Fixed-wing – Page 1325
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Lockheed Martin pushes delta 'Falcon 2000' for US Air Force
LOCKHEED MARTIN Tactical Aircraft Systems is positioning itself to offer a re-winged F-16 "Falcon 2000" to the US Air Force if the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) programme is delayed or cancelled. "We are ready to start cutting metal on this aircraft," says programme manager John Bean, who ...
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Just a sideshow?
The recent Paris air show provided yet again, for its supporters, the disappointment of not seeing the Eurofighter displayed in its element - in the air. Eurofighter the organisation remains cool to the idea that the continued non-displaying of the aircraft is in any way harmful to its prospects. In ...
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Raytheon wins the JPATS sweepstakes
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT has been selected to develop and deliver the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) for the US Air Force and Navy. The company's Beech MkII turboprop trainer, a variant of the Swiss Pilatus PC-9, has been selected to meet a requirement for up to 711 primary trainers, 372 ...
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Lockheed Martin targets RAF and USN for F-117
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES LOCKHEED Martin is expected to brief the UK Ministry of Defence in July on a proposed derivative of the F-117B, now under study for the US Air Force. The aircraft is being pushed as a deep-strike stealthy replacement for the Panavia Tornado GR4. ...
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MoU talks boost Saudi EH101 sales prospects
THE UK AND SAUDI Arabia are negotiating a memorandum of understanding, covering the potential sale of the Westland/ Agusta EH101 helicopter, outside the British Aerospace Al Yamamah arms agreement. The Saudis are primarily interested in the anti-submarine-warfare (ASW) variant of the EH101, known as the Merlin, for the ...
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Hughes develops improved FLIR pods for F-18 Hornet
HUGHES AIRCRAFT IS developing improved navigation and targeting pods for the McDonnell Douglas F-18 which will incorporate a "third-generation" forward-looking infra-red (FLIR) sensor. The US company says that the FLIR, which operates in the visible and mid-wavelength IR bands, will provide four times the range of the first-generation, ...
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Japan seeks Harriers for support role
JAPAN'S RENEWED interest in acquiring a vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is focused primarily on an unarmed variant of the British Aerospace/McDonnell Douglas Harrier T.10 for offshore navy support and training. According to Japanese defence sources, the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) is pushing for funding in ...
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Saab puts improved Gripen control software to the test
SAAB MILITARY Aircraft has completed initial flight trials of its latest flight-control software for the JAS39 Gripen fighter. The latest P11 software incorporates a filter function, which prevents the onset of pilot-induced oscillations (PIO) which have led to the loss of two aircraft to date. In ...
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Snecma teams up for engine upgrades
FRENCH ENGINE manufacturer Snecma has signed a co-operation agreement with Denel of South Africa and Spain's ITP covering modifications to the Atar 8K50 and 9K50 military turbojets. The team is to perform improvements to the core and controls, "taking into account the threat of new-generation infra-red missiles". ...
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B-2 programme cuts rejected
THE US HOUSE of Representatives turned down an amendment that would have stripped the $553 million in B-2 funding added by the House National Security Committee, but not requested by the Pentagon. US defence secretary William Perry opposes building more than 20 B-2 bombers, but the House voted ...
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Chinook Crash
Controlled flight into terrain has been given as the cause of the Royal Air Force Boeing Vertol Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, on 2 June 1994. There were no discernible technical faults, says the official RAF report, although investigators had no flight-data recorder or cockpit-voice recorder to ...
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Mikoyan pushes 1.42 for Mosaero debut show debut
Douglas Barrie/PARIS MIKOYAN IS PUTTING pressure on the Russian Government to allow it to display its fifth-generation fighter, the Article 1.42, at the Moscow air show in August amid continuing doubts as to the programme's future. Mikoyan deputy chief designer Anatoly Belosvet confirms that Mikoyan ...
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Four-rotor Cobra crucial to Venom bid
Douglas Barrie/PARIS Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC GEC-MARCONI'S VENOM bid for the UK's £2 billion attack-helicopter programme hangs on its ability to provide the UK with a four-bladed development of the Bell AH-1W Cobra, according to a senior US Navy official. GEC and the US Marine Corps ...
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Hughes' Peace Shield 'six months ahead' on delivery
HUGHES AIRCRAFT will formerly deliver the completed $1 billion plus Peace Shield command, control and communication (C3I) system to Saudi Arabia in July. The integrated system is being delivered "...nearly six months ahead of schedule and on budget", says Hughes, which is building the Peace Shield under ...
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Eurocopter's new EC120 under test
Andrzej Jeziorski/PARIS Franco-German helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter has successfully completed the first flight of the EC 120 light helicopter. A 20min flight was performed on 9 June from Eurocopter's Marignane site in France, with test pilot Etienne Herrenschmidt and engineer Bernard Cortain at the controls. The EC120 ...
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US information system tested
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES THE FIRST ELEMENT of a new real-time information system for US Navy and Air Force combat aircrews will be test flown in July on a McDonnell Douglas F-15E from Nellis AFB, Nevada. The first test flights of the entire airborne tactical-information-management system (ATIMS) will ...
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BMW Rolls-Royce defines family to rival GE CF34
BMW Rolls-Royce has defined the configuration for a new 35-62kN (8,000-14,000lb)- thrust engine family to rival the General Electric CF34-8C. A military-trainer engine is one of the potential applications. A final launch decision on the new BR500 engine family, which comes in below the thrust range of ...
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Northrop Grumman wants AIDC as F-5E/F partner
NORTHROP GRUMMAN is negotiating a partnership agreement with Taiwan's Aero Industry Development Centre (AIDC) for the upgrade surplus F-5E/Fs for resale on the international market. The company is seeking foreign partners to participate in its F-5 Tiger IV modernisation programme. The US manufacturer is hoping that international tie-ups ...
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A340 ruled out of JSTARS
NORTHROP GRUMMAN and the main Airbus Industrie partners have ruled out the Airbus A340-200 as the basis for a NATO Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) in favour of the Boeing 707. The US company says, that a study team including British Aerospace, Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) ...
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BAe and Saab seal Gripen export deal
BRITISH AEROSPACE and Saab have formally unveiled a joint venture covering the export of the latter's JAS39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft (Flight International, 7-13 June). The deal covers joint marketing, manufacturing and support of export derivatives of the JAS39, which BAe believes will meet its requirement for a ...