All Helicopters articles – Page 456
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News
Defensive system for Apache operators
Tim Ripley GEC-Marconi is hoping to attract the interest of Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter operators following the launch of its Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids Systems (HIDAS) suite to overseas air forces at Dubai '97. Bill Mawer, GEC-Marconi Avionics sales and marketing director, says the company is using ...
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UK, Canada take big step in surveillance
The British CAA's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and Canadian air traffic control (ATC)-provider Nav Canada have demonstrated simultaneous satellite tracking of an aircraft by two different centres for the first time. A British Airways Boeing 747-400, which has been carrying the necessary avionics for more than two ...
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Boeing gets AWACS award
Boeing has received a contract worth about $450 million to develop and test a mission systems upgrade for Nato's fleet of 17 E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Under the Nato Mid-Term engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) contract, which runs through 2001, Boeing - supported by ...
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Third Osprey impresses in tests
Bell Boeing says it has reached another milestone in its development programme for the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft which is destined for the US military market. The third of four Ospreys built to production standards is now undergoing testing to validate its Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), navigational and ...
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Australia gears up for Air 87 contest
The Australian Army is to opt for a dedicated fire-support and reconnaissance helicopter over a multi-purpose platform and expects to issue an invitation to register (ITR) shortly to contending manufacturers, following approval of its Air 87 project. After several years of delay and deliberation, Australia's key Defence Capabilities ...
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Burbank plans 707 winglet tests
Burbank Aeronautical (BAC) plans to begin flight tests in March 1998 of a Boeing 707-300 with winglets which are expected to reduce fuel consumption by as much as 7%. California-based BAC says that plans for the winglet modification have attracted "a lot of interest" from commercial, corporate and ...
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Moldavia sells MiG-29 Fulcrums to USA
A total of 21 MIGMAPO MiG-29 Fulcrum combat aircraft, sold by Moldavia to the USA for $40 million, have been delivered disassembled to Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, by Boeing C-17 transport aircraft. George Kyrlan, the Moldavan secretary of the National Security Council and presidential defence advisor, says that ...
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JSF prognostics system may replace maintenance checks
Lockheed Martin is to test predictive-maintenance technology planned for its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) under a $6.5 million prognostics and health-management (PHM) demonstration contract. The company will demonstrate a proof-of-concept prototype of the PHM subsystem planned for its production JSF, while Boeing is negotiating a similar contract to ...
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UK MoD considers tri-service helicopter brigade structure
Helicopters from across the UK armed forces will be pooled into two joint operational brigades, if proposals forming the basis of a continuing Strategic Defence Review (SDR) study are acted upon. The study of a joint helicopter group (Flight International, 29 October-4 November) proposes that all of the ...
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Congress blocks new-build B-2s
The US Congress has rejected attempts to restart Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth-bomber production in its Final review of the US Department of Defense's fiscal year 1998 budget, despite boosting numbers in other programmes. The FY98 defence-authorisation bill includes $268 billion in total spending, some $3 billion more than ...
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War in the financial dimension
The Royal Air Force faces one of its biggest battles as the UK Government finalises another defence review Douglas Barrie/LONDON What do politicians do when they finish one defence review? They start another one. The UK's armed forces are now bracing themselves for the outcome of what is ...
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Lockheed Martin outlines air-mobility
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin believes that next-generation military-transport aircraft will use commercial engine and cockpit technology, but will require unique features precluding the adaptation of civil-freighter designs. The next military transport will have to be produced for around the same $100 million price tag as ...
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Kaman eyes H-2 for new Australia bid
Graham Warwick/BLOOMFIELD Kaman Aerospace plans to offer an armed-reconnaissance version of its SH-2G Super Seasprite shipborne helicopter for Australia's Air 87 requirement, if the country's defence force decides to acquire a multi-role machine rather than a dedicated attack helicopter - a choice expected to be made later this ...
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US military starts Huey re-engine project
The US Army National Guard has initiated the long-awaited programme to re-engine 131 ageing Bell Helicopter UH-1 light utility helicopters with Light Helicopter Turbine Engine (LHTEC) T800 turboshafts. The initial engine certification work, which covers the installation of LHTEC CTS800-54 engines in two UH-1s, will be paid for ...
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Lockheed Martin resumes European airlifter campaign
US Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is redoubling its efforts to forge a transatlantic military-transport partnership in the wake of Germany's shock move in proposing the Antonov An-70 as the basis of the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) (Flight International, 15-21 October). Senior Lockheed Martin officials believe that Germany's advocacy ...
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Turkey eyes Phalcon for AEW requirement
The Turkish air force has evaluated the Elta Phalcon airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft, and has asked for detailed proposals for the purchase of up to four aircraft. The service has been briefed on the Phalcon and, according to some Israeli sources, it had a chance to evaluate its capabilities ...
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Clinton veto scuttles ASAT/SR-71
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and the development of a kinetic-energy anti-satellite (KE-ASAT) kill vehicle (KKV) have fallen foul of US President Clinton, who used the "line-item veto" to scrap funding for both. The funds were cut as Clinton revised the $248 billion fiscal year 1998 defence spending bill. ...
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German move destablises FLA
Germany has dealt the credibility of the European Future Large Aircraft programme a considerable blow by demanding that the Ukrainian Antonov An-70 transport be re-examined as the basis for a collaborative project with Airbus Industrie. Volker Rühe, the German defence minister, is pushing for the An-70 to be ...
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Persistent ambitions
Unmanned combat-aircraft are coming, but they will not be going into battle any time in the too-near future. Harsh lessons learned developing relatively simple and inexpensive unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) have made manufacturers and operators alike extremely cautious in planning the introduction of more costly and sophisticated uninhabited combat air-vehicles (UCAVs). ...
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Stand back
Third time lucky? That would appear to be the case when it comes to the latest US attempt to enter the Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) in the UK's Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) competition. Having been kicked out on two previous occasions, some transatlantic political ...