All articles by James Drew – Page 21
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NewsAircraft providers hold sway in USAF’s JSTARS recap competition
The US Air Force’s $6 billion programme to replace the Boeing 707-based Northrop Grumman E-8C “JSTARS” is shaping up as a battle between platform providers rather than the primes, with Boeing, Bombardier and Gulfstream locked in a three-way contest for the 17-aircraft order.
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NewsUSAF’s first combat-coded F-35s arrive at Hill AFB
The US Air Force’s first two combat-coded Lockheed Martin F-35As have touched down at Hill AFB in Utah, marking a new era in aviation for the base’s active-duty 388th and reserve 419th fighter wings, which are to receive 70 more jets through 2019.
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NewsSenators put DOD on notice over LRS-B, KC-46A fumbles
US Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain and Jack Reed have fired two warning shots at the US Air Force over its handling of the Long-Range Strike Bomber and Boeing KC-46A programmes, with the former unwittingly reporting false long-term cost projections and the later experiencing development delays and cost ...
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NewsSierra Nevada-Intuitive team confirmed as fourth JSTARS bidder
Sierra Nevada Corporation has been revealed as the fourth contender for the US Air Force’s Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) Recapitalization programme, confirming to Flightglobal that it partnered with Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation to offer a replacement for the radar-carrying E-8C.
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NewsBAE considering 'all options' after Northrop snags CIRCM contract
Northrop Grumman has been selected to develop and produce a next-generation, laser-based infrared countermeasure system for the US military after winning over BAE Systems on the Army’s Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) competition.
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NewsMAKS: Belarus buys second batch of Yak-130 trainers from Irkut
Belarus has ordered its second batch of Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced trainers from Russia, bringing its total commitment to eight, the country’s defence ministry has confirmed.
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NewsMAKS: Russia’s hypersonic scramjet experiment could fly by 2019
Russia’s Gromov Flight Research Institute (LII) expects its latest GLL-AP-02 hypersonic scramjet test vehicle to fly in “three or four years,” with officials telling Flightglobal that funding constraints and technical issues have slowed progress.
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NewsMAKS: Germany’s hypersonic SpaceLiner concept solidifies
Ten years after the project was conceived, the German Aerospace Centre’s SpaceLiner could soon enter a new design phase with a “mission definition review” planned for 2016.
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NewsMAKS: Can Russia’s ‘Caspian Sea Monster’ rise again?
The Soviet Union’s once-secretive “Caspian Sea Monster” has resurfaced at the MAKS air show, minus the stacks of short-range nuclear missiles meant to obliterate Western defences in a sea-skimming sneak attack.
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NewsBrahMos pushing hypersonic ramjet technology as scramjet stopgap
India-Russia joint venture BrahMos Aerospace wants to double the speed of its ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile to beyond Mach 5 as an interim step towards the development of a clean-sheet “BrahMos-II” hypersonic weapon.
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NewsMAKS: Belarus carving slice of military UAV market
Belarus appears to have carved out a niche for itself in the unmanned aircraft business thanks to purchases of its Condor and Golden Eagle unmanned air vehicle systems by the military.
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NewsMAKS: Russia’s T-50 radar almost ready for serial production
The Tikhomirov NIIP radar system built for Russia’s first fifth-generation combat jet, the Sukhoi T-50, is “99% ready” to enter serial production but must first complete a series of development tests.
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NewsMAKS: Is Russia developing an F-35-hunting UAV?
Russia could be working on a low-observable, F-35-hunting unmanned air vehicle that uses deeply-integrated electronic warfare systems to stay hidden from radars. The tip-off comes from electronic systems producer KRET, which has a curious UAV model on display at the MAKS air show in Moscow.
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NewsMAKS: Dinamika debuts new MiG-31 simulator
Russian pilots operating the newly-upgraded Mikoyan MiG-31BM supersonic interceptor can now exercise its added combat capabilities in a simulated environment with the introduction of Dinamika’s twin-seat flight simulator.
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NewsUSAF moving F-22s to Europe as warning against Russia
The US Air Force has announced the inaugural deployment of the Lockheed Martin F-22 to Europe to counter a “resurgent Russia”.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Lockheed proposes “RQ-X” as U-2 operations enter sixth decade
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is looking to write the next chapter in the history of the U-2 Dragon Lady after 60 years of continual global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
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NewsUS Navy begins certifying new anti-ship missile on Super Hornet
The US Navy has begun integrating Lockheed Martin’s new Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) with its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and airworthiness flights are due to start next month.
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NewsPentagon taps General Dynamics to test fireball bunker bomb
The US Air Force could soon have a new air-delivered tool in its arsenal for destroying chemical and biological weapons – a Hammer, fittingly, or Heated And Mobile Munitions Employing Rockets.
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NewsNavy need deferred, but F-35 software ‘on the right track’
The Lockheed Martin F-35 appears to be overcoming many of the software troubles that have dogged the programme since its inception, but the fighter jet’s complexity means that any attempt to squeeze extra capabilities into early software blocks would threaten the wider rollout schedule.
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NewsLockheed Skunk Works designing next-gen U-2 spy plane
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is designing a next-generation high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance airplane, known internally as RQ-X or UQ-2, as an optionally-manned successor to the U-2 and Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.