All Military UAVs articles – Page 315
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Launching forward
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin/Boeing's F-22 represents the pinnacle of US military-avionics development, but the air-superiority fighter is not scheduled to become operational until 2005. Meanwhile, manufacturers have begun development of the next generation of avionics, for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which, probably optimistically, is scheduled to enter service ...
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USA and France plan joint UCAV testing
Bids are being sought for a 48-month US/French programme to demonstrate flight-control and flight-management technologies enabling combined strike operations by manned aircraft and unmanned combat air-vehicles (UCAVs). The Integrated Tactical Aircraft Control research programme will flight-test two concepts for the control of UCAVs: by aircrew in manned strike aircraft ...
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USN picks UAVs for VTOL demonstration
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Navy will test three entirely different unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) designs in its forthcoming vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) demonstration, which the contractors hope will lead to the deployment of an operational system. In late 1997, the UAV Joint Project Office chose Bell Helicopter, Bombardier and Science ...
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US Army has to slow mine detector work
A substantial budget cut, along with poor test results, has forced the US Army to slow development of the Airborne Stand-off Mine Detection System (ASTAMIDS). The US Army had planned to pick one of four contenders in January to begin 33 months of ASTAMIDS engineering and manufacturing development (EMD). ...
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Quick-change artist
Peter Gray/ARLINGTON The tilt-rotor concept has been around for many years, but only recently has the first military application (the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey) received production approval from the US Department of Defense. Even more recently, Bell and Boeing have launched the Model 609 civil tilt-rotor which is scheduled to fly ...
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AsiaSat 3 drifts in space after failure of Proton upper stage
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Hughes-built AsiaSat 3 communications satellite was left drifting in a useless orbit after the the failure of the fourth stage of the Russian Proton K booster which launched it from Baikonur on 24 December. It was the first failure suffered by the US/Russian ILS International ...
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Aerial targets
Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $29 million contract from the US Navy for 119 BQM-74E aerial targets. The contract represents the third option to a competitive contract awarded in 1996. The target simulates aircraft, anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. First deliveries are expected in May 1999. In October, the ...
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Seventh Proton blast-off Khrunichev figures
Tim Furniss/LONDON Khrunichev's Proton K/DM booster had its seventh commercial launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 3 December. The Russian company says that it hopes to earn $850 million from its Proton satellite launcher business, covering 22 flights in the five years between 1996 and 2000. The launch mirrors ...
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Australia nears Global Hawk goal
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Peter le Franchi/CANBERRA Australian and US Government-to-Government negotiations over Australian Defence Force participation in the Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) are virtually complete and may result in a formal agreement by the end of December, according to programme sources. Australian interest ...
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USAF receives E-8
The US Air Force will achieve the initial operational capability for the Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) this month. The initial fielding landmark was made possible after the US aerospace firm delivered the third production JSTARS aircraft to the USAF in November. Although not yet "operational", ...
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VTOL contracts loom as CL-327 UAV flies
The US Navy is expected soon to select the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for its vertical- take-off-and-landing (VTOL) demonstration, following the successful first flight of one of its prime candidates for the programme. The UAV Joint Programme Office "is reviewing the bids and is close to awarding a contract ...
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Eagle Eye VTOL demonstrator gets airborne again
The Bell Helicopter Eagle Eye tiltrotor unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has resumed flying in preparation for the forthcoming US Navy vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) demonstration, which may lead to the fielding of an operational system. The USN's plans for a maritime VTOL UAV were shelved five years ago, ...
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Towards hypersonic flight
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Progress in the development of airbreathing powerplants for hypersonic vehicles has been hampered since the 1960s by unexpected complexities encountered with the scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet), until recently the only real candidate for powering such high-speed craft. In an effort to address the impasse, leading international figures in ...
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Outrider builds up flight hours
Alliant Techsystems says that its Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle has completed four test-flights, including its first back-to-back flights and the longest flight to date, 1h 22min. The tests, which used the new UK-built UAV Engines 801R rotary powerplant, verified the performance of the stability-augmentation system. Following design changes, the ...
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Lockheed Martin and Tracor work
Lockheed Martin and Tracor Flight Systems are to collaborate in the development of the next-generation aerial target based on Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter as well as uninhabited combat air vehicles (UCAVs). "US Air Force inventory F-16s are being considered to support the collaboration," says the US aircraft manufacturer. ...
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Northrop Grumman eyes multi-function IIR
Northrop Grumman is developing a conformal array multi-function imaging infra-red (IIR) sensor system intended for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The distributed-architecture infra-red system (DAIRS) is to be demonstrated in Northrop Grumman's BAC One-Eleven testbed in mid-1999, leading to US Navy flight-tests in a Boeing TAV-8B in mid-2001. ...
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Dogfight missile shows its teeth
Matra BAe Dynamics has claimed success for the latest test firings of its ASRAAM dogfight missile. In two test launches at Eglin AFB, Florida, missiles were fired from Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The first test in September was designed to gather vibration and seeker ...
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Outrider flies into confused future
The Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV) has resumed flight testing, but the future of the project is a matter of debate. Flight trials in the advanced concept technology-demonstration continues, with the Outrider now powered by a new engine. Officials will, however, have to revamp the ...
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Propelling changes
There can be few propulsion-development efforts as focused, or as consistent, as the US Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) programme. Tasked with essentially "doubling propulsion capability" (ie, improving all major performance and maintenance measures by a factor of two) by the start of the 21st century, this vast ...
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GKN Westland begins belated DIRCM testing
GKN WESTLAND has finally begun flight-testing of the Northrop Grumman Nemesis directed-infra-red countermeasures (DIRCM) system. Flight testing on a Sea King testbed began on 27 October, about a year behind schedule. Trial installations are already under way and production systems are expected to be fielded by late 1998. ...