Fixed-wing – Page 1211
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Romania plans to update Pumas with Israeli sensors and weapons
Romania is to upgrade 24 of its licence-manufactured Eurocopter Pumas with Israeli sensors and anti-tank missiles. The helicopters are to be equipped with the Rafael NT-D fibre-optic guided anti-tank missile along with a version of the Litening targeting and designation pod. The programme is being implemented as part of ...
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Kentron aims Raptor at export market
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Kentron, South Africa's leading missile manufacturer, is offering unpowered and powered versions of its still classified Raptor precision guided weapon for export. Details have been seen by Flight International. Development of the stand-off weapons family, the export of which remains a sensitive issue in South Africa, ...
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Russian air force orders limited number of Sukhoi Su-25TMs
The Russian air force has placed orders for the Sukhoi Su-25TM Frogfoot in limited numbers, with deliveries of aircraft expected this year and next, according to its chief designer, Vladimir Babak. Babak says that the air force would resume Su-25TM deliveries at an affordable fly-away price of 50 million ...
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Latin benefits
Latin America's aerospace industry is expected to benefit from both increased defence spending and burgeoning commercial opportunities. Industrial offsets are expected to be part of any fighter sales to Chile, Brazil and Argentina, and aircraft purchases by the region's airliners could bring subcontract work into local factories. It is ...
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Military rein loosens
Latin American armed forces, some held under tight budgetary control in punishment for past excesses, are seeing purse strings being loosened. Re-equipment plans long held in abeyance are being dusted off, and, as a result, defence contractors are gearing up their marketing machines. Brazil is leading the charge, with a ...
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Hawk circles over Poland as Iryda struggles
Andrzej Jeziorski/WARSAW British Aerospace is pushing its Hawk jet trainer in Poland as an alternative to the PZL-Mielec Iryda programme, which is teetering on the brink of collapse. The campaign has been given an additional boost by the 11 March release of an invitation to tender for various airframe work ...
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Dasa offers MiG-29 to fill EF2000 gap
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) is offering to upgrade Polish, Czech and Hungarian MIGMAPO MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter aircraft to a NATO-interoperable standard as a stopgap until each country is in a position to procure the Eurofighter EF2000. Although the aircraft has so far been considered too expensive for ...
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S Africa ban lifted
The USA has lifted its arms embargo on South Africa's Armscor, Kentron, and other Denel units following a visit to the country by US Vice-President Al Gore. The move clears the way for Boeing and Lockheed Martin to offer combat aircraft to meet the South African Air Force's future fighter ...
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Bidders line up for $1 billion Hercules special operations deal
The US Air Force is expected to award a $1 billion contract in June for long term contractor support for five special operations variants of the Lockheed Martin C-130 aircraft. The draft request for proposals (RFP) for the Integrated Weapon System Support Programme (IWSSP) was issued last year, and ...
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Decoy test finds heat snag
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Flight testing of the ALE-50 towed decoy on the Boeing F/A-18E/F has revealed that heat from the engine exhausts burns through the cable when afterburners are engaged, and can melt cable insulation and short out power to the decoy when engines are on full unreheated power. The ...
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Israel will evaluate 707 replacements
The Israeli air force is preparing a fleet replacement programme for the 13 ageing Boeing 707-300s it operates in transport, electronic warfare (EW), electronic intelligence and tanker roles. The service is planning to gradually replace the 707s with a newer generation Boeing type selected from the 737, 757 or ...
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KTX-II partners push on despite South Korean budget reduction
Full-scale development of the KTX-II light combat aircraft/advanced trainer will continue, despite deep cuts in South Korean defence expenditure, say Samsung Aerospace and partner Lockheed Martin. The two companies are pressing ahead with refining the overall design of the aircraft and finalising the selection of subsystems, including the multimode ...
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DARPA puts limits on UCAV competitors
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The competition to demonstrate an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) is to be limited to four companies - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Systems - says the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A request for proposals is to be released on ...
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Rocket's red glare
When will the phoney war end for Raytheon and Matra BAe in the fight for the RAF's active radar guided missile? Douglas Barrie/LONDON Transatlantic battle has yet to be fully engaged between the major US and European air to air missile houses - Raytheon and Matra BAe Dynamics - ...
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Maiden flight of Ae 270 scheduled for mid-1999
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) and Czech partner Aero Vodochody will begin assembling the first prototype Ae 270 single turboprop utility aircraft by the middle of the year in readiness for a maiden flight in 1999. According to AIDC business manager Paul Yang, the Taichung-based manufacturer has already begun ...
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Brazilian navy negotiates for Kuwaiti A-4 Skyhawks for carrier
Brazil is negotiating to purchase 23 McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks from Kuwait to equip its aircraft carrier, the Minas Gerias. The A-4s will be owned by the Brazilian navy, which was given permission late last year to operate fixed wing aircraft. The navy was previously only allowed to fly ...
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Boeing to begin DC-10 conversions for FedEx at Kelly AFB
Boeing is making its much heralded move into the maintenance business with its plans to begin a conversion and maintenance work in early May at its new Aerospace Support Center at Kelly AFB near San Antonio, Texas. Kelly is to be closed by the US Department of Defense in ...
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Thailandfaces $130 million F/A-18C/D penalty
Paul Lewis/BANGKOK The USA has warned Thailand that it faces a $130 million cancellation charge if it fails to purchase the eight Boeing F/A-18C/Ds it has on order. The US Government informed the Thai air force of the total cancellation penalty charge at the beginning of March. The ...
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Westland and Boeing will operate UK WAH-64 training venture
A joint venture between Boeing and GKN Westland has been selected for a 30-year, £650 million ($1 billion) contract to provide ground-based training for the British Army's WAH-64D Apache attack helicopters. Aircrew and groundcrew training centres, equipped with simulators, will be established at Army Air Corps bases at Middle ...
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Airtours and Sabena order A320 simulators
UK airline Airtours and Belgian carrier Sabena have ordered their first Airbus A320 full-flight simulators. The machines are being supplied by Thomson Training & Simulation (TTS), with visual systems provided by Evans & Sutherland. Airtours' Level D machine will enter service in April 1999 at a new training centre to ...