COAST GUARDING
Field Aviation has selected Saab Aerotech to provide full maintenance and engineering support for the Swedish coastguard’s new Bombardier Dash 8s. The first aircraft is set for delivery in early 2007.
BORDER CONTROL
The US Department of Homeland Security has opted for a low-risk approach to monitoring the country’s borders, eschewing solutions making extensive use of unmanned air vehicles, and has selected a Boeing-led team for its $2.5 billion SBInet secure border initiative technology programme. Boeing plans to install sensor-equipped towers along the Canadian and Mexican borders, arguing UAVs are too expensive to operate. Initially, over the next eight months, a prototype of the system will be installed along a stretch of the Arizona border.
STATCARE ADDITION
US air medical services provider CJ Systems Aviation Group has purchased the Statcare programme in Louisville, Kentucky, adding a Beechcraft King Air 200 to three helicopters it already operates for hospitals in the area. Air Medical Group Holdings has acquired Southwest Helicopters, which operates 11 aircraft in Dallas/Fort Worth as Texas Lifestar.
Source: Flight International
