Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 140
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News
Navy Acquisition Czar: Sikorsky CH-53K to fly ‘this fall’
The US Navy’s acquisition chief expects the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion to take its first flight this fall, placing the long-awaited milestone somewhere between now and November.
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News
Deptula: USAF needs 174 new bombers to replace ‘geriatric’ force
The US Air Force needs at least 120 combat-coded next-generation bombers and another 54 for test, training and attrition reserve, which is far more than the 80 to 100 the service intends to buy, according to retired Lt Gen David Deptula, dean of the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute.
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News
USAF approves production of Rolls-Royce T56 Series 3.5 upgrade
Rolls-Royce’s eight-year journey to develop the T56 Series 3.5 engine upgrade package for legacy C-130 aircraft is about to bear fruit following the US Air Force’s “Milestone C” decision last week to commit the programme to production and deployment.
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News
BAE Systems protests Army CIRCM award to Northrop
BAE Systems has protested the award of a relatively small but lucrative US Army contract to Northrop Grumman for development of a laser-based Common Infrared Countermeasures (CIRCM) system for rotary-wing and small fixed-wing military aircraft.
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News
Lockheed reveals Advanced EOTS targeting sensor for F-35 Block 4
Lockheed Martin has announced an improved version of its Electro-Optical Targeting System for the F-35, called Advanced EOTS, just months after the long-delayed fifth-generation fighter was declared fit for combat with the Marine Corps.
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News
USAF needs more than 80 to 100 new bombers
A former commander of the USAF’s bomber force says 80 to 100 new Long-Range Strike Bombers are not enough to meet American national security objectives, and the service should consider buying more to rejuvenate its “withering” combat fleet of Boeing B-1s and B-52s.
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News
Brazil finalises $4.68bn Gripen NG deal
Brazil has finalised a $4.68 billion deal for 36 Saab Gripen NG fighters after concluding more than 20 months of negotiations over pricing and industrial cooperation against the backdrop of a deepening economic and political crisis.
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News
UCLASS in ‘acquisition hell’ awaiting requirements redemption
The long-running debate over the mission of the US Navy's future carrier-based unmanned reconnaissance and strike aircraft might have set the "UCLASS" competition back few years, but the maritime force's acquisition chief says getting the Day 1 requirements right from the beginning is vital.
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News
Royal Navy to receive first interim Merlin HC4 in coming weeks
Delivery is nearing for the first AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin modified to a new interim HC4 standard for the UK Royal Navy, while work on the initial helicopter to receive the full upgrade has also just commenced.
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News
Italian tankers could support first F-35 transatlantic crossing
The Italian Air Force is aligned to complete the first transatlantic crossing of the Lockheed Martin F-35 when its first two aircraft fly from Novara, Italy, to Arizona in early 2016, and those aircraft are likely be refuelled along the way by Italian Boeing KC-767A tankers.
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News
Dutch to acquire 14 more CH-47F rotorcraft
The Dutch defence ministry is to acquire 14 new Boeing CH-47F transport helicopters, in an expansion of its existing rotorcraft capabilities.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Questions remain as UK's SDSR nears
As the UK nears the release of its next Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) in October, the pressure on the government to answer a number of questions surrounding capability gaps and needed upgrades continues to mount.
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News
Navy seeks maritime radar for Northrop MQ-8C Fire Scout
The US Navy’s beefed-up unmanned surveillance helicopter, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout, is on the hunt for a new maritime radar and perhaps even a miniaturised missiles, rockets and torpedoes further into its development.
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News
New details emerge about LRS-B as contract announcement nears
With a contract announcement imminent, new details about the US Air Force’s Long-Range Strike Bomber have emerged that paint the classified project as being less exotic and probably more affordable than previously imagined.
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News
PICTURES: Indian LCH conducts hot-and-high tests
Hindustan Aeronautics has carried out hot-and-high flight testing with its Light Combat Helicopter (LCH).
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News
Northrop calls for quicker JSTARS schedule as “E-8D” takes shape
Northrop Grumman says it shouldn’t take 16 years for the US air force’s to recapitalise the Boeing 707-based E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, and it doesn’t need an 11-month “risk reduction” phase to get started.
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News
Aircraft 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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News
USAF’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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Analysis
ANALYSIS: UK combat air future hinges on SDSR decisions
One of the key areas of clarity anticipated with the publication next month of the UK government’s second Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) concerns the size and shape of its future combat aircraft fleet.
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News
Airbus Helicopters confident on Polish H225M contract
Airbus Helicopters remains confident of signing a final contract with Poland by year-end covering the country’s purchase of 50 H225M Caracals for all three branches of its armed forces.