Helicopters – Page 457
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CH-60 completes first shipboard deployment
The Sikorsky Aircraft CH-60 fleet-combat-support helicopter has successfully completed its first shipboard deployment in the Atlantic as part of a US Navy test programme to demonstrate that it has enough performance for the required missions. The CH-60 combines features of the US Army's UH-60 Black Hawk and the USN's ...
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Training in private
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Tomorrow's combat pilots could find themselves training in classrooms, in simulators, or even in aircraft bearing a plaque with the legend "Owned and operated by-". Whether the term is "contractise", "privatise" - or, some would complain, compromise - the commercial operation of military training is fast ...
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The right image
Hughes Aircraft is under contract to provide the mid-wavelength staring infra-red imaging system for Kaman Aerospace Super Seasprite helicopters sold to the Royal Australian Navy. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Hughes will provide 11 of the systems, designated the AAQ-27. Deliveries are to begin in 1999 and ...
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GEC-Marconi sets its sights on Kuwaiti AH-64 orders
Kuwait has become the main target for GEC-Marconi Avionics in its bid to secure export orders for its Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System (HIDAS) following a contract from the British Army to fit the equipment on its Boeing WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The UK Ministry of Defence signed the ...
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Saudi air force may add on 25 more F-15s to Boeing order
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has begun preliminary discussions with Boeing over the acquisition of as many as 25 F-15Ss to complement the 72 it already has on order. The RSAF has asked for "pricing and availability data" on the two-seat variant of the F-15. The purchase would ...
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Secure communications
Tim Furniss/RAF OAKHANGER Matra Marconi Space (MMS) of Stevenage, UK, is completing production of the first of three uprated Skynet 4 UK-dedicated military-communications satellites, which are to be launched on a Boeing Delta booster from Cape Canaveral in January 1998. The Skynet 4D will be followed by crafts ...
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Regional pool plan for Globemasters mooted
Mike Martin Could small fleets of Boeing C-17 Globemaster aircraft be operated on a pool basis in Europe and even the Middle East one day? "It's a great idea," says Stuart Thomson, Boeing's business development vice-president, Military Transport, at the show. "Nobody (at Boeing) ...
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USAF abandons winner-take-all EELV approach
The US Air Force has changed its procurement method for its next-generation Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), abandoning its previous winner take-all approach in favour of a rolling batch-procurement competition. Lockheed Martin and Boeing had been competing in a winner-take-all competition for a $1.6 billion engineering and manufacturing ...
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GEC-Marconi hopes to seal Argus 2000 radar deal with China
GEC-Marconi is to open commercial negotiations with China to supply the Argus 2000 airborne-early-warning (AEW) radar. This follows agreement with Ilyushin and British Aerospace on integrating the system into the Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft. The UK manufacturer is understood to be about to begin contractual talks with the ...
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Procurement puzzle
Douglas Barrie/LONDON It is a case of in one door and out the other as far as the aspirations of Northrop Grumman and the US Government of selling Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) technology into Europe are concerned - back into the UK, but out of ...
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Re-engined KC/RCS
The US Air Force has awarded Boeing a $64.8 million contract to re-engine a further eight RC/KC-135s with CFM International CFM56 turbofans. Two of the four KC-135 refuelling tankers included in the contract are Republic of Singapore Air Force aircraft which will be converted under a foreign-military-sales deal. The remaining ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...