Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 449
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News
Boeing's tailless 'Super Frog' hops on to the drawing board
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has begun initial development of an advanced tailless, four-engined tiltwing short take-off and landing military transport using company funds. The company believes potential customers for the turboprop, which could be available within 10 to 12 years, include the US Air Force Special Operations Command, ...
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Singapore Pumas move to Australia
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has moved a squadron of 12 Eurocopter AS332L Super Puma transport helicopters to the Australian Army Aviation air base at Oakey, Queensland, under an overseas basing agreement with Canberra. Under the 15-year basing agreement, signed with Australia in October 1996, Singapore has ...
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Prices rise as high altitude
Costs of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing DarkStar and the Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Global Hawk unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), undergoing advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD), are soaring to $13 million a copy - $3 million more than the price set several years ago, say US Air Force officials. The Tier II ...
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V-22 fuselage shipped
The first production Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor fuselage was shipped from Boeing Helicopters to the Bell Helicopter Textron facility in Arlington, Texas, for final assembly. The aircraft, Osprey No 11, is the first of five Lot 1 low-rate initial production aircraft. Following operational testing, the aircraft will go to ...
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Canada aims to keep Hornets and Orions sharp with updates
Canada has launched studies into phased upgrades of its Boeing F-18 Hornet and Lockheed CP-140s. The work is aimed at keeping them operationally effective while staying within the country's limited defence budget. "It's important that these aircraft maintain their operational relevance, and their credibility with our allies," says Lt ...
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Australia pins faith in Popeye as it revises stand-off plans
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australia's Department of Defence has restructured its Air 5398 stand-off weapons project, with further stocks of AGM-142 Popeye missiles to be purchased to provide a capability against semi-hardened targets, while a new generation modular missile will be acquired to support strikes at distances of at least ...
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First Comanche radar bids go in
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have placed early bids for a new fire control radar (FCR) for the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance/attack helicopter. Further bids are expected. According to Boeing, the US Army is proposing to include the radar in production Lot 1, rather than Lot 5 as ...
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RAF holds back on tanker programme
The UK Ministry of Defence has delayed releasing a request for information (RFI) for the Royal Air Force's future strategic tanker aircraft programme for six months as Airbus Industrie and Boeing prepare to square off with respective proposed new military derivatives of the A310-300 and 767-300ER twinjets. Manufacturers had ...
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FMS upgrade
Boeing has selected the Smiths Industries Advanced Flight Management System (FMS) for the US Navy E-6 Mercury avionics upgrade. The E-6 cockpit modernisation will be performed under an $11 million contract. Delivery will begin in July 2000. Each FMS system will include two Flight Management Computers and two AMLCD multi-purpose ...
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Japan's T-7 decision saves Fuji's day
Andrew Mollett/TOKYO The Japanese Government has thrown Fuji Heavy Industries' beleaguered aerospace division a lifeline with its decision to choose a modified version of the company's T-3 as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's (JASDF) next generation basic trainer. Neither the Japanese Defence Agency (JDA) nor Fuji will disclose the ...
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Commercial boost
Tim Furniss/LONDON The US Air Force is expected shortly to award Boeing and Lockheed Martin $500 million contracts to begin development of new booster families which will cut the cost of launching satellites into orbit. The first operational launches are planned for 2001. The USAF's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle ...
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Woodard goes in Boeing shake-up
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing Commercial Airplane Group (BCAG) president Ron Woodard has been replaced by Alan Mulally, former president of the Information, Space and Defense Systems (ISDS) unit as part of sweeping management and organisational changes announced by company chairman Phil Condit on 1 September. The move follows months ...
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Sextant, Lockheed pact opens new doors
Sextant Avionique and Lockheed Martin have announced an agreement that could give the French company a foothold in the important US military avionics and flight systems market. Sextant is one of only three major international companies capable of delivering complete avionics solutions, and already supplies systems for the C-160, ...
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Osprey basks in the glow of attention
Paul Derby As Bell Boeing's V-22 Osprey tiltrotor gears up for the battle to meet the UK's Future Amphibious Support Helicopter (FASH) requirement, US military "big guns" were out in force yesterday to give the V-22 their undivided support. A briefing given by Brig Gen Ed Langston of ...
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Europeans back studies of navigation system
Steve Nichols A number of European companies are supporting research into the next generation of navigation, communications and air traffic systems. The North European CNS/ATM Applications (NEAP) project, which is supported by SAS, Lufthansa, Luftfartsverket, DFS and SLV, is investigating and testing a range of future applications. ...
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Ericsson seeks international customers for Erieye system
Geoff Thomas Swedish company Ericsson Microwave Systems has two of its Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems at Farnborough '98, one on view in the static park and one in the flying display. The company hopes to attract customers from around the world, primarily those who ...
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Leach International power assemblies for tiltrotor
Paul Derby Bell Helicopter Textron has selected Leach International to provide seven electrical power distribution assemblies (EDPAs) for the 609 civil tiltrotor. Leach has also been handed a second boost for its European arm with another EDPA order, this time from Saab. The assemblies will be used on ...
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Typhoon is the ultimate, says test pilot
Geoff Thomas It was a visit to an air display at RAF Wattisham in the late Fifties that whetted Eurofighter Typhoon test pilot John Turner's appetite for aviation. "I was only five or six, but Triple One Squadron's famous Royal Air Force display team - the Black Arrows ...
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Flaps away for Dowty
Dowty Aerospace has won a multi-million-pound contract from British Aerospace Military Aircraft to design and develop the complete flap actuation system and other flight control equipment for the BAe Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft. The precise value of the contract has not been revealed. The MRA4 is a virtually ...
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Soul-searching time at Airbus and Boeing
Mike Martin Air show history was made yesterday when both Airbus Industrie and Boeing leaders held press conferences and made almost no reference to each other. Both companies are looking inwards and the emerging picture is fascinating. Boeing president Harry Stonecipher made what amounted to a gracious and ...