Fixed-wing – Page 1230
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S Korean grounding
The South Korean air force has grounded its fleet of 49 locally built Lockheed Martin Block 52 F-16C/Ds, following the loss on 18 September - the second recorded in six weeks - of the Pratt & Whitney F100-229-powered fighter because of an engine flame-out. An air force investigation into the ...
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Back to basics
Airline pilots have, for years, been warning over the growing threat of a mid-air collision in African airspace. On 13 September they appear, unfortunately, to have been proved right, with the apparent en route collision of a US Air Force Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and a German air force Tupolev Tu-154 ...
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Combatants line up for special-operations C-130 support work
At least five US defence companies are competing for the right to provide the US Air Force with long-term contractor support for five special-operations variants of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules. The Integrated Weapon System Support Programme (IWSSP), worth $1 billion, is intended to cover single-source maintenance and ...
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Bidders prepare for C-5 upgrade
Graham Warwick and Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A programme to upgrade the avionics in over 120 US Air Force Lockheed C-5 transports is due to get under way in mid-November with release of a draft request for proposals (RFP), according to officials at the 1997 Air Force Association annual ...
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F-15 network trainer award is imminent
Award of a contract to supply and operate networked simulators at US Air Force Boeing F-15C bases is expected in late September. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are the only bidders for the Distributed Mission Training (DMT) programme, after Hughes elected not to compete. The deployable simulators will be used for ...
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Israeli Thunders fly
Boeing has flown the first of 25 F-15I Thunder strike aircraft for Israel. The F-15I has avionics and weapons unique to Israel, including an Elbit helmet-mounted display. The first aircraft will be handed over on 6 November. The Israeli defence ministry issued the formal request for information (RFI) for its ...
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Russia and Sweden combine on imaging IR
Uralsky Optical-Mechanical Plant (UOMZ) of Yekaterinburg in Russia is actively marketing an imaging infra-red system (IIR) for helicopter and naval platforms developed in co-operation with Swedish company AGEMA. AGEMA supplies sensor arrays, and UOMZ is responsible for integrating the system in a gyro-stabilised ball mounting. The system is ...
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Boeing teams with Mauser for JSF gun
Boeing's ordnance operation in Mesa, Arizona, has teamed with German gun manufacturer Mauser to propose using an advanced 27mm weapon for the US Department of Defense's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Development of a gun capable of attacking an aircraft head-on within missile minimum launch-range has been proposed for ...
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Japan details 1998 aircraft-procurement plans
Andrew Mollet/TOKYO The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) has submitted its aircraft-procurement request for fiscal year 1998 to the finance ministry's budgetary appropriations committee before it is incorporated in the Government's April 1998 budget. The JDA request, which is relatively modest compared with previous years, calls for ...
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First F-22 tests end
Initial flight testing of the first Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22 fighter has been completed after just two flights, one of which was cut short by telemetry problems. Lockheed Martin decided against a planned third flight in a bid to avoid further delays in delivering the aircraft to the USAir Force's ...
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Russia and Israel prepare for dogfight over Chinese missile
Douglas Barrie/LONDON The Chinese air force is discussing with Israel and Russia the acquisition of an advanced dogfight air-to-air missile (AAM), with Rafael's Python-4 and an advanced variant of the Vympel R-73 (A-11 Archer) both being considered. Rafael has already provided many Python-3 AAMs to the ...
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Crashes hit us DoD
Crashes hit us DoD The US Department of Defense (DoD) halted flying training for a day on 18 September, to review flight-safety procedures following a spate of crashes, led by the 14 September loss of a USAir Force Lockheed Martin F-117 when an outer wing-panel separated at an ...
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Military-transport losses raise African mid-air collision fears
David Learmount/London A mid-air collision in African airspace was predictable, says the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA), following the simultaneous disappearance of German and US military transport aircraft off Namibia on 13 September. IFALPA warned in 1996 that African air traffic control (ATC) suffers from inadequacies ...
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Lockheed Martin picks Alliant
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Alliant Techsystems has been selected to produce composite engine-inlet ducts for Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept-demonstrator aircraft using fibre-placement technology. The company's Magna, Utah-based Space and Strategic Systems Group has received a $6.2 million contract from Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works to ...
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Boeing JSF ready to go
Boeing has passed the initial design-review on its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept-demonstration programme, clearing the way for fabrication and assembly of two X-32 demonstrators for flight tests beginning in 1999. Source: Flight International
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Egyptian Chinook
The US Department of Defense intends to offer Egypt four additional Boeing CH-47D Chinooks, spare and repair parts, support equipment and training worth about $149 million. Source: Flight International
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Chinese independents co-operate to form defensive alliance
Six independent provincial Chinese carriers, led by Hainan Airlines, have signed an agreement to form the country's first co-operative alliance, in a move designed to strengthen their position against competition and take-over moves by larger, state-owned, airlines. The New Star (Xinxing) Air Alliance will consist of Hainan Airlines, ...
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Russia reviews Chinese sales
Paul Lewis/BEIJING The flow of Russian weapons to China, including new fighters, ships and missiles, is showing signs of slowing in the face of contractual differences and reservations in Moscow about the type and capability of systems sought by Beijing. Some major new arms purchases for ...
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US GAO urges use of towed decoy for F/A-18C/D
The US Navy should reconsider its opposition to fielding a towed radar decoy on its Boeing F/A-18C/Ds, says the US General Accounting Office (GAO). The GAO wants the USN to conduct a detailed engineering analysis of the modifications needed to adapt towed decoys to the F/A-18C/D. ...
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Boeing launches competition to find advanced FLIR for F/A-18
Boeing is planning to release a request for offers shortly, to initiate a contest for an advanced-targeting, forward-looking infra-red system (ATFLIR) for the F/A-18C/D and the more-advanced F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Naval Air Systems Command says that it will award Boeing a contract for development, integration and installation of ...