Fixed-wing – Page 1309
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India looks abroad for AEW
THE FUTURE OF INDIA'S long-running airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft programme has been thrown into doubt, with the defence ministry looking at off-the-shelf alternatives. India has test flown an aerodynamic AEW test-bed, mounting a German-produced rotodome shell on a Hawker Siddeley HS.748, but the successful development and integration of ...
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Bidders jostle for Saudi fighter requirement
NORTHROP GRUMMAN has submitted a bid to Saudi Arabia for proposed upgrade packages to the country's fleet of Northrop F-5s, while Lockheed Martin is pursuing selling the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) up to 100 F-16C/Ds as a replacement aircraft. Originally, the RSAF was looking to replace its ...
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Spanish mystery: the answers
Sir - In answer to Marcus Chambers' enquiry (Flight International, 25-31 October, P37) the official publication of the Spanish air force, Revista de Aeronautica y Astronautica, has published two articles on Diego Marin Aguilera. The first, in the December 1993 issue, tells the known facts about Aguilera, born ...
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Japanese hoist deal
Lucas Aerospace and Shinko Electric are to supply electrically powered hoists for Sikorsky UH-60A helicopters, licence-manufactured by Mitsubishi, to meet the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force UH-X requirement. Shinko will develop a power-drive system using Lucas technology. Source: Flight International
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KC-135 upgrade
A team led by Rockwell Collins has won an initial $35 million US Air Force contract to upgrade the avionics on Boeing KC-135s. With options, the contract could grow to $250 million and include over 600 aircraft. The work includes, installation of the FMS-800 flight management system, EFIS-90 flight displays, ...
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Indonesia bids for embargoed F-16s
INDONESIA IS negotiating to buy nine of Pakistan's embargoed Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters being offered for sale by the US Government. According to US diplomatic and industrial sources, Indonesia is keen to acquire the aircraft, but has yet to reach an agreement on pricing. The US Government is ...
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Samsung rolls out first Korean F-16C
South Korean aerospace manufacturer Samsung has rolled out the first Lockheed Martin F-16C to be assembled in-country under the Korean Fighter Program (KFX). The South Korean air force will receive a total of a 120 F-16s under a 1992 contract with Lockheed Martin. Source: Flight International
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F-18 costs delay Finnish support requirements
Andrzej Jeziorski/TAMPERE FINLAND'S FM 13.92 billion ($3.6 billion) procurement of McDonnell Douglas F-18C/D Hornets has forced the air force to put its reconnaissance and helicopter requirements on hold until the next century. The seven two-seat F-18Ds and 57 single-seat F-18Cs are replacing the Finnish air ...
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C-17 battle moves to political theatre
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE McDONNELL Douglas C-17 (MDC) military-transport aircraft finally won the endorsement of the US Department of Defense on 3 November, but the fate of the multi-billion dollar programme is far from assured, with political hurdles yet to be negotiated. Congressional backers of ...
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Canada approves SAR purchase
The Canadian Government has approved a C$600 million ($446 million) programme to acquire or lease 15 new search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopters to replace its fleet of 13 CH-113 Labrador Helicopters. Defence minister David Collenette says that a separate decision on the purchase of up to 32 naval helicopters is ...
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Positive action
THE FRENCH AEROSPACE industry may see little cause to thank defence minister Charles Millon for proposals to make swingeing cuts in the country's military spending. Yet if the budget cuts at last succeed in provoking the industry into a long-overdue bout of restructuring, then Millon will have ...
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Budget cuts strike at French defence industry
Julian Moxon/PARIS THE FRENCH Government has admitted that the country's defence industry is facing a "critical situation" because of unavoidable budget cuts needed to reduce the national deficit. Defence minister Charles Millon revealed during a debate on the defence budget on 8 November that he ...
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Dan dares
NASA's administrator Daniel Goldin has taken the US space organisation into a "faster, better, cheaper" era. Tim Furniss/WASHINGTON DC DANIEL GOLDIN HAS taken NASA by the scruff of its neck and brought it out of the post-Challenger doldrums into a new international era, with a "faster, better, ...
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Catching up
Large numbers of personnel and aircraft are no compensation for the Chinese air force's lack of modern technology. Paul Lewis/BEIJING THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China has attracted considerable international attention in recent years. Reports of large-scale purchases of Russian arms, underwritten by double-digit ...
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UAE carries on Rafale evaluation decision date slips for UAE
Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS A DASSAULT RAFALE multi-role fighter is to be flown to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Tanagra air force base for evaluation, immediately after the Dubai air show ends on 16 November. The continuing evaluation of combat aircraft is the clearest indication to date ...
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Shaping the future
New companies using new technologies are challenging established light-aircraft manufacturers. Karen Walker/ATLANTA A TYPICAL light aircraft's shape most likely to come to mind is almost cruciform - a squarish wing across a squarish fuselage. Now think of a modern yacht and its smooth, curvaceous, outline. While the ...
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Japan plans timetable for P-3C Orion replacement
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE THE JAPAN DEFENCE Agency (JDA) wants to launch development of a new maritime-patrol aircraft (MPA) by 2000, with an in-service date of 2008, as a replacement for its Kawasaki-built Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion anti-submarine-warfare aircraft. Provisional planning calls for full-scale development to start ...
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Westinghouse outlines night-attack APG-68 upgrade plan
WESTINGHOUSE AND Lockheed Martin are working out the cost of proposed upgrades to the APG-68 radar to give full night interdiction/close-air-support capability to some Lockheed Martin F-16s without the need for add-on targeting and navigation pods. The upgraded radar, the APG-68(I), would be operated in two additional ...
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DASA's attitude reference will help Eurofighter pilots
Andrzej Jeziorski/FRIEDRICHSHAFEN DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) is to integrate a new attitude-reference system into the Eurofighter 2000, which dramatically improves a pilot's attitude awareness. The arc segment attitude reference (ASAR), under development by DASA since 1987, has improved unusual-attitude recovery times by up to 30% in ...
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GEC-Marconi aims for F-5 users with Hakim
Guy Norris/SAN ANTONIO GEC-MARCONI Dynamics has fit-checked the 227kg version of its precision-guided munition (PGM) beneath the wing of the upgraded Northrop Grumman F-5E Tiger IV, and is also continuing flight-testing the weapon on a McDonnell Douglas F-4. The company is aiming the weapon, called ...