Latest Defence Helicopters news – Page 480
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USA gives green light for Army Comanche plan
THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) has approved a US Army plan for the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche scout/attack helicopter which calls for two prototypes, six "early operational capability" (EOC) aircraft, and entry into service in 2007. The restructured programme is the Army's response to the DoD's ...
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Turkey to launch hunt for MPA
TURKEY IS ABOUT to release a request for proposals for a maritime-patrol aircraft (MPA), with Fokker, CASA and Dornier among the likely bidders. The requirement looked likely at one point to be satisfied by an ex-US Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion, but this deal appears to have fallen through. ...
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Chile software demands halt Phalcon deliveries
THE CHILEAN air force has refused to accept its Phalcon airborne early-warning aircraft from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), demanding that the mission software be completely debugged before delivery. Phalcon test flights were completed earlier this month, but Chilean observers claimed that various problems, mainly software related, had not ...
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Rolls-Royce completes its acquisition of Allison
ROLLS-ROYCE HAS completed its acquisition of Allison, after clearing the final US regulatory hurdles. Under a deal worked out with the US Government, R-R will be denied access to Allison's work on classified defence programmes. R-R is focusing on the commercial benefits of taking on Allison's existing ...
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AWACS Design Authority
Boeing Defense & Space Group has selected Marshall Aerospace, of Cambridge, UK as a design authority for the UK E-3 airborne warning and control-system programme. Boeing will transfer the technical knowledge, training and data, needed to provide post-design services to the UK fleet. Source: Flight ...
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Dassault plans Falcon 20 successor
Julian Moxon/BORDEAUX DASSAULT AVIATION has started preliminary studies into an advanced medium-sized business jet which the French manufacturer hopes will be around 30% cheaper to build than current aircraft manufactured by its rivals. Aimed as a replacement for its now out-of-production Falcon 20, the new ...
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R-R signs S Korea deal
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE ROLLS-ROYCE HAS signed two aerospace-technology co-operation agreements with South Korea, as competition with Pratt & Whitney and General Electric intensifies for a Korean Air (KAL) order for engines to power its future fleet of Boeing 777s. The two agreements call for the establishment ...
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Lockheed chooses CF6-80C2 for C-5D
LOCKHEED HAS selected General Electric's CF6-80C2 turbofan to power the C-5D, an improved version of the Galaxy which will be offered for the US Air Force's non-developmental airlift aircraft (NDAA) requirement. The NDAA is an alternative to the McDonnell Douglas C-17 and will only be purchased if the ...
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An issue of stability
The RAAF's new Chief of Air Staff discusses future staff and equipment needs. Douglas Barrie/CANBERRA Instability is a concern for the recently appointed Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Les Fisher. His concern is with his personnel, however, not regional politics. ...
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C-17 military transport is back on track, says MDC
McDONNELL DOUGLAS "...has dug itself out of a sizeable hole" and is now moving forward with the C-17 military-transport programme, says Donald Kozlowski, the firm's senior vice-president for the project. Kozlowski admits, however, that the once-troubled C-17 project must still overcome hurdles before the US Department of ...
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Lockheed/Boeing evaluate F-22 mission derivatives
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA LOCKHEED AND Boeing will study derivatives of the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter under a US Air Force contract to be awarded within the next two months. Missions to be studied include strike, defence-suppression and reconnaissance, says F-22 programme general-manager Gary Riley. The F-22 ...
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Airline seats get off the ground
SIMULA SUBSIDIARY Airline Interiors has secured a launch customer for its 16G airline seats. California-based start-up carrier Trans-Orient Express has signed a letter of intent to install the seats in Boeing 747-200s to be used on services between Los Angeles and Vietnam, beginning in late 1995. Initial deliveries are worth ...
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Bosnia C-130 suspected in covert flights row
Tim Ripley/LONDON US AIR FORCE denials that it is responsible for covert supply flights to the Bosnian armed forces have been re-inforced by UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) officials, who suspect that the Bosnian Government is operating its own Lockheed C-130 Hercules. UN observers have reported several ...
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Shaky partnership
Despite the Discovery's triumph, joint US/CIS missions face an uncertain future. Tim Furniss/LONDON As James Weatherbee, commander of the US Space Shuttle Discovery, brought his orbiter close to the Russian Mir 1 space station on 6 February, he told the station's commander Alexander Viktorenko that he ...
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Westland woos Canada on EH101
Jim Bagnall/OTTAWA WESTLAND is again attempting to persuade Canada to purchase the EH Industries EH101 as the helicopter programme is believed to be about to receive a considerable fillip with an UK Ministry of Defence order for around 25 aircraft. A procurement to meet the ...
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IAI offers Phalcon technology to China
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES (IAI) is offering China airborne-early-warning (AEW) technology based on its Phalcon AEW aircraft to meet a Chinese air force requirement. The Chinese have an outstanding AEW requirement, with several companies pursuing the business. GEC-Marconi Avionics is believed to have supplied its Argus system, based on ...
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PW4000 for USAF Bid
Boeing has selected the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine to power military versions of the 747-400F being proposed in the company's bid for the US Air Force's Non-Developmental Airlift Aircraft (NDAA) programme. The NDAA is a wide-body commercial or military aircraft, which will augment the Lockheed C-141 fleet and provide ...
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Boeing plans 767 tanker for Japanese requirement
BOEING HAS announced formally its intention to develop a combined military tanker/transport derivative of its 767, with the aim of securing a launch order from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF). It is offering two versions of the Tanker/Tanker Multi-Mission aircraft, based on the 767-200ER and stretched ...
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Looking at the thinking cockpit
How intelligent is the combat cockpit going to become? Douglas Barrie/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Graham Warwick/ATLANTA A late 1980s' slice of Hollywood Cold War melodrama (Firefox) had film star Clint Eastwood stealing the Soviet Union's next-generation combat aircraft. In the ensuing chase, Eastwood has to ...
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US military spending continues to decline
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US DEFENCE procurement expenditure will fall to its lowest level since 1950 in fiscal year 1996. Procurement should begin a slow rebound in 1997, however, if Congress passes the Clinton plan. The Administration's request for $246 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD) ...