Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 441
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News
Teams firm in attack helicopter contest
The six bidders in the Australian AIR 87 attack helicopter are firming up their industrial partnerships as the Australian Army prepares to draw up a shortlist of contenders. According to Hervé Moray, leader of the Franco-German Eurocopter's Tiger helicopter proposal, a shortlist is expected at the end of March. This ...
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LMATTS widens Australian links to meet airlifter requirement
Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) has signed a new manufacturing contract with Australia's Hawker de Havilland, in its bid to establish closer industrial links ahead of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)AIR 5190 Light Tactical Airlift Capability requirement decision. The contract is the latest move towards establishing an ...
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RAAF reviews stand-off weapons
The Royal Australian Air Force is exploring the carriage of medium range stand-off missiles on board upgraded Boeing F/A-18 fighters as part of revised plans for developing its strike capability under the newly created Project Air 5418. The RAAF has also reiterated its desire for a family of missiles ...
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News in Brief
Drone nav upgrade The DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Dornier CL289 reconnaissance drone is undergoing a navigation systems upgrade by the addition of a Global Positioning System satellite navigation system, plus improved hardware and software for the onboard control computer. The new CL289 has just completed a successful first test flight, according ...
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UK E-3D 2000 upgrade to allow joint operations
The RAF wants better ESM for its E-3Ds The Royal Air Force is beginning an upgrade of the Boeing E-3D Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet, dubbed E-3D 2000. The initial element will take shape in April when the first of the RAF's seven E-3Ds ...
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Lockheed chases F-16 orders
Paul Lewis/Fort Worth Lockheed Martin says it needs to secure further international sales of F-16s in addition to a planned US Air Force follow-on order, to bridge a shortfall in production beyond early 2001. The gap is set to widen as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues ...
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Boeing says no to St Louis F-22 line
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing plans to test JSF avionics on a 737-200ADV testbed Boeing has opted to keep F-22 aft fuselage and wing assembly at Seattle rather than move it to St Louis, Missouri, to join the rest of its fighter family, pending the go-ahead of new production lots ...
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US Coast Guard charts Deepwater course
RamonLopez/WASHINGTON DC The impending retirement of Sikorsky Jayhawks and other aircraft has sparked the competition The US Coast Guard (USCG) is looking for new hardware to maintain its core humanitarian, law enforcement and military missions into the 21st century, both in coastal/inland waterways, and for missions out ...
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News in Brief
Mars Fleet - NASA has awarded commercial space exploration company SpaceDev of San Diego a research contract to study the possible use of small spacecraft in Mars orbit. These could provide communications and navigation services for unmanned Mars craft. The SpaceDev vehicle would use a common spacecraft bus with interchangeable ...
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Time for tiltrotors
Paul Lewis/FORT WORTH The ideas behind tiltrotors are almost as old as helicopters, but now the concept is about to come of age The tiltrotor concept is not new, dating back almost as far as the first helicopter. The first helicopter-to-aeroplane mode conversion was made in 1958, by the ...
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UK invites private sector interest in RAF tanker replacement
RAF VC10s may be retired by 2004 if the economics are right The UK Ministry of Defence has issued a request for information to industry for a replacement tanker aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The move could lead to the private sector providing an air-to-air ...
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FSI's first Level D helicopter simulator wins US approval
FlightSafety International (FSI) has received the first Level D certification for a helicopter simulator to be awarded by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Approval was won for the FlightSafety-built Bell 412EP simulator installed at the training company's Bell centre, adjacent to the helicopter manufacturer's Fort Worth, Texas, plant. Level ...
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Lockheed Martin stays number one with Pentagon
Lockheed Martin has maintained its position as number one contractor to the US Department of Defense (DoD), newly released Pentagon figures reveal. The Maryland-based manufacturer saw the value of DoD contracts climb by $1.3 billion, to $12.3 billion, last year, with second-placed Boeing closing the gap, but still $1.4 billion ...
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F-16 and C-17 are big winners in Pentagon's FY2000 budget plan
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense (DoD) fiscal year 2000 budget plan contains several unexpected procurement decisions for the US forces. They include additional Lockheed MartinF-16C/Ds, Boeing C-17 transports and one Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft that were not planned for ...
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Aviation Industries of China poised for break up
Chinese state-run aerospace giant Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) is to split itself into two separate companies. According to the official newspaper China Daily, the organisation has submitted a draft plan to the State Council for final clearance. The proposal would see the formation of two companies, both involved ...
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Turkey invites heavylift bids
Turkey is moving ahead with its longstanding requirement for new military heavylift helicopters with the issue of an open invitation to potential bidders to submit proposals. The army is initially looking for eight helicopters and has given competing companies until 10 February to respond. The Turkish Army's technical ...
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Global Hawk looks to a wider role as DarkStar burns out
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical's Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance system has demonstrated the ability to collect and transmit synthetic aperture radar (SAR), electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) imagery in near real time, in a flight which marked the first use of all three sensors on the same mission. ...
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First production V-22s to roll off line
Bell is preparing to begin final assembly of the initial two production V-22 Osprey tiltrotors at its new Amarillo plant, for delivery to the US Marine Corps. It marks the end of the programme's engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase. Final assembly of the V-22 will switch to Amarillo ...
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Deep range vision
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Toward the end of last year, the Royal Australian Air Force undertook a low-key but highly significant restructuring of its operational Air Command, to bring into being what is now designated the Surveillance and Control Group. Planned as the home of Australia's future airborne early warning and ...
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Dutch plan air force cuts
The Netherlands armed forces face significant cuts, including the retirement of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft and Fokker F-27 transports, but will gain new helicopters and a theatre missile defence capability. The changes stem from a memorandum published on 25 January by the Dutch Ministry of ...