Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 155
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NewsBoeing 767-2C tanker completes first flight with boom, wing pods
The first engineering and manufacturing development aircraft of Boeing’s KC-46 tanker programme has completed its first airworthiness flight equipped with an aerial refuelling boom and wing air refuelling pods with a 4.3h flight from Boeing Field to Paine Field in Washington state.
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News
Sensor upgrades top USAF wish list for F-35 Block 4
Improving two of the Lockheed Martin F-35’s key sensors should be priorities for a future operational standard called Block 4, says a top US Air Force general.
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NewsNorthrop unveils OpenPod as USAF seeks F-15 IRST
Northrop Grumman has responded to US Air Force interest in an infrared search and track (IRST) capability for its F-15C Eagle by unveiling OpenPod, a reconfigurable sensor pod which the company says is already being flight tested on a tactical military aircraft. Northrop’s system would employ an IRST system produced ...
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NewsJapan raises E-2D acquisition to four aircraft
The Japanese government intends to buy four Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft rather than one, a US military agency says.
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NewsBAE to study common weapon launcher for Typhoon
Under a UK Ministry of Defence-sponsored feasibility study, BAE Systems has been contracted to research the possibility of adding a common weapon launcher on to the Eurofighter Typhoon.
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NewsBoeing 767-2C tanker airframe resumes airworthiness flights
The first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus test tanker has returned to the skies over the US state of Washington with a four-and-a-half-hour airworthiness flight on Thursday and another flight late on Friday, the company says.
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NewsMarine Corps F-35Bs depart USS Wasp after carrier tests
Six US Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighters have departed the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp following a one-and-a-half-week trial that included 108 test sorties and an F135 engine delivery from a V-22 Osprey as the first combat fighter squadron stationed in Yuma, Arizona, prepares to declare initial operational capability ...
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NewsUPDATE: DOD wants to block-buy 450 F-35 jets from Lockheed
The Pentagon says it has enough confidence in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme to start planning for a three-year block buy that would purchase about 450 jets from prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
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NewsBell Helicopter wants USAF to trade Huey for Huey
As the US Air Force pumps more money into its nuclear mission, Bell Helicopter and several other rotorcraft manufacturers are eyeing a lucrative opportunity to replace the 45-year-old UH-1N Huey fleet currently guarding America’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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NewsEmbraer hands first modernized AF-1B carrier jet to Brazilian Navy
Embraer has handed the Brazilian Navy the first of 12 modernised AF-1 intercept and attack jets through a programme aimed at extending the service life of carrier-based aircraft through to 2025.
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NewsSpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket approved to launch US military satellites
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been certified by the US military to put its most important satellites on orbit, injecting long-awaited competition into the multibillion-dollar American national security space launch market that has been dominated for almost a decade by United Launch Alliance.
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NewsPentagon firming F-35 Block 4 configuration
As Pentagon decides what new combat capabilities to “bake” into the Block 4 configuration of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, there is concern about planned upgrades sliding from earlier configurations into Block 4, and about the overall price tag as those modifications are rolled out in the early ...
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NewsMore Super Tucano sales possible this year
New orders for the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano appear imminent, with the airframer hoping to announce additional commitments before year-end.
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NewsUS government clears MH-60R sale to Saudi Arabia
The US State Department has approved a requested sale of 10 Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters to the Saudi Arabian government.
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NewsVIDEO: Boeing confident in SB-1 design for Pentagon's FVL
Boeing is banking on its partnership with Sikorsky on the SB-1 Defiant demonstrator to help usher in the next generation of rotorcraft for Army but still anticipates that its long-serving AH-64 Apaches and CH-47 Chinooks will continue to dominate the skies out to 2060.
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NewsThales bags selection for RN Crowsnest system
Thales is to supply an improved version of its Searchwater radar and Cerberus mission system to deliver the UK Royal Navy’s Crowsnest airborne early warning (AEW) capability, following a selection announcement made on 22 May.
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NewsS-97 Raider makes debut test flight
Sikorsky has completed a first flight of the self-funded S-97 Raider at the company's flight test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, to open a year-long test and demonstration phase for the high-speed, compound helicopter proposed for light attack, scout and special utility missions.
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NewsRNZAF Huey embarks on final domestic tour
The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Bell Helicopter UH-1H Huey helicopter has conducted a final tour of the country ahead of a planned retirement in July.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Swedish air force wary of Russian manoeuvring
Given its current fleet size of fewer than 100 Saab Gripen C/Ds assigned to four frontline squadrons and two training units, it is hard to imagine that at the height of the Cold War Sweden had the world’s fifth-largest air force, and the ability to mobilise almost 10% of its ...
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NewsAeronautics introduces Orbiter 1K loitering munition
Israeli manufacturer Aeronautics has introduced a loitering munition variant of its Orbiter 2 unmanned air vehicle.