Fixed-wing – Page 1216
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Russia and Ukraine clash over crash
Russian air force findings that a multiple engine failure caused the loss of an Antonov An-124 Ruslan have been sharply rejected by Ukrainian engine manufacturer ZMKB Progress. The Russian air force commander-in-chief Col Gen Anatoly Kornukov said on 10 February that the cause of the fatal crash on 6 ...
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Partners poised to restart X-31 VECTOR
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Industrial partners in the tri-national X-31 VECTOR research programme expect the signature in March of an inter-government memorandum of understanding (MoU) signalling the restart of the successful thrust vectoring work. Following the approval of the US portion of the programme's funding in mid-January, similar clearance is expected from ...
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Multimission craft
Julian Moxon/Marignane, FRANCECUTAWAY DRAWING/Giuseppe Picarella In bringing two new machines to the market in the space of two years, Eurocopter appears to have pulled off something of a coup. By any standards, the eight seat, twin engined EC135 and now the five seat EC120 Colibri single have both been very ...
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Air Hanson wins UK royal helicopter contract
Air Hanson has been awarded a ten year contract to operate a Sikorsky S-76 on behalf of the UK's Royal Family. The leased helicopter will be based at Air Hanson's Blackbushe, Surrey, headquarters and will replace two Westland Wessex HCC4s operated by the Royal Air Force's 32Sqn since 1969. ...
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RAF C-130J Hercules hit by further
Delivery of the first Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules tactical transport to the Royal Air Force has been delayed by a further six months. The first aircraft, due to arrive this month, is now scheduled for delivery in July at the earliest. Lockheed Martin says that the latest hold-up - ...
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BAe and Boeing in talks on RAF C-17s
Boeing and British Aerospace are discussing the UK company's involvement in the proposed supply of six Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft to the Royal Air Force. The nature of the negotiations is unclear, but the agreement could include offset work and maintenance. The Government is considering strategic ...
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Defence review threatens RAF fleet
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Strategic Defence Review (SDR) proposals being considered by the UK Government could spell an end to the Royal Air Force's Sepecat Jaguar fleet and the merging of its British Aerospace Harrier GR7 fleet into a joint RAF/Royal Navy force. The move to cut RAF aircraft numbers ...
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P&W prepares for first JSF engine tests
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Pratt & Whitney plans to begin test runs of the first two Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engines in the "April-May timeframe" and will begin initial tests of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variants in the third quarter of this year. The first two ...
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Future fighter needs
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Fighter pilots have long jested that Singapore measures only four minutes by four minutes in terms of flying time. The island's diminutive size, however, belies its strategic importance. Situated at the tip of the Malaysian peninsular Singapore occupies an economic and geographic crossroads between the Eastern and Western ...
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ROTHR support
The US Navy has awarded Raytheon Electronic Systems a $5 million contract for continuing engineering and maintenance support for its Relocatable-Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) systems. The contract includes options which, if exercised, will bring the value of the work to nearly $20 million. The work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, ...
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K-Max crashes
A Kaman K-MAX was written off in a crash landing on 27 January at the manufacturer's Bloomfield, Connecticut, plant when the external-lift helicopter, flown by a US Federal Aviation Administration pilot, overturned after the left mainwheel struck the ground during an apparent landing attempt. The pilot emerged unscathed. Source: Flight ...
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Defence units expect to evade Boeing axe
Boeing's space and defence businesses will escape major changes when post-merger consolidation plans are revealed later this month, says Alan Mulally, president of Boeing Information, Space and Defense Systems (ISDS). "There is not much overlap" in products or manufacturing between the Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell businesses which now make ...
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Raytheon wins deal for anti-cruise missile aerostats
The US Army has picked Raytheon to continue development of an aerostat based system designed to spot low flying cruise missiles. The joint venture has won an initial $12 million for the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System demonstration. The Raytheon team (originally a joint ...
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US Army looks into 'transparent armour'
The US Army is to launch a 24-month study to determine whether "transparent armour" developed for armoured vehicle windows can be used as windscreens on US military rotorcraft. The Aviation Applied Technology Directorate is to award one or more contracts for the research to assess the feasibility of using ...
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Dutch test skis on Cougar for Snow Falcon exercise
The Dutch Air Force has tested skis on a Eurocopter AS532 Cougar MkII of the Tactical Helicopter Group's 300Sqn, ahead of the "Snow Falcon" exercise in southern Norway later this month. The Dutch have borrowed skis from the Swiss air force to equip four of the seven Cougars to be ...
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Pentagon seeks more money for weapons
The US Department of Defense wants to spend $257.3 billion during fiscal year 1999, according to budget figures presented to Congress. The request is $2.4 billion more than the US Congress allowed the Pentagon for FY1998 weapons spending. There are no surprises in the budget submission, which includes ...
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CFM pushes commonality in USAF re-engine bid
CFM International (CFMI) is stressing fleet-commonality benefits to the US Air Force in its bid to re-engine almost 200 Boeing KC-135E, RC-135, E-3 and Northrop Grumman E-8 aircraft. The company's response to the USAF's request for an "alternate propulsion-system assessment" will be complete in the "March-April timeframe", according to ...
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Australia opens competition door to admit CN235 Phoenix
Australia has revised its earlier draft request for tenders (RFT) for a replacement light tactical-transport aircraft so that the Indonesian IPTN CN235-330 Phoenix can be included (Flight International, 4-10 February). The move follows approaches by Indonesian science and technology minister Bacharuddin Habibie to Australian defence minister Ian McLachlan. Habibie, ...
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Pakistan buys refurbished Mirages from France
France has sold Pakistan 40 refurbished ex-air force Dassault Mirage III and Mirage V fighters. Under the deal, known as "Blue Flash 6", the aircraft are being upgraded by French companies Sagem and Sogerma. The contract was organised by the French defence ministry's maintenance division. The first refurbished aircraft was ...
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Phoenix training
Phoenix Air of Georgia is to provide electronic warfare training to support NATO Integrated Air Defense Systems training periods and the alliance's planned Distant Thunder, Dynamic Mix and Strong Resolve exercises. The company has been awarded a one year contract. Source: Flight International