All articles by James Drew – Page 17
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NewsNorthrop Grumman wins LRS-B contract
The US Air Force has chosen Northrop Grumman to build America’s next stealth bomber in a landmark decision announced at the Pentagon today.
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NewsSikorsky’s CH-53K lifts off after troubled start
Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion has finally reached “day one” of its 2,000h flight test programme after a maiden 30min flight this morning at the company’s development flight centre in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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NewsRaytheon’s HCSM anti-radiation missile upgrade completes key test
Raytheon and the US Air Force have completed the third round of operating testing of improved AGM-88F High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) following a recent full-rate production decision, and the new version is now on track to be declared fit for combat.
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NewsExperts split on likely Long-Range Strike Bomber winner
The US Air Force is poised to deliver the decision of the decade, with reports that its highly anticipated Long-Range Strike Bomber contract award could come as early as Tuesday. Two key steps must take place, and Bloomberg reports that the first has already taken place.
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NewsTurkey hopes to fly SOM-J in late 2016, targeting F-35 Block 4.2
Turkish missile maker Roketsan is hoping to fly its SOM-J cruise missile for the first time “possibly late next year” ahead of planned integration with the F-16 Block 40 by 2018 and the Lockheed Martin F-35 sometime later.
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NewsJapan chooses Boeing KC-46, halting Airbus tanker winning streak
Just months after being rejected by South Korea and weeks after first flight, Boeing’s KC-46A has been selected by Japan to supplement the nation’s KC-767 tanker fleet.
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Scaled president appointed VP of advanced design at Northrop
Northrop Grumman has appointed Scaled Composites president Kevin Mickey as vice-president of advanced design within its advanced research, technology and design group while Scaled has a new president and chief technology officer.
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NewsUSAF touts LRS-B cost as downselect approaches for 100 bombers
The US Air Force is “very, very close” to selecting an industry team to delivering its much-anticipated Long-Range Strike Bomber, perhaps pointing to a long-overdue announcement by the end of the month.
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NewsBogdan: Martin-Baker will cover cost of F-35 ejection seat fix
The F-35 joint programme office expects British firm Martin-Baker to cover the cost modifying the US16E Lightning II ejection seat after it was deemed too dangerous for lightweight pilots.
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NewsJPO: F-35s could cost $1M more without Canada
F-35 programme chief Gen Christopher Bogdan says the cost of each Lightning II would increase 0.7% to 1%, or about $1 million per copy, if Canada cancels its order.
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NewsCanadian F-35 exit could signal wider air force review
Canada’s change of government this week, after a decade of conservative rule, could see Ottawa swiftly exit the multinational F-35 programme and instead pursue a fighter competition, which defence analysts suggest could favour the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or F-15SE, or Dassault's Rafale.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Dream Chaser spaceplane not just wishful thinking
When NASA chose seven-seat capsule concepts from Boeing and SpaceX for full development funding in 2015 – in its bid to restore a US manned spaceflight capability lost with the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet – it looked like the end of the runway for the Dream Chaser, ...
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NewsLockheed bankrolling F-35 and C-130J suppliers pending contracts
Lockheed Martin has run out of advanced procurement money for C-130J and F-35 aircraft being procured by the US military and is paying out of pocket to support supplier base.
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NewsLockheed-Sikorsky union expected in 2015, pending review by China
Lockheed Martin expects to finalise its $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky by year’s end, pending a regulatory review in China, company officials say.
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NewsUSAF and Lockheed nearing deal on five-year C-130J purchase
Lockheed Martin is close to securing a multi-year contract for C-130J procurement with the US air force, with the company saying a verbal agreement has been reached with the service for 78 firm orders, plus five contract options.
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Lockheed touts ABC laser turret as testbed completes 60 flights
Lockheed Martin claims to have overcome a major obstacle to shooting high-power laser weapons from high-speed aircraft, saying it has successfully completed 60 Aero-adaptive Aero-optic Beam Control (ABC) laser turret flight tests over the past year.
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NewsF-35 ejection seat fix expected by 2016 amid safety concerns
The US Air Force is demanding a long-term fix to the Martin Baker US16E (MK16) ejection seat for the Lockheed Martin F-35, after recent tests discovered “unacceptable risk of neck injury” for light-weight pilots during parachute deployment at low speeds.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: One year on, Virgin Galactic forging ahead with SpaceShipTwo endeavour
One year ago this month, Virgin Galactic’s pursuit of suborbital space tourism was put in jeopardy when its Scaled Composites-built SpaceShipTwo broke apart over the Mojave Desert just 13 seconds into its fourth powered flight.
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NewsLockheed F-35 heads to the polls in Canada
As Canada heads to the polls on Monday, Lockheed Martin F-35 backers will be quietly hoping for a conservative win after Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau came out against the troubled fighter programme while on the hustings, in favour of more spending on ships.
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NewsBoeing’s MOP bomb approaching second phase of redesign
Boeing can expected a sole-source contract for redesign, qualification and testing of the US Air Force’s largest non-nuclear penetrating bomb, the 13.6t GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).