Helicopters – Page 441
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...
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Northrop offers partnership in pitch for Wedgetail
Northrop Grumman plans to create an Australian subsidiary, which will be known as Hawkeye Mission Systems Australia. The new company would form part of its joint bid with Lockheed Martin for the Royal Australian Air Force's Project Wedgetail airborne early warning and control requirement. The new subsidiary would ...
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Delays hit Nimrod 2000 update
Howard Gethin/LONDON Serious delays to the £2.4 billion ($3.9 billion) programme to update 21 British Aerospace Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft to MRA4 standard for the Royal Air Force have pushed back the aircraft's in-service date until at least 2005. Compensation payments are being negotiated by the Ministry of ...
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Australia draws up shortlist for scout helicopter competition
The Australian Department of Defence is expected to release a shortlist for its armed reconnaissance helicopter project by the end of this month. Industry sources are widely tipping the Agusta Scorpion variant of the A129 (above), Eurocopter's Tiger and the Boeing AH-64 Apache as the final contenders. The project is ...
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Transparent benefits
PeterLaFranchi/CANBERRA Australian acquisition of strategic unmanned air vehicles may raise the stakes in South-East Asia, but could help develop military transparency in the region if surveillance data is shared A new study of how unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) might fit into the Australian Defence Force structure cautions that strategic ...
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CASA chosen for final assembly of Airbus Military transporter
Julian Moxon/TOULOUSECASA of Spain has been nominated to carry out final assembly of the seven-nation A400M transporter if Airbus Military Company (AMC) secures an order from European governments to develop and build the aircraft. The assembly decision is part of a series of workshare agreements surrounding the A400M, formerly the ...
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CFMI proposes engine refit for JSTARS
CFM International (CFMI) plans to submit proposals to the US Air Force by the end of this month for the re-engining of its 15 Boeing E-8 joint surveillance and target attack radar system (JSTARS) ground surveillance radar aircraft.The bid will include the first proposed use of the CFM56-3 on a ...
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Predator Feed
Boeing has tested combined operations with an E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar system (JSTARS) battlefield surveillance aircraft and a Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV) using the company's Aviation Information Service antenna. The system fed the video information from the UAV via a satellite to the E-8 to enhance JSTARS ...
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Escape route
Reducing the number of cabin exits to accelerate emergency passenger evacuation sounds like a contradiction in terms. That is, however, what Airbus Industrie is arguing as it tries to persuade European and US regulators to change the certification rules which affect the exit layout for its stretched A340, the -600 ...