring contact assembly, offering potential maintenance savings of several thousand dollars an engine a year. Flight testing took place in Wichita, Kansas, from 13-18 May with the Hub Integrated Power and Switching ...
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UAV
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is without question the most experienced of armed services when it comes to the operational utilisation of tactical unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Deployed in earnest during the Bekaa Valley in 1982, the UAV is well established in the IDF's armoury. There is little sign ...
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Facing the future
Fifty years into their lives, the Israeli air force and the country's defence aerospace industry are confronted by a rapidly changing strategic environment and industrial challenges as the global defence market restructures. In the first five decades of their existence both have proved adept at meeting these. As Israel begins ...
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Lockheed Martin faces last hurdle to C-130J certification
Lockheed Martin has dispatched a C-130J Hercules 2 to Argentina for natural icing tests, the last major hurdle before civil certification of the military transport. The US company plans to begin delayed deliveries of the upgraded Hercules "in the third quarter", but says the exact timing will depend on the ...
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Copper drop may tarnish Chile plans
Bidders are still hoping for a Chilean fighter decision by the end of June, despite the certainty of a cut in the armed forces' procurement budget because of falling copper prices. Boeing, Dassault, Lockheed Martin and Saab submitted best and final offers for between 12 and 24 aircraft in late ...
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Boeing begins early Apache upgrade work
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Army has awarded Boeing a contract which could form the first element of a comprehensive upgrade to keep the AH-64 Apache competitive well into the 21st century. The company is to undertake a four-year, $15.9 million, project to design, build and flight test a ...