Fixed-wing – Page 1203
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Indonesian loss
An Indonesian army Bell 205 helicopter crashed on the island of East Timor on 4 June, killing all 11 personnel on board, including two senior military officers. The helicopter crashed into a wooded hillside in bad weather, about 200km (110nm) south east of East Timor's capital Dili. Source: Flight ...
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DARO recommends intelligence consolidation
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense should consider consolidating some of its intelligence-gathering aircraft and recon- naissance pod programmes, according to an architecture study released by the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). Unclassified portions of the study look at development of a framework for designing an ...
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Venezuelan air force chooses SF-260
The Venezuelan air force has chosen the Aermacchi SF-260 basic trainer to replace its 12 Beechcraft T-34 Mentors. The SF-260Es, powered by Textron Lycoming O-540s, are to be used primarily in the basic training role. The programme involves a first contract, worth around $12 million, for 12 aircraft, plus spares ...
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V-22 tilt rotor ploughs critical path
Across the base, flight testing of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport is "on a critical path" leading to operational evaluation in 1999. Late delivery of the four development aircraft has left the integrated test team facing the challenges of meeting deadlines for sea trials, operational evaluation and testing ...
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Eurojet targets 1999 EJ200 approval
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Eurojet is planning to certificate its EJ200 turbofan engine for the Eurofighter EF2000 by the end of November 1999, and is preparing for ground and flight testing of the engine's production version from March next year. The company says it will introduce the 03B version of ...
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JSF community remains undecided on gun
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC US Air Force commanders have endorsed the requirement for a gun in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), but the issue of whether it will be integrated into the airframe is still open. That question is expected to be resolved when the latest iteration of the joint ...
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Dasa reconfigures sea-launched Taurus
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) missiles subsidiary LFK has carried out a German defence ministry-sponsored study of a sea-launched variant of its KEPD 150 missile as a potential Harpoon replacement for the navy. The navy is looking for an anti-ship missile system for its forthcoming new frigates and corvettes, and LFK ...
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Lynx upgrade for German navy faces crucial funding hurdle
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Germany's parliamentary defence approvals committee will meet on 17 June to determine whether to give the final go-ahead for or an upgrade of the German navy's GKN Westland Lynx fleet. The defence procurement committee met at the end of May, but was unable to give a ...
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JSOW upgrade axe raises Broach doubt
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC US testing of the British Aerospace Royal Ordnance Broach multi-warhead system for the Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW) has been completed, but the next step looks uncertain as the US Navy has eliminated funding for an upgraded missile able to penetrate hardened, buried targets. The ...
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BAeA offers Rooivalk for Australian project
British Aerospace Australia (BAeA) has teamed with South Africa's Denel Aviation to offer the CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter for the Australian Army's Project Air 87. Formal agreement was reached between the two companies at the end of last month. The Army is looking for an armed helicopter to replace ...
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Testing progress
Graham Warwick/NAS PATUXENT RIVER Development flight testing of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will not end as planned in November, but will be extended into next year. The continuation is necessary because of the effort that was required to resolve the manoeuvre wing-drop issue, but will be covered by ...
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USA smoothes path for UK EF2000 missile selection
Douglas Barrie/LONDON William Cohen, the US defence secretary, has written to his UK counterpart, George Robertson, offering critical assurances concerning the latter's £850 million ($1.4 billion) procurement of a next generation beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile (BVRAAM). US missile giant Raytheon Systems is competing with Matra BAe ...
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USAF allots funding for TCAS and TAWS
The US Air Force has earmarked $497 million for the purchase of traffic alert collision avoidance system (TCAS) and terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) avionics and, in doing so, has narrowed the field of competing manufacturers. USAF aircraft programme managers will be allowed to buy the TCAS, already ...
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An-24 resumption
A fleet of 20 Russian air force Antonov An-124 freighters, grounded last December following the fatal crash of an aircraft at Irkutsk, resumed flying on 15 May. The air force reveals that since 1987, 34% of incidents involving military operated An-124s have been caused by engine failure. Only about half ...
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China re-jig delays TrunkLiner and throws AE31X into limbo
Paul Lewis/BEIJING Max Kingsley-Jones/TOULOUSE The pending major shake-up of China's state-run aerospace industry is set to again delay the Boeing MD-90 TrunkLiner programme and prolong discussions with Airbus Industrie Asia on co-development of the AE31X regional jet. The new Chinese Government of premier Zhu Rongji has ordered a ...
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USN faces funding gap for new aircraft
Efforts by the US Navy to develop a Common Support Aircraft (CSA) are continuing to founder because of opposition by US legislators. The recent rejection of a $27 million fiscal year 1999 request by the House National Security Committee (HNSC) means that the future of the project will be determined ...
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Eurofighter nations work on fixed price EF2000 order
The four Eurofighter partner nations are working towards conclusion of a fixed price order for 148 aircraft in the third quarter of this year, with an announcement likely to be timed to coincide with the Farnborough air show in September. The fixed price order follows on from the production ...
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F-22 begins tests at Edwards AFB
Test flights of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 air superiority fighter began at Edwards AFB, California, on 17 May, with a 1h 20 min sortie. Lt Col Steve Rainey, the first US Air Force pilot to fly the development standard F-22, flew the aircraft at speeds "at or below 350kt [650km/h]", ...
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Australia signs for JSF
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC International interest in the US/UK Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme continues to grow, with Australia the latest to sign for the project as an observer. Meanwhile, US industry officials believe that Singapore may be the next to join the JSF project as a so-called "informed ...
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Australia request
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has launched its requirement for an armed reconnaissance helicopter in a request for proposals (RFP) released to industry earlier this month. The total requirement is likely to be for between 25 and 30 aircraft, although airframe numbers are not detailed. Tandem seating is strongly preferred, ...