Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 428
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A400M powerplant rivals begin joint bid discussions
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Julian Moxon/PARIS Rolls-Royce, Snecma and MTU are talking about offering a joint powerplant for the Airbus Military Company (AMC) A400M. Political pressure is forcing the companies to find a way of merging their rival bids. AMC shelved its engine selection for the A400M last July, citing ...
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JSF selection strategy in doubt
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC US defence acquisition undersecretary Jacques Gansler has ordered a potentially far-reaching review of the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) "winner-take-all" selection strategy as part of a wider push to ensure a continuing competitive industrial base. Gansler has given the review 90 days to identify JSF acquisition options and ...
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US helicopters face growing threat
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Proliferation of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and the integration of sensors and processors to low-altitude missile systems are increasing threats to military helicopters. Short-range, man-portable, air-defence missiles, however, remain the primary threat to US helicopters, according to US Army director of foreign intelligence Col Jan Karcz. ...
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Work begins on US airborne laser
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing Wichita has started the 18-month conversion of a 747-400 freighter into the YAL-1A Airborne Laser (ABL) prototype for the US Air Force. Tests will conclude with firings against simulated theatre ballistic missiles targets in 2003. Laser testing as well as lethality and vulnerability assessments ...
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C-130X close as C-5 engine is delayed
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCThe US Air Force is set finally to release a request for proposals (RFP) by March for the Lockheed Martin C-130X avionics upgrade, but selection of a new engine for the Lockheed C-5A/B Galaxy transport has been delayed. According to the USAF's Air Systems Command, a revised draft ...
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Australia drops EW project as prelude to defence cuts
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australia has shelved its Project Echidna requirement for an integrated family of electronic warfare (EW) self-protection suites for Australian Defence Force aircraft. The move is included in a review of all defence acquisition projects worth more than A$50 million ($33.3 million). The review, established in mid-December ...
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USMC tests MV-22
US Marine Corps pilots have flown a Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor full-flight simulator developed by FlightSafety International. The flights took place ahead of an operational evaluation programme set for July at MCAS New River, North Carolina. The simulator features FlightSafety's improved ChromaView Plus visual system integrated with a SEOS ...
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Upsurge in military spending brings order boost to CAE
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC CAE Electronics has benefited from an upsurge in military flight simulation business in the closing months of 1999. As part of a Raytheon-led team that has taken over training of US Air Force Boeing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircrew, the company is to ...
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Raytheon divests simulation business to fast-growing L-3
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Raytheon has agreed to sell its flight simulation business for $160 million to diversified electronics supplier L-3 Communications. The sale is part of a previously announced restructuring aimed at improving struggling US defence electronics giant Raytheon's financial performance. New York-based L-3 is also buying the Space ...
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Sharp focus
If 1999 was the year of the aerospace mega-merger, the first few weeks of 2000 have produced more than enough evidence to suggest that the consolidation craze is not over yet. But while Boeing's purchase of Hughes Electronics' satellite business and Thomson-CSF's swoop for the UK's Racal are both multi-billion ...
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USMC holds fire on joint rotorcraft
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Marine Corps is reserving judgement on participating in the US Army-led Joint Transport Rotorcraft (JTR) programme until the joint staff's critical Overarching Rotorcraft Capabilities Assessment (ORCA) is completed. Meanwhile, the USMC is drawing up plans to extend the service life of its Sikorsky CH-53E helicopters. ...
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Stretching the limits
US restrictions are hampering the Australian Defence Force's electronic warfare plans Peter La Franchi/CANBERRAUS policy on technology release has become a sticking point in an Australian Defence Force (ADF) project to develop an integrated family of electronic warfare self-protection (EWSP) systems for its combat and support aircraft. The Australian Department ...
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Y2K glitch knocks out satellite spying system
A classified US satellite-based intelligence system was knocked out at the start of the year by what the US Department of Defense (DoD) describes as a "significant problem" caused by the Y2K computer bug. The National Reconnaissance Organisation (NRO) - which controls US spy satellites - was unable to ...
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Back to the future
Working in a global, virtual design environment, future aerospace engineers will need broader-based skills - and a flair for communication The aerospace engineer of the future will be multi-disciplinary, a good communicator and able to work in global, virtual product development teams. While the design tools are light years ...
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Sensing the future
Airflow-sensing commercial aircraft and fighters with their own laser shields are just two revolutionary products that could result from technologies emerging from laboratories Aircraft that can sense and control the airflow around them; fighters that can defeat missiles with a laser shield - these are just two emerging technologies ...
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Attacking options
Unmanned air vehicles may not be ready - yet - to replace manned aircraft in combat, but they are close to being able to take on more of the riskier missions During its lifetime, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will start operating routinely alongside unmanned combat aircraft. Unmanned vehicles will ...
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My view - Terry Stinson, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bell Helicopter Textron
As we enter the next millennium, it is worth reflecting on just how far the helicopter industry has come. This is truly a field in its infancy. It is only 53 years since the Bell 47 was certificated as the world's first commercial helicopter. With wooden blades and an old ...
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Rotorcraft revivals
As helicopters near the edge of their performance envelope, radical designs such as tiltrotor and tiltwing are coming into their own What goes around comes around and that is the case for the rotorcraft industry, which is seeing the re-emergence of radical concepts from the 1950s and 1960s. With ...
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$4.6 billion USAF engine support deal for GE and P&W
General Electric and Pratt & Whitney have won engine improvement contracts from the US Air Force worth more than $4.6 billion over the next 15 years. The US Defense Department describes the unusual arrangement as an "indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract", and says it reflects increasing USAF awareness that more resources ...
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Forecasts for 2000 - Aerospace
The shape of the industry is changing radically Chris Jasper/LONDON The face of aerospace manufacturing has been transformed over the past few years by rampant merger activity, but in 2000, the industry may at last be prepared to take a breather as companies concentrate on extracting value from the ...