Fixed-wing – Page 1247

  • News

    PZL-Mielec flight tests improved Iryda

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    PZL-Mielec is flight testing an aerodynamically improved version of its M-93 Iryda jet trainer, to be known as the M-96. The modifications include new leading-edge root extensions and vortex generators on the wings, and an extension to the tail fin to improve longitudinal stability. While Mielec is releasing ...

  • News

    -as Allison begins JSF lift-fan tests

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    LIFT-FAN HARDWARE for Lockheed Martin's short-take-off/vertical-landing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) variant is arriving at Allison Advanced Development, which plans rig tests before delivering a complete lift fan to Pratt & Whitney in August 1998. P&W will integrate the shaft-driven lift fan with its F119-based SE611 engine for ground ...

  • News

    Taiwan navy aims for Seasprites

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    The Taiwan navy is reviving its long-standing interest in the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter, and is once again seeking funding and approval to order up to 12 of the remanufactured aircraft. It is understood from local defence sources that the Taiwan navy is drawing up an operational ...

  • News

    Dasa offers Ranger 2000 jet-trainer to Turkish air force

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) is trying to breathe new life into its Ranger 2000 jet-trainer programme by offering the aircraft to meet an emerging requirement in Turkey. The Turkish air force is looking for a trainer to replace an ageing fleet of about 75 Lockheed T-33s. Sources close to ...

  • News

    Thoroughly modern airship

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    After a gap of several years, airship production is returning to the Cardington sheds - birthplace of the historic R101in the 1930s - near Bedford, 70km (45 miles) north of London in the UK. The airship under construction there today is a totally new design which will have a 14,200m3 ...

  • News

    MDC opens MD-17 'window' with two white tails

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has authorised production of two additional "white-tail" (unsold) C-17 transports in 1998, providing the first opportunity for the sale of a commercial MD-17 or foreign-military-sale C-17 versions. The US company says: "We think there's a good chance we are going to sell them commercially or ...

  • News

    US defence review cuts F-18E/F output by half

    1997-05-21T00:00:00Z

    THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) plans to halve production of the US Navy's McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18E/F, to slightly over 500 aircraft. The cut is the most dramatic recommendation of the DoD's Quadrenniel Defense Review (QDR), which also calls for production of the US Air Force's Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 ...

  • News

    Surveillance upgrade

    1997-05-14T16:06:00Z

    California Microwave has received an additional $5 million from the US Army to modify two Airborne Reconnaissance Low-Multifunction (ARL-M) surveillance aircraft. The award is part of a wider modification to the original $219 million contract for the aircraft-upgrade work. Two of the US Army's three Bombardier de Havilland RC-7B ARL-M ...

  • News

    Israeli Astronaut

    1997-05-14T11:00:00Z

    An Israeli air force colonel has been selected to train to fly as a payload specialist on a US NASA Space Shuttle mission in late 1998. The pilot, who is unidentified for security reasons, will conduct national science experiments provided by Israel, but the US space organisation will pay for ...

  • News

    Restructuringf or a European future

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    Just ten months after the scheme was launched by defence minister Charles Millon, France's ministry of defence has finished planning for a fundamental restructuring of the national armaments directorate, the Délégation Générale pour l'Armament (DGA). At the heart of what is a profound re-organisation of the way the ...

  • News

    Rafale relief

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    As the agility of the Dassault Rafale multi-role fighter is demonstrated in the skies above spectators at the Paris air show in June, the French aerospace industry will be breathing a sigh of relief following the signature of the first production contract. Unless there is a last-minute hitch, ...

  • News

    Israel focuses on new fighter acquisition

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    The Israeli air force could decide as early as mid-1998 on its next fighter purchase, according to senior air force sources. Deliveries could start early in the next century. Israeli studies into the requirements have effectively narrowed the field down to two or three US contenders. The sources ...

  • News

    Northrop Grumman joins Lockheed Martin on JSF

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    NORTHROP GRUMMAN has joined the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) team. Lockheed Martin says that the deal does not preclude a teaming agreement with British Aerospace, also being courted by rival JSF contractor Boeing. Northrop Grumman will bring experience with low-observable and carrier-borne aircraft, as well as ...

  • News

    Boeing eyes paintless JSF

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    BOEING HOPES TO cover one of its two Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept-demonstrators with plastic film, rather than paint, following successful flight-testing under the Joint Paintless Aircraft Programme (JPAP). Boeing and 3M were awarded a contract in 1996 to demonstrate the feasibility of replacing paint with appliques - ...

  • News

    STOVL promise lifts JSF

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    EMPHASIS ON THE short-take-off/vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the US/UK Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is increasing. Progress with the JSF concept-demonstration phase is leading programme and service officials to speculate that the STOVL variant planned for the US Marine Corps and the Royal Navy could find applications with the US Air ...

  • News

    Paris '97: a preview

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL Flight International will provide full editorial coverage throughout the build-up and duration of the show, starting with a comprehensive guide to the show in the Paris Show Special issue (11-17 June). First News will be published in the 18-24 June issue, followed by a full Show Report (25 ...

  • News

    Philippines spells out maritime needs

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    The Philippine air force has begun drawing up its requirement for six new long-range maritime-patrol aircraft (MPAs), as part of a recently approved 15-year defence-modernisation programme. A replacement fleet of MPAs represents the air force's next procurement priority after the acquisition of new multi-role fighters and surveillance radars. ...

  • News

    Broad horizons

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    To many of the pilots who were trained by the UK armed services during the 1950s and 60s, the de Havilland Chipmunk is no more than a basic trainer with a tailwheel. To a team of senior Royal Air Force flyers in 1997, however, it is the vehicle for a ...

  • News

    Joint-mission E-6B is delivered to Pentagon

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    RAYTHEON E-SYSTEMS has delivered the first E-6B joint services command and control aircraft to the US military. The TACAMO (Take Charge and Move Out) aircraft, an extensively modified Boeing 707, combines the functions of the US Air Force's EC-135C Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) and the US Navy's E-6A ...

  • News

    P&W advances work on JSF turbine

    1997-05-14T00:00:00Z

    PRATT&WHITNEYplans to run an advanced turbine for its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engine by the end of this month. The turbine, incorporating the company's Superblade/Supervane advanced cooling, will allow higher temperatures to increase thrust for the short-take-off/vertical-landing (STOVL)JSF, and will be tested in its CEASAR research engine. JSF ...