All articles by James Drew – Page 5
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NewsSikorsky CH-53K programme puts gearbox issues behind it
US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) appears to be confident that the Sikorsky CH-53K programme has put the gearbox failures and parts delays experienced prior to first flight in October 2015 behind it, but the Lockheed Martin-owned helicopter manufacturer won’t receive bonus cheques for lateness.
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NewsUSAF redesignates eight MQ-1 Predator units as attack squadrons
The US Air Force will redesignate eight General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1 Predator reconnaissance squadrons as "attack" units.
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NewsDARPA to hold open competition for XS-1 demonstration phase
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will accept outside bids for the construction and demonstration of a reusable, unmanned “XS-1” spaceplane.
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NewsBigelow Aerospace and ULA team to launch B330 habitat in 2020
Less than a week after its expandable habitat testbed was launched toward the International Space Station (ISS) via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Bigelow Aerospace has announced a long-term partnership with rival United Launch Alliance (ULA) to lift the first B330 module into space in 2020.
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NewsBoeing's 'optimistic' KC-46 plan delivers 18 tankers in six months
Boeing’s grand plan to deliver 18 operational KC-46 Pegasus tankers in six months instead of fourteen has been labelled “optimistic” in a new report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
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NewsRCAF C-130H fire linked to faulty hydraulic modification
Excessive chafing and arcing between an axillary hydraulic line and the power cable is what caused a fire that destroyed a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130H at Naval Air Station Key West in Florida in 2012.
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NewsPICTURES: Dutch KDC-10 certified to refuel Lockheed F-35
The Royal Netherlands Air Force’s KDC-10 tanker has been certified to refuel the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II following flight trials at Edwards AFB in California.
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NewsUS Army starts firming FVL requirements as RFI deadline passes
In February, the US Air Force revealed its 21st century bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21. This week, the US Army edged closer to defining what could be its first truly new rotorcraft type of this century.
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NewsUSAF firming A-X requirements for A-10 'Warthog' alternative
A draft requirement document that articulated the US Air Force’s need for a new attack aircraft optimised for close air support missions is being circulated within the five walls of the Pentagon and will be reviewed by the service chief “this spring”.
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NewsUSAF backs off sixth-gen 'fighter' in quest for air supremacy
The US Air Force will begin an extensive campaign of prototyping and experimentation relating to new air superiority technologies, including new aircraft types, after completing a wide-ranging examination of future air battle concepts and weaponry.
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NewsITEP engine is top pick to power US Army's FVL Light
One of the competing 3,000shp (2,240kW)-class engines being developed by leading propulsion specialists could eventually power a next-generation light assault rotorcraft being considered by the US Army, despite being procured specifically to re-engine the Boeing AH-64E and Sikorsky UH-60M in the late 2020s.
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NewsCanada’s defence policy review won't delay CF-18 replacement comp
The Trudeau government in Canada has launched the country's largest defence policy review in “over 20 years” as it considers if and when to exit the $379 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme.
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NewsOverall US military aircraft exports strong in 2015
Despite trouble securing combat jet sales in 2015, concerns about an erosion in US military exports because its government’s burdensome and often sluggish approvals process might be overstated.
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NewsPakistan orders nine more Bell AH-1Z gunships
Bell Helicopter has been put on contract to build nine more AH-1Z Viper gunship helicopters for Pakistan, as part of a larger foreign military sales package for up to 15 helicopters and 1,000 Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire-series missiles that was approved last April.
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Alaska base selected to house F-35 squadrons
The US Air Force will station two operational F-35A squadrons on America’s northwestern flank in Alaska, nearby where F-22s typically intercept long-range Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers.
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NewsBoeing's KC-46 test run complicated by C-17 refuelling issue
The Boeing C-17 heavy cargo aircraft has become the sticking point in an otherwise speedy KC-46A aerial refuelling demonstration phase, with officials confirming that “higher-than-expected boom axial loads” have delayed trials with that aircraft and the A-10 attack airplane.
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NewsDARPA selects industry teams for 'Gremlins' UAV project
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has picked four teams for its Gremlins project, which aims to launch volleys of small, low-cost unmanned air vehicles from bombers, cargo aircraft or possibly even fighter jets, and recover them via a Lockheed Martin C-130 transport.
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NewsBell-Boeing begins designing CMV-22B with $151 million contract
A $151 million contract awarded to V-22 tiltrotor manufacturer Bell-Boeing this week allows engineers to get started designing the US Navy’s future Osprey variant, the CMV-22B, which is replacing the Northrop Grumman C-2 Greyhound twin turboprop in the aircraft carrier logistics role at sea.
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VIDEO: F-35 begins Raytheon JSOW qualification flights
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II will soon count Raytheon's AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) among its list internally carried munitions after “cleanly” releasing the 475kg (1,050lb) inert glide bomb during a trial off the coast of Maryland.
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NewsCH-53K's entry into low-rate production delayed eight months
The Sikorsky CH-53K’s entry into low-rate production has been delayed again, this time by eight months to February 2017, because of gearbox failures last year and the late delivery of parts from suppliers, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports in its annual assessment of Pentagon weapon projects.