Fixed-wing – Page 1304
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Gallois speeds cost-cutting and aims for fresh capital
Julian Moxon/PARIS AEROSPATIALE IS heading towards break-even, says President Louis Gallois, but he warns that the group plans to step up its cost-cutting efforts to offset the weakness of the US dollar. In his annual roundup of the group's activities, Gallois revealed that the group ...
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McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas of St Louis, Missouri, has appointed Harold Coyle vice-president for corporate ethics and Fred Whiteford executive assistant to the chief executive. Coyle served as staff director and secretary of the management councils as well as assisting the corporation's chairman, John McDonnell. Whiteford served as director of strategic planning. ...
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Litening strikes Tornado deal
THE GERMAN AIR force is to incorporate software for the Israeli Rafael Litening laser designator pod into its Tornado computer-upgrade programme. The long-awaited move is a cautious decision in favour of the Litening pod for Germany's Tornado fleet, beating GEC-Marconi Defence Systems, with its thermal-imaging and laser-designation pod, ...
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Strength and weakness
INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED operating standards have long been among the greatest strengths of the airline community, but they are now posing one of its greatest challenges - through the failure of national regulators to keep pace with the increasing complexity of the globalising industry they seek to control. Nowhere can this ...
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Electronic Eyes
The US Navy casts its Shadow over Bosnia. Tim Ripley/USSAMERICA, ADRIATIC FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS, US aircraft carriers have benefited from the unique services of the US Navy's 16 Lockheed Martin ES-3A Shadows to monitor hostile radar emissions and other electronic threats. The pressure of ...
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Israel thinks about Tomahawk purchase
THE ISRAELI DEFENCE forces are considering a purchase of the Hughes Tomahawk BGM-109 cruise missile. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres is expected to discuss the issue when he meets US defence secretary William Perry in Israel on 8 January. The proposal is part of negotiations between Israel and ...
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Northrop Grumman wins the battle to buy Westinghouse Defense Electronics
Northrop Grumman is to acquire the defence-electronics and air-traffic-control (ATC) equipment businesses of Westinghouse for $3 billion. The aerospace and defence concern won a bidding war against a list of rivals which reportedly also included Hughes Aircraft, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Loral. Northrop Grumman says that it expects ...
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Eastern trade route
Asian Aerospace is becoming the most increasingly important showcase for companies pitching for trade in the Far East. Kate Sarsfield/LONDON ACCORDING TO ITS organiser, Reed Exhibitions, the biennial Asian Aerospace air show is rapidly becoming one of the most popular events on the aerospace calendar. The 1996 ...
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RN chooses the JTIDS for Sea Harrier fleet
THE ROYAL NAVY HAS selected Rockwell's Collins Avionics & Communications division to supply joint tactical-information distribution system (JTIDS) terminals for installation on its British Aerospace Sea Harriers and Westland Sea King helicopters. The contract covers an initial, 65 terminals with 30 options. Derived from Rockwell's IDS-2000 information distribution ...
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Power surge
Arms race or just re-equipment - either way, Southeast Asian nations are on a buying spree Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE DEFENCE EXPENDITURE in Southeast Asia is at an all-time high and is continuing to grow, prompting many ob-servers to suggest that the region is in the throes ...
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Thomson-CSF is poised to take Elettronica stake
THOMSON-CSF HAS agreed "in principle" to buy an initial 25% stake in Italian defence-electronics company Elettronica. A final agreement is due in the next few weeks. The French company says that the investment will take the form of a capital increase in Elettronica, which, under the agreement, would ...
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Stormy passages
For a nation dependent on air transport, Papua New Guinea has many problems to overcome. Paul Phelan/CAIRNS MIDWAY THROUGH LAST December, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) entire air-traffic-services system and, consequently, all air-carrier flying had to be shut down for 5h. This was not because of industrial action, ...
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US Navy takes first upgraded E-2C Hawkeye
THE US NAVY has accepted the first Northrop Grumman Group I E-2C Hawkeye upgraded to the Group II configuration. The modernisation programme gives the early-warning aircraft significantly, more target-processing automation. The US aircraft builder is working under three USN contracts, worth $135 million, to upgrade 12 Hawkeyes with ...
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Dassault completes Rafale M01 aircraft-carrier tests
DASSAULT AVIATION HAS successfully completed aircraft-carrier compatibility tests in the USA on its Rafale M01, the naval version of the fighter. The aircraft has been returned to its base at the Istres test centre in southern France, for further tests before production commences, in time for entry into ...
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Lockheed Martin inspects complex part inspection
Andrew Doyle/LONDON LOCKHEED MARTIN Tactical Aircraft Systems has performed an ultrasonic inspection of a large, complex, contoured composite component, by linking the inspection device to a computer-aided-design data file and generating a false external "surface". Components with complex external shapes are notoriously difficult to inspect ...
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USA wants Ecuadorean Kfir deliveries delayed
ISRAEL MAY RECONSIDER plans to sell eight Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Kfir fighters to Ecuador following intervention by the US Government. Washington has acted after a request from Peru, which believes that the deal could damage peace talks with Ecuador. The $40 million deal, was concluded in late ...
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French air force phases out its Mirage IVP nuclear bombers
THE FRENCH AIR FORCE is withdrawing its Dassault Mirage IV nuclear-bomber fleet from service in July - 32 years after the aircraft entered service. The air force will use Dassault Mirage 2000s in the nuclear role and, later, Dassault Rafales. Altogether, 62 Mirage IV bombers have been in ...
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India is close to ordering Israeli radar jammers
INDIA IS CLOSE TO placing a $100 million order with Israeli contractor Elta Electronics for as many as 90 radar-jamming pods, for use on Indian air force Mikoyan MiG-21s and Sepecat Jaguars, and Indian navy British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.51s. The system involved is likely to be either ...
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Sogerma-Socea will lead Turkish F-5 avionics and structural upgrade work
Andrew Doyle/LONDON SOGERMA-SOCEA OF France is to act as prime contractor in the long-awaited avionics and structural-upgrade programme for the Turkish air force's fleet of 70 Northrop Grumman F-5A/B fighter aircraft. The French company, part of Aerospatiale, will perform the structural modifications and act as systems ...
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Three Su-27 crashes trigger Russian row
A ROW HAS broken out between the Russian air force and navy over responsibility for the crashes of three Sukhoi Su-27 fighters of the Russian Knights aerobatic team. The aircraft hit a hill on approach to Cam Ranh air base in Vietnam on 12 December, killing four pilots. ...