Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 452
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Bidders line up for competition to upgrade Brazil's F-5 fleet
Bids for Brazil's Northrop F-5 upgrade programme were submitted on 23 March. Embraer will act as prime contractor and system integrator for the structural and avionics upgrade programme, and will evaluate the bids, but the selection will be made by the Brazilian air force. Other aviation procurement programmes are also ...
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Messier-Bugatti aims to double repair business
Messier-Bugatti aims to double its repair business to achieve annual sales of Fr1 billion ($165 million)over the next five years. This ambition follows the integration of the Dowty Aerospace landing gear maintenance unit into the French company. "We intend to become one of the five world leaders in this ...
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Boeing signs up for Israeli RADA stake
Boeing and Israeli avionics specialist RADA have signed a preliminary agreement covering the US aerospace giant taking a minority stake in the company. The $10 million investment in RADA will make Boeing its largest single shareholder, with about 40%. RADA manufactures civil and military equipment, including avionics test stations ...
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First C-130J tour generates sales leads
Lockheed Martin is preparing bids in response to interest generated by the C-130J Hercules 2 sales tour through southern European and the Middle East. Of the 12 countries visited, most have active procurement requirements "of some degree of maturity", says Rick Hundley, vice- president international business development for Lockheed Martin ...
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Boeing expects South Korea to go ahead with AEW proposals
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing remains optimistic that the South Korean air force will press ahead on schedule with its airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft procurement, despite the country's economic difficulties. Jack Sperry, Boeing 767 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) programme manager, says: "Our perception is that Korea is a ...
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Aerostructures wants risk share role in Bell Boeing 609
Aerostructures is negotiating to supply the fuselage of the Bell Boeing 609 civil tilt-rotor as a risk sharing partner. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company would take over the work from Boeing, which has transferred its stake in the venture to partner Bell Helicopter Textron. Bell is seeking risk sharing partners to ...
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Boeing makes cuts
Boeing plans to cut 8,200 jobs and eliminate 15% of its facilities as a result of the merger with McDonnell Douglas. Most of the job cuts come from the previously announced decision to end MD-80/90 production: 6,200 jobs will go at Douglas Products division in Long Beach, California, and 800 ...
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Diamond Back flight tests scheduled for 1998
GEC-Marconi Dynamics plans to conduct company-funded flight tests of its Diamond Back smart-bomb wing kit at a US military range within the next 12 months, says John Cleveland, the company's project manager. Under development for the last four years, the Diamond Back attachment could be used to extend the ...
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JDA seeks cash to fund future attack helicopter programme
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) is seeking initial funding in its next budget to begin a formal study of future attack helicopter requirements. Interested local and foreign suppliers are already formulating a range of options with which to respond. Full-scale funding for the AH-X programme is expected ...
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Decoy test finds heat snag
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Flight testing of the ALE-50 towed decoy on the Boeing F/A-18E/F has revealed that heat from the engine exhausts burns through the cable when afterburners are engaged, and can melt cable insulation and short out power to the decoy when engines are on full unreheated power. The ...
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Israel will evaluate 707 replacements
The Israeli air force is preparing a fleet replacement programme for the 13 ageing Boeing 707-300s it operates in transport, electronic warfare (EW), electronic intelligence and tanker roles. The service is planning to gradually replace the 707s with a newer generation Boeing type selected from the 737, 757 or ...
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DARPA puts limits on UCAV competitors
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The competition to demonstrate an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) is to be limited to four companies - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Systems - says the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A request for proposals is to be released on ...
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Boeing to begin DC-10 conversions for FedEx at Kelly AFB
Boeing is making its much heralded move into the maintenance business with its plans to begin a conversion and maintenance work in early May at its new Aerospace Support Center at Kelly AFB near San Antonio, Texas. Kelly is to be closed by the US Department of Defense in ...
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Boeing sets date for solar power module
Boeing's solar orbit transfer vehicle (SOTV) is to be launched aboard one of the company's Delta III or Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles in October 2001. The company has received a $48 million contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, to produce the first ...
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Australia winds up for fight to supply Army helicopters
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Australia's Defence Acquisition Organisation plans formally to kick off the Army's long awaited Air 87 programme with a request for proposals in May for a new fire support and reconnaissance helicopter. The Air 87 timetable calls for potential bidders to respond within three months and ...
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Fokker 50 cargo conversion studied
A cargo conversion programme is being studied by Fokker Services to meet a perceived need for a Fokker F27 freighter replacement. Fokker Services product marketing manager Leon Boenders says that of the 210 Fokker 50s now in service, some 30-50 have been identified as likely to become available up ...
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MD 900 left in limbo in Bell deal
Bell Helicopter Textron has agreed to acquire the bulk of Boeing's civil helicopter business, but says that it will not take the MD 900 twin engined line because of conflicts with its own range of helicopters. Bell president Terry Stinson says that he expects the deal to go through ...
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Poland drafts emergency plan as Huzar faces more delays
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The Polish Government is considering bringing forward planned orders for PZL-Swidnik W-3 Sokol transport helicopters to help the manufacturer if the Huzar battlefield helicopter programme suffers from further significant delays to its schedule. Deputy defence minister Romuald Szeremietiew has assured the manufacturer that this will be ...
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AIA 98 FINALIST:Alenia Difesa and Swedavia (Infrastructure)
The FarAway project, co-ordinated by Italy's Alenia Difesa, represents another step in the development of the future air traffic management concepts that Europe will have to adopt if growth is to continue in its overcrowded airspace. The project, financed by the European Commission, aims to validate the benefits of ...
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AIA 98 FINALIST:Boeing (Military Aviation)
Success of the C-17 in the longest ever USAF airdrop mission. The US Air Force led the longest-range airdrop exercise in its history on 14-15 September, flying troops and supplies from the USA to Kazakhstan. At the heart of the mission was the Boeing C-17 Globemaster. Eight USAF C-17s ...