Fixed-wing – Page 1329
-
News
Japanese plan to build more F-15s
Paul Lewis /TOKYO JAPAN PLANS TO extend licence production of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter to compensate for the anticipated reduction in procurement of the new Mitsubishi/Lockheed Martin FS-X. The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) is understood to be seeking initial funding in the fiscal year 1996 ...
-
News
Latest Hokums under test
Kamov has delivered the two latest models of its KA-50 Hokum attack helicopter, aircraft Yellow 20 (above) and Yellow 21, to Russia's Army Aviation at the Torzhok combat-evaluation centre. They differ only in minor detail from previous pre-production variants of the Hokum. Only a very limited number of Ka-50s have ...
-
News
Italy reconsiders FLA purchase
Andrea Spinelli/GENOA THE ITALIAN air force is considering slashing the number of European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) it intends to procure in favour of an early purchase of the Lockheed C-130J Hercules 2. The air force has a study under way into its future transport ...
-
News
Israel Aids Slovenia
Israel is assisting Slovenia to define its defence needs, with a study of air and land systems performed, by an unnamed Israeli company and due to be completed, before the end of the year. Israel has been trying to interest Slovenia in secondhand Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir fighters. A United ...
-
News
BAe courts Westland with Tiger
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE has informally approached rival bidder Westland for the UK's £2 billion-plus attack helicopter procurement, offering it final assembly of the Eurocopter Tiger should BAe emerge victorious from the competition. The move is the latest attempt by BAe to undermine any political ...
-
News
FAA demands turboprop-icing tests
THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration plans to require manufacturers of 26 regional-turboprop types to test their aircraft for susceptibility to large-droplet icing, suspected to have caused the October 1994 crash of an American Eagle ATR 72. The FAA wants the testing completed by the start of the ...
-
News
BAe studies plan to re-engine RAF's fleet of Nimrod MR2s
BRITISH AEROSPACE is considering a plan to re-engine the Royal Air Force's fleet of BAe Nimrod MR2 maritime-patrol aircraft (MPA) with a variant of the BMW Rolls-Royce Series 700 turbofan engine in its bid to win the RAF's replacement-MPA contest. The company is due to submit its final ...
-
News
Vietnam Acquires Su-27s
The Vietnamese air force has ordered a limited number of Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker air-superiority fighter aircraft. At least two, are already believed to have been delivered. The total order is thought not to exceed 20 aircraft. Details of the deal remain scant. Source: Flight International
-
News
UK/USA discuss Cobra link
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE UK AND US Governments are discussing a joint procurement programme covering the Bell AH-1 attack helicopter, in the run-up to a decision by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on its attack-helicopter requirement. Flight International has obtained details of a 3 ...
-
News
SIGINT Satellite
A Lockheed Martin Titan 4 Centaur booster was used to launch what analysts believe is a signals-intelligence (SIGINT) satellite into a highly elliptical, 63°-inclination orbit, from Cape Canaveral on 14 May. This follows the launch of a similar payload in May 1994. The type of orbit provides regular over-flights of ...
-
News
Launch options
In terms of getting aircraft airborne, both the US Navy and the Royal Navy are looking at several options in the replacement of the steam catapult with an electromagnetic launch system. In the USA, Kaman Electromagnetics is working on the Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). Project officials believe ...
-
News
KC-135 Long Leads
Boeing has received a $10 million contract for long-lead materials needed to re-engine a dozen Boeing KC-135 tanker aircraft - seven for Turkey and five for France. The US Air Force says, that work under the contract is expected to be completed in September. Source: Flight ...
-
News
Private means
The Canadian military has found a solution to training issues in times of cutbacks. Graham Warwick/MONTREAL Canada is turning to the commercial sector for assistance in coping with defence-budget cuts. Nowhere is this more evident than in pilot training for the Canadian Forces. ...
-
News
Finance deal clears way ahead for SJ30
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC FINANCING FOR production of the Swearingen SJ30 light business-aircraft is now in hand, allowing ground to be broken this month for the final assembly plant at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport in Martinsburg. SJ30 production is made possible by the formation of ...
-
News
Ground work
Tests being carried out in the USA are proving the worth of ground-proximity warning systems for helicopters. Paul Seidenman/SAN FRANCISCO THE US NAVY AND a civil-helicopter operator have begun evaluation of the world's first ground-proximity warning system (GPWS) to be tested successfully in a helicopter ...
-
News
C-17 launch-reliability tests are successful
Guy Norris/BICYCLE LAKE McDONNELL Douglas C-17s achieved launch-reliability levels of 97.6% during a series of US Air Force exercises, which pave the way for final assessments of the programme in July. The outcome of the mid-year evaluation is critical to the US Government's November decision ...
-
News
Mielec delivers first K-15 Irydas
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE POLISH AIR FORCE has taken delivery of its first two PZL-Mielec M-93K Iryda trainers. The aircraft are fitted with 14.71kN (3,300lb)-thrust K-15 turbojets developed by the Warsaw Aviation Institute (IL), giving around 4kN more thrust than the PZL-5 engines powering the predecessor ...
-
News
British Army Air Corps chases Mi-8s in Bosnian war zone
Tim Ripley/GORNJI VAKUF THE UK'S ARMY AIR Corps (AAC) Westland Lynx helicopter crews are being used by the United Nations to chase and identify helicopters breaching the No-Fly Zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina amid growing concern over the dangers of a "friendly-shootdown" incident. Evidence of NATO's inability, or unwillingness, to enforce the ...
-
News
TWA Maintenance
Trans World Airlines (TWA) will perform heavy maintenance on 52 McDonnell Douglas C-9s and DC-9s operated by the US Navy and Air Force. The initial contract is worth $38 million, with options over the next five years, which could take the value to $200 million. Most of the work will ...
-
News
F-22 programme deemed low-risk
A US DEFENCE SCIENCE Board (DSB) task force concludes that the Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22 programme schedule sets an acceptable overlap of research and production. The task force's report runs counter to a US General Accounting Office (GAO) study which urges slowing F-22 production because of associated risks ...