Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 449
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US Navy inaugurates Flashjet paint stripping system
A new robotic paint stripping system called Flashjet was put into operation by the US Navy at NAS, Kingsville, Texas, on 20 July. The Boeing-developed coatings removal system will be used initially to strip Boeing T-45A Goshawk trainers, although the site could also be used to strip other Navy carrier-based ...
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NRO chooses TRW to test communications
The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has awarded TRW a $78 million contract to test high data rate laser communications between geosynchronous orbit and the ground. The Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology Experiment (GeoLite) spacecraft will include a laser communications experiment and a UHF communications mission. The GeoLite will be used ...
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New Government reviews Philippines' defence
The new Philippine Government of President Joseph Estrada is reviewing its defence modernisation priorities in the face of the country's deteriorating financial situation and recent postponement of the multi-role fighter tender submission. Six competing suppliers had been due to submit tenders for 12 new fighters by 15 July, but ...
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Boeing and IMI detail co-operation agreement
Boeing and Israel Military Industries (IMI) have agreed the conditions of a wide-ranging co-operation agreement across military and civil programmes, including subcontracting on fuselage parts and joint development of weapons systems. IMI president Shlomo Milo confirms that an agreement has been reached to co-operate "across the board". He says ...
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Philippines' fighter plan delayed again
The Philippines' planned multi-role fighter programme has been delayed again, ostensibly because of a dispute over a tender bond . The decision also gives the country's new Government more time to re-evaluate its procurement priorities. Six competing manufacturers had been due to submit their final tenders on 15 ...
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Tiltrotor marketing effort hots up as Bell Boeing chases UK work
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Bell Boeing is stepping up its efforts to market the V-22 tiltrotor in the UK to meet two emerging requirements - the Future Amphibious Support Helicopter (FASH) and the Future Organic Airborne Early Warning (FOAEW) aircraft. The team has responded to a request for information ...
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US missile defence project faces rejig
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) and a US Department of Defense study group believe that the National Missile Defense project should be restructured to cut the high level of risk. Boeing is overseeing development and possible deployment of the interceptors and radars designed to defend the USA against ...
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Lockheed Martin to develop targeting system for AH-1Z
Bell Helicopter Textron has selected Lockheed Martin to develop and produce an advanced target sight system (TSS) for the US Marine Corps upgraded AH-1Z attack helicopter. Lockheed Martin's Electronics & Missiles unit says work on the 54-month, $8 million engineering development and integration contract will begin this month. Lockheed ...
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DarkStar returns to flight
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The second Lockheed Martin/Boeing DarkStar Tier III Minus unmanned air vehicle (UAV) finally flew for the first time on 29 June, more than two years after the first was destroyed in a crash at Edwards AFB, California. The crash led to extensive upgrades to the ...
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Broaching a hard target
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC A Hole blasted through 3.7m-thick reinforced concrete is testament to the capabilities of the UK's BROACH multi-warhead system. It is midway through US testing and the evaluation appears to be going well, but the ultimate challenge still lies ahead: can Team BROACH penetrate the US procurement ...
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Budget cuts force Chile to shelve fighter plans
Chile has postponed indefinitely the $600 million purchase of up to 24 new fighters, following Government budget cuts forced by the effects of the Asian economic crisis. Buffeted by falling copper prices and a growing budget deficit, the Chilean Government has imposed austerity measures, including "temporarily" delaying the fighter ...
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Turkish navy will buy six CASA CN-235s
The Turkish Navy is to buy six CASA CN-235 Persuader maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) to fulfil a naval aviation requirement. The aircraft will be manufactured by Tusas Aircraft Industries, which already has 52 CN-235s on order for the Turkish defence ministry, 48 of which have been delivered. Selection of mission ...
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Additional Chinooks bound for Australia
Boeing is to provide the Australian Defence Forces with two additional Boeing CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopters as part of a $45 million contract signed on 19 June. The deal covers two of six CH-47Ds that were being built for an unnamed customer which cancelled the purchase. The other four ...
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Joining the jet set
An early look at Fairchild Dornier's 328JET suggests a successful change to jet power Peter Henley/Oberpfaffenhofen Fairchild Dornier's 328JET, a derivative of the company's twin turboprop 328, is aimed at the regional and corporate markets and will be offered as a 34-seat commuter aircraft or as a business jet ...
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Partners find X-31 funding
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) says that Government financing for the trinational VECTOR follow-on to the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Manoeuvrability programme is now secure, and a final go-ahead is expected later this year. "The financing questions have been resolved, and the partners are now in programme planning activities," says project ...
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A matter of modernisation
Maj Gen Eitan Ben-Eliahu, Commander of the Israeli air force, sees the "main goal" of his tenure as shepherding through critical modernisation programmes. For Ben-Eliahu, a fast jet pilot by trade, the obvious priority is the fighter fleet, although he adds that the air force's transport and helicopter fleets ...
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Indonesia tries to rescue Malaysian IPTN deal
Indonesia and Malaysia are trying to resolve financial and certification issues that have threatened to derail the delivery of six IPTN CN-235 tactical transport aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The Malaysian defence ministry has been re-examining its planned acquisition of the aircraft in the light of its ...
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NRO flies atlas
The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has contracted ILS International Launch Services to launch a satellite in 1999 aboard the new Atlas 3A booster. ILS beat Boeing's Delta III in a head to head sealed-bid competition. The NRO, which normally uses Titan IV boosters, will be the second customer for ...
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Facing the future
Fifty years into their lives, the Israeli air force and the country's defence aerospace industry are confronted by a rapidly changing strategic environment and industrial challenges as the global defence market restructures. In the first five decades of their existence both have proved adept at meeting these. As Israel begins ...
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Aerospatiale continues work on long range UAV
Julian Moxon/Paris Aerospatiale is working on a follow-on to work on high altitude, long endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in a programme, called SAROHALE. Delivery of the initial system is set for "around 2007-10", says project manager Philippe Matharan. The project aims to develop a fully automated twinjet-powered ...