Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 475
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Dassault abandons RAF bid
DASSAULT HAS abandoned its bid to secure a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply the Royal Air Force's, next-generation maritime-patrol aircraft. The French company withdrew its Atlantique 3-based offer on 12 January, following discussions with the MoD which led it to believe there was ...
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Moulded for success
Dow-UT has demonstrated that complex structural parts can be moulded successfully in composites.Graham Warwick/ATLANTA A FAN-EXIT CASE produced by using resin transfer moulding (RTM) is "...one of the largest and most critical jet-engine parts ever made from composites", says its manufacturer, Dow-United Technologies (Dow-UT). The component, which is an estimated ...
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IPTN examines AEW option for N-250
INDUSTRI PESAWAT Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) has expanded its study of a possible future airborne early-warning (AEW) role for the new N-250 turboprop. The Indonesian manufacturer has formed a study team to look at AEW applications for the N-250. The study centres on around two AEW configurations proposed by ...
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Shuttle launch seen from U-2
UNIQUE high-resolution bird's-eye views of a Space Shuttle launch were taken from a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft circling over the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at an altitude of 20,000ft (6,100m), 8km (4nm) clear of the Shuttle's flight path. NASA commissioned the recently released photographs of the STS30/Atlantis launch on 4 ...
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Comanche has Florida debut
SIKORSKY TEST PILOT Rus Stiles and Boeing test pilot Bob Gradle, were at the controls for the maiden flight of the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche next-generation attack and reconnaissance helicopter. The flight took place on 4 January from Sikorsky's flight test centre in West Palm Beach, Florida. A second prototype - ...
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Northrop Grumman wins the battle to buy Westinghouse Defense Electronics
Northrop Grumman is to acquire the defence-electronics and air-traffic-control (ATC) equipment businesses of Westinghouse for $3 billion. The aerospace and defence concern won a bidding war against a list of rivals which reportedly also included Hughes Aircraft, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Loral. Northrop Grumman says that it expects ...
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Comanche flies
The Boeing Helicopter/Sikorsky Aircraft RAH-66 Comanche next-generation attack helicopter was flown for the first time on 4 January, when it took off from Sikorsky's Development Flight Test Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The first RAH-66 was rolled out in May 1995. A second prototype, fitted with a reconnaissance mission-equipment ...
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Poland resurrects support for Iryda
AFTER STOPPING Polish defence ministry plans to buy about 40 secondhand Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets from Germany, the Warsaw Government has redirected funds for the deal to support the PZL-Mielec Iryda jet trainer programme. According to PZL-Mielec, three new Irydas in the M-93K configuration, are now expected to be ...
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Aerospace Industry
Kevin O'Toole/Business Editor LAST YEAR'S FORECAST for the aerospace industry predicted a further round of consolidation in 1995 on both sides of the Atlantic. The prediction for 1996 is disappointingly similar. If there is a new variation, then it may be that more of the ...
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Defence
Douglas Barrie/Defence Editor EUROPE'S CLUTCH OF NEW-generation fighter-aircraft programmes had less than a vintage year in 1995. Dassault's Rafale and the Eurofighter EF2000 have struggled with both technical and political concerns, while only the Saab Gripen, it seems, had a better year. Dassault starts 1996 ...
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USAF considers radar upgrades
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES A MAJOR UPGRADE OF front-line fighter radar with active-radar arrays is being evaluated by the US Air Force. A prototype system could be ready for tests by 1998. Initial contracts have been issued to Hughes and Westinghouse under the radar-system aperture-technology effort ...
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Combative markets
The combat aircraft market is estimated to be worth some $88 billion over the next decade. Douglas Barrie/LONDON WHILE MANUFACTURERS in the traditional combat-aircraft producing nations have been forced to take serious stock of the changed world in which they operate, their home countries have ...
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UK AWACS upgrade
The Pentagon intends to sell the UK radar-improvement kits for installation in Boeing E-3D airborne-warning-and-control-system (AWACS) aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force. The seven US Air Force/NATO Radar System Improvement Programme (RSIP) modifications kits, system integration, ground/ flight testing of the RSIP hardware and related equipment will cost the ...
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Osprey tilts the balance
A leaner, cheaper, V-22 tilt-rotor is taking shape, thanks to advances in manufacturing technology. Graham Warwick/FORT WORTH MAJOR PIECES OF THE FIRST production-representative V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor are coming together at Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing Helicopters, and confidence is growing that the dramatic cost and weight reductions achieved ...
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FedEx moves to limit effects of pilots' action
US EXPRESS-PACKAGE carrier FedEx has wet-leased seven Boeing 727-200F freighters from Express One International, as a contingency in case industrial action by its pilots disrupts services in the build-up to the busy Christmas season. FedEx pilots stopped flying on their days off after contract talks with the carrier broke down ...
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Japanese to make military cuts
JAPAN'S GOVERNMENT has announced cuts in the size of its military forces as part of its long-awaited post-Cold War defence-policy review. The National Defence Programme Outline, or White Paper, is the first to be published since 1976. It calls for reductions to be made by all three services. ...
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Italy to buy early-warning aircraft
Andrea Spinelli/GENOA The Italian air force is to procure at least two airborne early-warning (AEW) aircraft by 2007, according to the defence ministry's so-called White Book which spells out projected defence procurement and expenditure over the next decade. The paper, Il Modello di difesa, was prepared ...
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A310 finds favour in Israel
Airbus Industrie's A310 has emerged as the preferred non-US platform for future Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) airborne early-warning (AEW) and aerial-refueling aircraft. The Bedek division of IAI is already negotiating with Airbus about the transfer of engineering data required for the conversion of the wide body civil aircraft ...
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Re-engineing RAF Nimrods powers BAe's RMPA bid
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE IS offering to re-engine the Royal Air Force's fleet of Nimrod MR2s with the BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan in its bid to meet the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD) £2 billion ($3.1 billion) replacement maritime-patrol-aircraft (RMPA) requirement. The BR710s would replace ...
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Scandal jeopardises Raytheon's $1.4 billion Brazilian contract
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA RAYTHEON'S $1.4 BILLION contract for the SIVAM Amazon surveillance system is being jeopardised by an influence-peddling scandal, which has forced the resignations of Brazil's aeronautics minister and a presidential aide. The companies interim contract has been renewed by the Brazilian Government while a ...