Fixed-wing – Page 1226
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Temporary solutions
THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH Aerospace Companies (SBAC) recently launched an initiative to attract more young people into the aerospace industry, citing as one of the reasons for doing so a widespread concern that the industry could be facing skills shortages in the future. One of the most obvious manifestations of ...
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DLR finishes helicopter design
The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and its partners are to complete the core design of the Active Control Technology Demonstrator and Flying Helicopter Simulator (ACT/FHS) project by the end of this month. The aircraft - also known as the Helicopter Simulator for Technology, Operations and Research - will ...
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Portugal wants 'free' F-16s to upgrade
Portugal is negotiating to acquire 25 ex-US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs to be upgraded and operated alongside its 20 new-build aircraft. Funds are short, and Portugal is hoping to get the used airframes free of charge so that it can afford to upgrade at least some of them to ...
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Bombardier finalises pilot-training deal
Bombardier has signed a 20-year, C$2.8 billion ($2 billion) contract to provide pilot training for the Canadian Forces, under its privately financed NATO Flying Training in Canada programme. Negotiations continue with Denmark, Norway and the UK to join the programme. The Canadian company will arrange capital financing to ...
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BAe holds Astor team talks as NATO rejects JSTARS bid
British Aerospace is in talks with Northrop Grumman over teaming on the latter's controversial bid to meet the UK's £750 million ($1.2 billion) airborne stand-off radar (ASTOR) requirement with a variant of its Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS). The UK contest has assumed greater importance for ...
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Lockheed Martin completes paintless aircraft evaluation
Lockheed Martin has completed flight tests on the benefits of using appliqué film as an alternative to paint on aircraft. The US company coated the upper fuselage and wing surfaces of a US Air Force F-16 with the pressure-sensitive, adhesive applique. The aircraft exceeded 5g and a speed of Mach ...
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Software revolution leads assault on year 2000
Artificial-intelligence "software assistants" aimed at preventing computers from crashing at the turn of the century have been developed by US company Software Revolution, easing the task of reprogramming and testing millions of lines of suspect code in the time left until 2000. The Revolution 2000 suite developed by ...
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Congress blocks new-build B-2s
The US Congress has rejected attempts to restart Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth-bomber production in its Final review of the US Department of Defense's fiscal year 1998 budget, despite boosting numbers in other programmes. The FY98 defence-authorisation bill includes $268 billion in total spending, some $3 billion more than ...
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UK MoD considers tri-service helicopter brigade structure
Helicopters from across the UK armed forces will be pooled into two joint operational brigades, if proposals forming the basis of a continuing Strategic Defence Review (SDR) study are acted upon. The study of a joint helicopter group (Flight International, 29 October-4 November) proposes that all of the ...
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South Korea signs for KTX-II development
South Korea's KTX-II programme at last looks ready to get off the ground, after more than two years of delay, with the signature of a deal between the air force and prime contractor Samsung Aerospace to launch full-scale development of the advanced-trainer/light-strike aircraft. The 1.2 trillion won ($1.27 ...
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Singapore to double Chinooks
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is to purchase up to ten more Boeing CH-47D Chinook heavylift helicopters, while neighbouring Malaysia and Thailand are wrestling to reconcile their future helicopter requirements with contracting defence budgets. Singapore is understood have signed an initial agreement to order six additional ...
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SME achieves Malaysian first
SME Aviation has become the first Malaysian airframe manufacturer to produce an aircraft for export, having won US type certification and production approval for its two-seat MD3-160 Aero Tiga aerobatic trainer. Selangor-based SME heralds the development as a watershed for the local aircraft industry, claiming that "this is ...
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Sukhoi's S-37 fighter is optimised for agility
The first pictures of the Sukhoi S-37 Berkut combat aircraft reveal a twin-engined aircraft of similar size to the Su-27 Flanker, but with an aerodynamic design optimised for agility at extremely high angles of attack. Russian press reports say that the twin-engined aircraft is 22.6m long, with a ...
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UK MoD considers re-engineing Harrier
The UK Ministry of Defence is considering a re-engineing programme for the Royal Navy's British Aerospace Sea Harrier F/A2s and Royal Air Force's Harrier GR7s, which would improve performance, and may extend the aircraft's service life. The MoD confirms that a re-engineing project is being studied, although it ...
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Plug-in fuel tank for Apache undergoes testing
Boeing and the US Army are testing a crash-survivable, ballistic-tolerant auxiliary fuel tank for Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. The interal tank, developed by Robertson Aviation, replaces the helicopter's 30mm-ammunition magazine, but frees up all four pylons for long-range missions. Extended-range missions now require an 870litre external ...
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JSF prognostics system may replace maintenance checks
Lockheed Martin is to test predictive-maintenance technology planned for its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) under a $6.5 million prognostics and health-management (PHM) demonstration contract. The company will demonstrate a proof-of-concept prototype of the PHM subsystem planned for its production JSF, while Boeing is negotiating a similar contract to ...
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Clark maintenance
Boeing has signed an agreement to study developing a military-aircraft maintenance base at Clark Airport in the Philippines to support a possible air force purchase of F-18C/D fighters. A joint 90-day study will be conducted with the Clark Special Economic Zone authorities, tasked with re-developing the former US Air Force ...
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Propelling changes
There can be few propulsion-development efforts as focused, or as consistent, as the US Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) programme. Tasked with essentially "doubling propulsion capability" (ie, improving all major performance and maintenance measures by a factor of two) by the start of the 21st century, this vast ...
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Buffalos still roam the Kenyan bush
The Kenya Air Force is to keep its de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo transports in service until 2005. The service, which has eight of the aircraft, had been looking at replacing them with Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules. Brig S Muttai, deputy commander of the air force says, however, that the ...
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Boeing hopes to clinch Kuwaiti Apache contract
Boeing expects to sell 16 AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopters to Kuwait before 1998, but the foreign-military-sales deal may not cover the Longbow fire-control radar (FCR). In September, the Clinton Administration disclosed that Kuwait is seeking to buy 16 AH-64Ds, 384 Hellfire missiles, spare engines and other related weapons ...