All Helicopters articles – Page 436
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RN/RAF support helicopter programmes merge
The UK has merged Royal Navy and Royal Air Force future support helicopter programmes into a single requirement. The Ministry of Defence is now analysing operational requirements for a common joint medium lift rotorcraft with an in-service date of 2008. The result of marrying the RN's Future Amphibious Support Helicopter ...
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Czech striker
Aero Vodochody earns an A for ambition with its L-159 light combat aircraft Michael Gerzanics/PRAGUE Based on its L-39 Albatros, Aero Vodochody's L-159 is the latest and most capable version of the world's most prolific jet training aircraft. Since 1968, Czech manufacturer Aero has delivered over 3,000 L-39s and variants ...
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EC tells tiltrotor bidders to merge
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Commission's (EC) research directorate has rejected the two proposals for tiltrotor wing concepts under its Fifth Framework aeronautics research programme, demanding that Eurocopter and Agusta submissions are merged. Eurocopter, leading a European consortium, had proposed its Eurotilt concept, while Agusta, leading a group which included ...
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A321 'preferred' for Joint STARS bid
Paul Lewis/MELBOURNE, FLORIDA Northrop Grumman is recommending the Airbus Industrie A321 as its preferred Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) platform to compete for NATO's Airborne Ground Surveillance (AGS) requirement. The company has settled on the mid-size A320 series after studying and ruling out business jets as ...
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Worldwide launch flurry puts nine satellites into orbit
Tim Furniss/LONDON Six launches over seven days have resulted in the orbiting of nine satellites: four Globalstars, the Echostar V, Telstar 7, Ikonos 2, LM-1 and the Resurs F1M. The burst of activity started with a Starsem Soyuz launch from Baikonur on 22 September, which placed four Loral-built ...
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Beriev completes first airframe for Chinese early warning radar
Russia's Beriev has completed modification of an A-50 (converted Ilyushin Il-76) to be used as the platform for an Elta Phalcon airborne early warning (AEW) system for China. According to Russian sources, the aircraft has already been flight tested. It is due to be delivered to Israel this month, ...
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Australia extends airborne EW contest
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA An Australian Defence Force plan to develop a common family of electronic warfare (EW) self-protection systems for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft has taken a surprise turn, with four shortlisted consortia to perform funded design studies. The Australian Department of Defence says that study contracts worth an ...
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NATO makes a noise over Sentry re-engining deliveries
The NATO airborne early warning force (NAEWF) is expected finally to release a request for proposals (RFP) in October to re-engine its Boeing E-3A Sentrys ahead of the introduction of Stage 3 noise restrictions in Europe. The NAEWF operates 18 E-3As powered by Pratt & Whitney TF33-100 turbofans. The RFP ...
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RAAF launches stand-off weapon competition
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The Australian Department of Defence has issued tenders for its Follow On Stand-Off Weapons (FOSOW) project with a planned Lockheed Martin bid based on the JASSM, expected to become a key test for US policy on technology release to Australia. The project, Air 5418, will be ...
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Re-engining team
Northrop Grumman has teamed with Pratt & Whitney and Seven Q Seven for the Boeing 707 re-engining market, beginning with the US Air Force's E-8 Joint STARS surveillance aircraft and 707s in military and government use worldwide. The civil-certificated re-engining is based on a P&W JT8D-219, BFGoodrich inlet and thrust ...
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Bombardier drops UAV bid on eve of sea trials
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier Services has withdrawn from the race to win a US Navy contest to supply a vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VTOL UAV). The Canadian company was considered a leading contender for the multi-million dollar programme. The decision to drop out of the ...
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Dassault Aviation enters the arena for stake in Embraer
Julian Moxon/PARIS Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Dassault Aviation has announced its interest in becoming an investor in Brazilian regional aircraft manufacturer Embraer as the latter's principal shareholder, Bozano Simonsen, prepares to sell a 20% holding. Dassault says that it is keen to bid for a stake in booming Embraer and ...
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UN builds up East Timor air assets
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The USA is to deploy an intelligence gathering aircraft to support the UN-backed International Force East Timor (INTERFET) now being deployed to restore security in the Indonesian province. According to the Director of the US Joint Staff for Operations, Admiral Scott Fry, the aircraft are ...
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Sikorsky gets go-ahead to produce S-92
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Sikorsky has been given the green light by its directors to launch the S-92 Helibus into full-scale production, ahead of expected requests from Canada and the Nordic bloc for a potentially large number of military helicopters. Production approval was revealed by Sikorsky president Dean Borgman while ...
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Australia looks at C-130J alternatives
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA An Australian Air Force follow-on purchase of Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules airlifters is in doubt after a decision by Australian Defence Force capability planners to consider alternative solutions. These include the Boeing C-17 and the Airbus A400M future large aircraft. Australia has options on 27 additional ...
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Four bid for USAF C-130 avionics upgrade work
The US Air Force has formally launched the $4.2 billion avionics modernisation programme (AMP) to upgrade 510 Lockheed Martin C-130E/H transport and special operations aircraft, with the release of a draft request for proposals (RFP). Four system integrators have emerged to bid for the upgrade. They are soliciting teaming partners ...
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Strike spearheads
Strike aircraft are still the teeth of any air campaign, but investment in training, as well as assets, is crucial Stewart Penney/RAF MARHAM & RAF WITTERING During the past decade, fighters have flown into harm's way over Iraq and Yugoslavia almost daily to ram home the international community's determination ...
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Mission possible
EW aircraft, tankers and AWACS turn the impossible into the achievable Stewart Penney/RAF Brize Norton & RAF Waddington DeeDee Doke/Aviano AB & RAF Mildenhall Missions over Iraqi and Yugoslavia would not be possible without force multipliers such as the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), electronic warfare (EW) assets ...
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Lean stories
Boeing has chosen CATIA as its chief design tool and rival Lockheed Martin's production streamlining is paying off Graham Warwick/MARIETTA and FORT WORTH Guy Norris/SEATTLEThe aerospace industry is in the grip of a revolution. Its name is "lean" and its guiding principle is the elimination of waste from the ...
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Force of the future - Dominant factor
Air power has come of age, says the recently retired head of the USAF's warfighting arm Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Gen Richard Hawley (left), commander of the US Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) during the recent conflicts in the Gulf and the Balkans, sees no technological development on ...