All Helicopters articles – Page 439
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$5 billion war chest for Kosovo brings defence industry boom
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The Clinton Administration's $5.1 billion request for extra defence spending to support the air war in Yugoslavia could become only a down payment to the long term cost of the conflict. The supplemental spending is needed for US air operations until 30 September since the air war ...
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Dutch eye F-16 replacement
Gert Kromhout/RIJNSBURG The Netherlands has launched a formal requirement study for a new fighter to replace its Lockheed Martin F-16MLUs between 2010 and 2025. The study will take into account expected long-term developments in the use of air power, and assess the potential of cruise missiles, armed helicopters ...
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Yellowgate
Racal has won a £5 million ($8 million)contract to upgrade the Yellowgate ESM system fitted to the RAF's Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW aircraft. The work will enhance the threat warning and surveillance capability of the system. Source: Flight International
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Perfect partner?
CASA's Alberto Fernandez has steered the Spanish manufacturer in a clear strategic direction, creating 'a lovely bride' for European manufacturers courting it Julian Moxon/MADRIDFor a 75-year-old national aerospace company on the verge of being sold to one of four European suitors, it would seem reasonable to assume that the atmosphere ...
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New from old
PaulLewis/WASHINGTON DC The remanufacturing of military helicopters is not a new business. For the US aerospace industry it is set to become a proportionally more important source of rotary-wing revenue over the next 10 years. There are around 6,500 helicopters in the US military inventory, significantly down from the Vietnam ...
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Israel's Elta develops miniature synthetic aperture radar pod
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV Israeli electronics manufacturer Elta has developed and begun manufacture of the first podded synthetic-aperture radar (SAR)system that can be carried on fighter-sized aircraft as small as the Lockheed Martin F-16. Lockheed Martin's tactical aircraft division will work with Elta to market the radar. The EL/M-2060P ...
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Civilian casualties rise as air attacks intensify
NATO aircraft and missiles attacking targets in Yugoslavia caused significant collateral damage to civilian targets for the first time last week, as hundreds more aircraft were sent from the USA to Europe to join the campaign. The heaviest raids yet were mounted against Serbian capital Belgrade and several other cities ...
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Staying one step ahead
Paul Lewis/STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT Sikorsky has adopted a three-step strategy to keep it at the forefront of the world's helicopter industry. Its immediate goal is to sustain output through US domestic UH-60/CH-60 and international S-70 sales, while continuing to press ahead in the long term with the RAH-66 Comanche. It hopes ...
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Lockheed Martin favours German cannon for JSF
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin, which is competing against Boeing for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), has baselined Germany's Mauser 27mm cannon for its bid, but is also considering the General Dynamics GAU-12 25mm three-barrel Gatling gun, with either weapon to be mounted in the aircraft's weapons bay. ...
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Kosovo air campaign intensifies
Howard Gethin/RAF MILDENHALL NATO has sharply stepped up its air campaign against Yugoslavia, with over 80 separate targets attacked in the four days from 3 April, of 190 made since the outbreak of hostilities. NATO aircraft flew 438 sorties against 28 targets on 5 April alone. "We've increased the ...
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Four companies to battle for Spanish aero manufacturer
Julian Moxon/MADRID British Aerospace, Aerospatiale of France, Italy's Alenia and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany are all candidates for the purchase of up to 100% of CASA from Spanish holding company SEPI, the aero-structures manufacturer has revealed. CASA chairman Alberto Fernandez tells Flight International "...there is no particular scheme for ...
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US Marine Corps tests modified V-22 flight control system
The US Marine Corps plans to begin test flying a Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey equipped with modified flight control software, designed to rectify lateral control problems discovered during recent sea trials. The Corps claims that a software fix is in hand for the tiltrotor's automatic jettison system. Programme engineers are ...
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Conflict of cost
With air superiority at the heart of NATO's current - and future - military doctrine, the cost debate over the alliance's next generation strike fighter has become critical to say the least. The issue becomes all the more poignant as the world watches some of the most advanced air ...
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NATO reacts to surveillance challenge
Tim Ripley and DeeDeeDoke/LONDON Allied commanders are calling in additional surveillance assets to improve their coverage of Yugoslavia in an effort to combat intensifying Yugoslav military action in Kosovo. US Air Force General Atomics RQ-1A Predators and US Army TRW Hunter unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) - the latter on their ...
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Turbofan chosen for unmanned air vehicle
AlliedSignal's F124turbofan will power Boeing's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), which is to be flight tested under a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency technology demonstration contract (Flight International, 31 March-6 April). The unreheated turbofan was chosen over the Rolls-Royce Turboméca Adour to power the UCAV. The F124 is ...
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Proposals requested for F/A-18E/F active array
Boeing has issued a draft request for proposals for an active-array radar for the F/A-18E/FSuper Hornet. It is awaiting the US Navy's go-ahead to launch a competition between Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to develop the active electronically scanned array (AESA). A winner is expected to be named in the fourth ...
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Making the transition
Eclipsed by the primes, Canada's second and third tiers contain world-class players Canada's diminishing defence spending has forced fundamental changes on to its aviation industry. Many companies, subsidiaries of US primes established to provide industrial offsets for Canada's past military purchases, have had to find a new raison d'etre. ...
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USAF study faults weapon performance in Bosnia as NATO starts Serb campaign
Tim Ripley/LONDON With NATO airpower striking at Yugoslavia, details have emerged of the performance of US "smart" weapons used during the organisation's last Balkan air offensive in 1995. The USAF's Balkan Air Campaign Study, which remains unpublished, even though it is available through the Freedom of Information Act, says ...
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NATO air armada begins wave of attacks on Serbian targets
Howard Gethin/LONDON Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Aircraft from 13 NATO nations began an air and missile bombardment of Yugoslav military targets on the night of 24/25 March in response to the failure of the Yugoslav Government to sign up to peace talks over the disputed Kosovo region of Serbia. The ...
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Bomber roadshow
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The USAF is pushing its bombers to the forefront of the expeditionary air force concept. But how long can they last? Deployment side by side of Northrop Grumman B-2s and Boeing B-52s is set to become commonplace as the US Air Force seeks to ...