All articles by James Drew – Page 12
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News
Reviving F-22 Raptor production a ‘non-starter’
The secretary of the air force has become the latest official to douse hopes of restarting Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor production, which was capped at 187 aircraft and closed in 2011.
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NewsUSAF faces cost conundrum with F-35, KC-46 and LRS-B
In 1986 during the so-called Reagan Build-up, $12 billion delivered 387 new combat aircraft to the US military. Today, that amount buys fewer than 80.
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NewsFirst of 20 A-29 Super Tucanos arrive in Afghanistan
The Afghan Air Force’s new fixed-wing Embraer/Sierra Nevada A-29 Super Tucano could soon make its combat debut after four aircraft arrived at Hamid Karzai International Airport last week.
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NewsSearch continues for missing USMC CH-53E crews in Hawaii
The US Marine Corps says four life rafts from two Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallions that crashed off the coast of Hawaii last week have been accounted for, but as yet there is no sign of the 12 missing Marines.
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NewsLockheed C-130J not entered in Canadian FWSAR competition
Canada’s decade-long quest to purchase a new fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft has come down to three contenders, the Embraer KC-390, Alenia Aermacchi C-27J and Airbus Defence & Space C-295W.
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NewsCombat-coded F-35A to begin dropping bombs
In February or early March, a combat-coded F-35A from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB will release an inert, laser-guided bomb at the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.
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NewsF135 production to jump 110% as DOD and P&W reach agreement
The US defense department and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II engine supplier Pratt & Whitney have reached a “handshake agreement” in contract negotiations for production of 167 F135 turbofan engines, according to a joint statement released today.
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NewsBoeing B-52 evolves again with guided weapons launcher
On 16 January 1991, seven Boeing B-52Gs fully loaded with AGM-86C conventional air-launched cruise missiles took flight from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana on a top-secret mission to destroy targets inside Iraq.
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NewsPICTURES: Airbus to flight test new C295 aerial refuelling rig
Airbus Defence & Space's development of an air-to-air refuelling system for the C295 is moving ahead, with a “dry contract” flight test planned in 2016, ahead of a full fuel transfer trial.
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News
US Army forging ahead with OH-58D and TH-67 retirements
The US Army says it has divested all but two of its Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior squadrons under its sweeping aviation restructure initiative, which handed the armed aerial scout role to unmanned RQ-7 Shadow UAVs.
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NewsUS Army approves Block II Chinook plan
A top US Army acquisition executive has given the service approval to proceed with the Block II Chinook programme, a long-term effort aimed at replacing or rebuilding today’s tandem-rotor Boeing CH-47F and MH-47G fleets in the 2020s.
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NewsFleet-wide F-35 fix targets fuel tank over-pressurisation
The concurrency curse has struck the Lockheed Martin F-35 again, this time during lightning protection qualification, when it was discovered the jet’s fuel tanks could over-pressurise “beyond design limits” in certain flight profiles.
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NewsF-35 training at Luke AFB gathers pace with 34 jets
The multinational pilot training centre at Luke AFB in Arizona has grown exponentially since receiving its first Lockheed Martin F-35 in March 2014, and that pace won’t let up in 2016 as the 56th Fighter Wing zips past 3,000 Lightning II sorties.
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NewsBoeing tapped for P-8A upgrade as AAS and Harpoon move forward
Boeing will receive a work package from the US Navy to design and incorporate “Increment 3 Block 2” improvements into the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, according to a contracting announcement released on 12 January.
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NewsP&W delivers last C-17-powering F117 to US air force
Pratt & Whitney has delivered its 1,313th and final F117-100 high-bypass turbofan engine that powers the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 strategic airlifter, marking the end of an era for the PW2000 engine family.
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NewsNavy and Penn State sailplanes swarm in latest test
The US military could be edging closer to fielding swarms of lightweight sailplanes for gathering intelligence or relaying signals after validating autonomous soaring algorithms coded by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Pennsylvania State University.
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NewsPICTURES: B-52 joins F-15s and F-16s in Korea after nuclear test
North Korea’s underground nuclear test last week might not have yielded the hydrogen bomb “supreme leader” Kim Jong-un claimed, but the seismic spectacle did produce a captivating aerial display south of the border.
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NewsSaudi deal sustains Sikorsky MH-60R production
Saudi Arabia’s purchase of 10 Sikorsky MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters “dovetails nicely” onto delivery of the last of 280 examples to the US Navy, according to the brand’s new parent Lockheed Martin, particularly as production of Australian and Danish “Romeos” concludes.
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NewsLockheed’s ship-killing missile completes load testing on F/A-18
The US Navy has completed in-flight load testing of the Lockheed Martin-built long-range anti-ship missile, or LRASM, on the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and will now move to noise and vibration trials.
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NewsIraq approved for 5,000 Hellfire missiles as US boosts output
The Iraqi government could receive as many as 5,000 general-purpose AGM-114 Hellfire missiles under a foreign military sales deal approved by the US government this week.