Helicopters – Page 115
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NewsBell's Venom and Viper helos court foreign sales interest
This is not your grandfather’s Huey. That is the message H-1 programme officials at US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) want potential foreign and domestic customers to know as they consider the latest UH-1Y and AH-1Z models, named Venom and Viper.
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NewsSikorsky CH-53K likely to fall short of upper lifting requirement
The US Marine Corps ideally wants its new Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion to carry 13.6t (30,000lbs) externally over 110nm (204km) unrefuelled, but early analysis indicates that it will fall approximately 907kg short of that “objective” key performance requirement.
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NewsAurora expands LightningStrike testing, eyes FVL
Aurora Flight Sciences sees its victory over Boeing, Sikorsky and Karem Aircraft for the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s $89 million “VTOL X-Plane” flight test programme as a strategic win that positions it well to someday compete in the Army’s Future Vertical Lift programme.
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NewsDiamond launches DART-450 certification campaign
Austria's Diamond Aircraft launched the certification campaign for its DART-450 single-engined turboprop on 17 May, when the two-seat civilian and military reconnaissance trainer made a 60min maiden sortie from the airframer’s Wiener Neustadt base.
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NewsCrew safe after B-52 crash in Guam
All seven crewmembers from a Boeing B-52H escaped unharmed after the US Air Force bomber crashed shortly after take-off from Andersen AFB, Guam on 19 May, says the the service's Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).
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NewsAgustaWestland pitching TH-119 as USN trainer
AgustaWestland has proposed a version of the commercial AW119Kx to replace the US Navy’s outdated fleet of Bell 206-based TH-57 SeaRanger trainers.
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NewsRotorcraft industry questions lengthy FVL timeline
The US Army is under pressure to speed up its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) acquisition as it seeks permission from the Pentagon to begin pursuing a mid-sized Capability Set 3 (CS3) aircraft to eventually succeed the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache.
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NewsUS Army picks Special Forces gear as ‘interim’ DVE capability
The US Army is in contract negotiations with Sierra Nevada Corporation as it prepares to field an interim degraded visual environment (DVE) capability based on US Special Operations Command’s DVE Pilotage System.
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NewsSenate committee votes to disband F-35 JPO
Three weeks after a prominent member called the size of the F-35 joint programme office (JPO) “disturbing”, the Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed to disband the organisation just as an $8 billion follow-on modernisation programme is taking shape.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: UK helicopter training looks to make synthetic shift
In 2014, the Royal Air Force’s chief of air staff, ACM Andrew Pulford, said that “without any doubt” more of the UK forces' training had to be simulated, moving away from a reliance on live flying.
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NewsGermany seeks pricing for 41 CH-53K King Stallions
The US government is preparing a response to Germany’s letter of request for pricing and availability of 41 heavy-lift Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopters to begin replacing the 80 G-models the country currently operates.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Boeing calls out USAF's sole-source EC-37B Compass Call plan
Boeing Defense has called for an open competition to replace the EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack turboprop, saying the requirement for a business jet airframe to re-host that equipment should not automatically go to Gulfstream, which will supply its G550 conformal airborne early warning type to create the EC-37B.
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NewsUSAF abandons sole-source UH-60M Black Hawk plan
The US Air Force has decided against sole-sourcing a portion of its Bell UH-1N replacement requirement to Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky for the UH-60M Black Hawk, instead reverting back to an earlier plan for a “full and open competition” to replace all 62 Vietnam War-era Hueys.
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NewsBoeing backs extended-range Harpoon to stave off Kongsberg threat
The US Navy will wrap up developmental free flight testing of the datalink-equipped Boeing Harpoon Block II+ sea-skimming, anti-ship missile next week, ahead of fielding on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet sometime between June and August of 2017.
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NewsBoeing resumes Advanced Super Hornet push as US Navy considers fleet size
Boeing Defense has “matured its thinking” about the Advanced Super Hornet concept that it launched in 2013 and flight tested, revealing a scaled-back configuration this week with fewer stealth features and perhaps a greater chance of being picked up by the US Navy.
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NewsDraft US defence spending bill funds 11 more F-35s and 14 F/A-18s
The Lockheed Martin F-35 and Boeing F/A-18 has received strong support from lawmakers in the US House of Representatives, with the defence appropriations subcommittee voting today on a draft spending bill that would buy 11 more Lightning IIs and 14 more Super Hornets than requested by the Pentagon for fiscal ...
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NewsAirbus Helicopters works to mature Australia's MRH90 fleet
Despite well documented problems, Airbus Helicopters claims Australia’s MRH90 rotorcraft programme is beginning to emerge from its troubled beginnings and is showing increasing signs of maturity.
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NewsUSAF issues RfP for initial design of next Air Force One
As America prepares to pick its next president, the US Air Force is about to put Boeing on contract to begin designing the next version of Air Force One.
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NewsUSAF proposes Gulfstream G550 CAEW to re-host electronic attack gear
The US Air Force has requested permission from Congress to shift advanced electronic attack hardware from its EC-130H Compass Call aircraft onto Gulfstream G550 conformal airborne early warning airframes.
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NewsEnhanced Brimstone completes RAF Tornado assessment
The Royal Air Force has completed a series of trials of the enhanced variant of MBDA's Brimstone air-to-surface missile using the Panavia Tornado GR4.