All Helicopters articles – Page 433
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USAF may arm AC-130s with Hellfire missiles
The US Air Force's Special Operations Command will test fire Boeing Hellfire missiles from an AC-130U Spectre gunship later this year. Efforts to give the aircraft a hard-target kill capability, along with other product improvements, are expected to extend the operational life of the 16th Special Operations Wing's (SOW) eight ...
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USAF widens role for airborne laser weapon
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Air Force and its Team ABL partners - Boeing, TRW and Lockheed Martin - are evaluating new roles for the 747-400-based AL-1A airborne laser (ABL) and will report this year to the head of Air Combat Command. Designed for theatre defence against ballistic ...
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North American C-27J assembly line hinges on US forces order
Paul Lewis/MARIETTA Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) is considering a full C-27J assembly line in North America if it can secure sufficient US Army and National Guard orders for the joint venture development. LMATTS plans to compete for the US Army's airborne common sensor (ACS) platform requirement with ...
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Military Aircraft Directory Part 2
Front-line fighters and bombers continue to exploit leading-edge technologies and are becoming increasingly complex as more sophisticated systems and weapons are crammed into them Stewart Penney/LONDONAs recent events over the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and on the India-Pakistan border prove, combat aircraft are as necessary now as they have ever been. ...
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Stealthy investigation
Australia's request for stealth data for its Wedgetail AEW project has triggered a USA investigation into possible technology leaks Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Graham Warwick and Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCAn Australian request to US defence companies for data relating to stealth technology as part of their bids to secure a major ...
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The show goes on
As mainland China blusters and threatens, Taiwan stages its fifth Taipei Aerospace show, playing down its traditional defence slantAndrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Despite the continuing tense political situation between Taiwan and neighbouring mainland China across the Taiwan Strait, the Taipei Aerospace Technology Exhibition 99 (TATE99) has drawn increasing representation from Taiwan's own ...
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Collins plans 'smart' radio for US Air Force
Rockwell Collins is to demonstrate a software-programmable radio to the USAir Force. It is being offered as a solution for a USAF requirement to equip fighters to operate in the future civil communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system. The demonstration, planned for mid-2000, will involve Collins' miniature modular ...
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Pentagon probes Boeing after alleged leak of stealth AEW data
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Paul Lewis and Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing is being investigated by the US Government for alleged breaches of US restrictions on the release of stealth technology as part of its bid for Australia's Project Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) contract. Investigations by Flight ...
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US Taiwan E-2T Hawkeye sale strains relations with Beijing
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The USA has sold $550 million-worth of airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, spare parts and equipment to Taiwan, aggravating the already strained relations between Washington and Beijing. The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 30 July that it is proposing a $400 million deal for ...
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Northrop Grumman expects $150 million for improved BAT
Northrop Grumman expects the imminent award of a contract from the US Army to develop an improved Brilliant Anti-Armour (BAT) submunition. The BAT will be optimised to find, attack and destroy stationary as well as moving targets, says William Forster, Northrop Grumman's vice-president of land combat systems. The 36-month ...
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Galaxy re-engining options opened up
Paul Lewis/MARIETTA Lockheed Martin has dissolved its C-5 Galaxy re-engining partnership with General Electric. It is soliciting competing proposals from Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce as the US Air Force leans towards making the airframer sole source contractor for C-5 re-engining. Draft requests for proposals (RFP) have been sent to ...
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Lockheed Martin turns maintenance attention to civil sector
Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics (LMALC) is planning to expand its US and Argentina-based military maintenance operations into the civil aerospace market. Turnover at the Greenville-based company has grown to $800 million from $200 million three years ago and should reach $1 billion by 2003. LMALC president Daniel Patterson says ...
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US Army pushes cockpit management technology
Guy Norris/YUMAThe US Army has begun demonstrations of the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate (RPA), a cockpit management system for combat helicopters, amid mounting interest from potential non-rotary users, including the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programmes. A Boeing Phantom Works-led team developed the RPA over six ...
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ANA hijack triggers security crackdown in Japan
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The death of an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 747-400 captain at the hands of a knife-wielding hijacker has caused a tightening of security at all Japanese airports. His method of beating security has become clear. According to ANA, the Japanese transport ministry has instructed all ...
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AEW update
Racal is to equip UK Royal Air Force Boeing Sentry AEW1s with the Airborne Mission Support System (AMSS) as part of an urgent operational requirement. The AMSS will allow air tasking order and airspace co-ordination order messages to be passed from the ground to an airborne Sentry, updating key elements ...
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KAI merger advances with delays
The three South Korean manufacturers planning to form Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) are to move ahead with their merger despite the lack of a creditor-approved business plan. Samsung Aerospace, Daewoo Heavy Industries and Hyundai Space & Aircraft signed a heads of agreement to proceed with their planned merger on ...
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Philippines ponders F-5 buy
The Philippines air force is considering purchasing secondhand Northrop F-5s from Taiwan to boost its fighter strength. The country's president Joseph Estrada says any such purchase could not be done directly, to avoid damaging relations with mainland China. Instead, the procurement would have to go through an intermediary. "It ...
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USAF chips in for X-37 spaceplane
The US Air Force is to contribute $16 million to the NASA/Boeing X-37 experimental spaceplane programme as a follow-on to the USAF-funded X-40, to demonstrate technologies for future military spacecraft. The X-37 design is scaled up from the X-40, an unpowered vehicle built by Boeing and drop-tested from a helicopter ...
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Brazil wins approval for P-3A/B Orions
The Brazilian Government has received US State Department authorisation for the acquisition of 12 maritime patrol Lockheed P-3A and P-3B Orions. Brazil's requirement dates back to 1994. The air force launched the PX programme to acquire a dedicated shore-based maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare platform to replace carrier-compatible Grumman S-2Es and ...
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F-22 fights back with supercruise success
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Air Force has warned Congress that failure to fund the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor in the fiscal year 2000 defence budget will have a major impact on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project. Maj Gen Claude Bolton, USAF programme executive, fighter and bomber programmes, ...