Fixed-wing – Page 1206
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JDA may focus on tanker and transport
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Japan Defence Agency (JDA) planners are weighing up options to defer development of a replacement maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to focus its increasingly tight financial resources on acquiring a combined inflight refuelling tanker and transport jet. Local defence sources in Tokyo say that the JDA is ...
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Israel tests radar for Nautilus laser gun
Israel has completed an initial phase of testing on a key part of the Nautilus laser gun system. The weapon is designed to destroy rockets in mid-trajectory. The first tests were with the Elta-built search radar, a derivative of the Green Pine radar being developed by the Israelis as ...
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Thomson protest holds up Philippine radar plans
The Philippine air force has been forced again to delay issuing a tender for new air defence radars after Thomson-CSF protested about being dropped from the shortlist. The new fighter programme has now taken a step forward with the issue of the long awaited invitation to bid (ITB). Manila ...
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Racal using DC-3 for Searchwater 2000 radar tests
Common processing and system elements of Racal's Searchwater 2000 maritime reconnaissance (MR) and airborne early warning (AEW)radars are undergoing a series of over-sea tests, fitted under the nose of a Douglas DC-3 leased from Air Atlantique of Coventry. The MR variant is for the British Aerospace Nimrod 2000 replacement maritime ...
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UK MoD contract throws lifeline to BIH
British International Helicopters (BIH) has been awarded an £18 million ($30 million) contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to provide helicopter support to the Falkland Island garrison, in the South Atlantic. The contract is a boost to the Aberdeen, Scotland-based helicopter operator, which was hit badly in March ...
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Superior Helicopters takes delivery of it's second Kaman K-MAX
Kaman Aerospace has delivered a second K-MAX external lift helicopter to Superior Helicopter of Glendale, Oregon, primarily for logging operations. Superior joins a growing list of operators which have more than one K-MAX, Kaman says, which includes Utah-based Mountain West Helicopters, Canada's Midwest Helicopters and Japan Royal Helicopters. Source: Flight ...
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South African defence minister keeps arms door shut on USA
South African defence minister Joe Modise has rebuffed US overtures to become a late entrant into its $1.5 billion defence procurement programme. The US Government's decision to drop a longstanding defence embargo earlier this year "-does not go far enough-there are still a lot of restrictions", the minister said at ...
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L-159/Rooivalk swap deal is considered
South Africa and the Czech Republic are considering a reciprocal procurement of the Aero Vodochody L-159 advanced jet trainer and the Denel CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter. Senior industry sources say that initial talks have taken place to study the possibility of some kind of counter-purchase arrangement. The South ...
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Dasa continues to test decoy despite ministry doubters
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa)expects to complete flight testing of its towed radar decoy this year, in the face of a continued lack of commitment to the project from the German Ministry of Defence. Dasa has been proposing its decoy for German air force Transall C-160 transports, Panavia ...
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RAF will replace Hawk fuselages
Ian Sheppard/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence has given its approval for the Royal Air Force to replace the centre and rear fuselage sections of 80 British Aerospace Hawks in a major structural upgrade required to keep the advanced jet trainer fleet in service until 2010. British Aerospace is due ...
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Kentron removes wraps from Raptor 1 weapon
South African guided- weapons specialist Kentron this week unveiled its previously classified Raptor 1 stand-off glide bomb at the Aerospace Africa 98 show at Waterkloof AFB, Pretoria. The Raptor 1 is a 1,200kg, 60km (32nm)-plus range weapon, with a television seeker and also fitted with flip-out wings (Flight International, ...
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SAIC's VTOL UAV prototype crashes
SAIC's bid for the US Navy's vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) project has been dealt another blow by the crash of its prototype. The SAIC Vigilante air vehicle crashed on 20 April during a test flight at a small airfield in Virginia. The composite ...
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India's avionics indecision holds back second batch of Su-30s
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Douglas Barrie/LONDON The Indian air force's second batch of Sukhoi Su-30 two-seat multi-role fighters has been delayed by up to 12 months because of difficulties encountered in finalising the aircraft's avionics configuration. Alexei Fedorov, former general director of AVPK Sukhoi, says that delivery of the ...
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Malaysia postpones AEW procurement for five years
Aircraft manufacturers lining up to meet Malaysia's airborne early warning (AEW) requirement are anticipating a delay of up to five years because of Asia's continuing economic crisis. Malaysia cut its defence budget by 10% after its currency plunged against the US dollar, although defence minister Syed Hamid Albar says ...
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Malaysia backpedals on CN-235 buy
Malaysia's defence ministry is rethinking its contract to buy six CN-235 transport aircraft from IPTN because of concerns over the long-term future of the Indonesian manufacturer. The RM286 million ($75 million) deal was struck in February 1995. The aircraft were to have been delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air ...
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IR-OTIS for Asia
Sweden's Saab has begun marketing its IR-OTIS infra-red search and track (IRST) system for South-East Asian fighter upgrades. Saab says the system is well-suited for Northrop F-5 upgrade programmes and, possibly, for Lockheed Martin F-16s. Singapore has recently upgraded its F-5 fleet, while Indonesia and possibly Malaysia are set to ...
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Tri-jet transformation
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES On the surface it sounds relatively straightforward. Boeing is converting ex-airline DC-10s to freighters for FedEx, and for any other operator that wants it. The real story is quite different in terms of scale, timetable and technical challenges. "It's been an enormous undertaking," says Boeing MD-10 deputy ...
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K-MAX crash in USA
A Kaman K-MAX logging helicopter crashed on 21 April while flying to LaGrange airport in Oregon for maintenance. The pilot escaped with minor injuries. The aircraft, operated by Grizzly Mountain, suffered "-a loss of power, impacted the terrain and rolled over", says Kaman. The Prineville, Oregon, operator took delivery ...
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FAA warms to thermal testing
Ian Sheppard/LONDON The US Federal Aviation Administration is testing a new inspection technique which could allow rapid on-the-spot diagnosis of the integrity of aircraft skin panels in routine maintenance. Advanced dynamic thermography is a non-contact, non-destructive inspection method which involves heating composite panels by around 4°C, with an ...
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Sovereign promises
Julian Moxon/PARIS Kevin O'Toole/LONDON It would have been unrealistic to hope for too much from the meeting of Europe's defence ministers, hosted last week in Paris. In the end, there were some further encouraging noises over Europe's defence consolidation, but little to address the issues which have made its ...