All Military UAVs articles – Page 321
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Min for max
Kaman Aerospace's K-MAX ‘aerial-truck' helicopter has achieved highly competitive Director Operating Costs (DOCs) of $475 per flight hour after 15,000 total fleet operating hours, reports the manufacturers. The cost contrasts dramatically with the DOCs of larger aircraft with similar payloads at high density altitudes. With 13 aircraft serving ...
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Helmet integrated systems
Helmet Integrated Systems (HISL) will introduce its advanced lightweight helmet system. The Alpha HGU-86/P has been developed to meet performance and safety requirements for the US Air Force's next-generation air-superiority fighter. The helmet is designed to provide comfort and protection for military air-crews and its lighter weight is claimed to ...
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JSF: More electric power
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA EARLY IN THE US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, key technologies were identified which offered high pay-offs, but involved high risks, for all the teams competing. The result was a programme to mature critical technologies and reduce associated risks, while sharing the results between the ...
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Developing power
New military engines, as well as old, will be under discussion at the Farnborough air show this year. Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Andrew Doyle/LONDON IF THEY CAN MAKE themselves heard above the roar of the performing combat aircraft, visitors to this year's Farnborough air show will ...
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Three UK services consider their needs
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE UK MINISTRY of Defence is looking at possible future unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) roles under a tri-service study being coordinated by a Royal Air Force operational-requirements department. The move comes as the MoD prepares to announce that GEC-Marconi has finally resolved the long-running problems with ...
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Pratt & Whitney proposes to introduce F100-229A improvements
PRATT & WHITNEY hopes to win approval from the US Air Force by the end of this year to flight-qualify the F100-229A, a radically improved version of the -229. The US engine builder says that the $40 million qualification effort would allow a large-scale retrofit programme of McDonnell Douglas F-15Es ...
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-and expands with Rockwell
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA BOEING IS TO ACQUIRE Rockwell International's aerospace and defence businesses in a deal valued at $3.2 billion. The acquisition will boost the size of Boeing's defence and space business by more than one-third, taking annual sales to around $9 billion. Overall, the acquisition will ...
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Civil and military helicopter directory
Douglas Barrie, Max Kingsley-Jones and Jennifer Pite/LONDON DESPITE THE recent gloom in the civil-helicopter business, the manufacturers are now more confident that a recovery is within sight, and have been bullishly developing new models. In 1995, US-manufactured new civil helicopter shipments totalled 314, a slight improvement ...
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Pentagon reveals its advanced- technology-demonstrator list
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC ADVANCED AIRBORNE-surveillance projects are among 18 advanced-concept technology demonstrations (ACTDs) on which the US Department of Defense plans to spend $99 million in fiscal year 1997. The demonstrations were selected from 100 proposals submitted by the US military. The projects have been approved by the Joint Requirements ...
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Canadair offers enhanced Sentinel UAV with improved engine
BOMBARDIER CANADAIR Defence Systems says that its CL-227 Sentinel unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has successfully undergone a US Department of Defense UAV Joint Project Office (JPO)-funded heavy-fuel engine-improvement programme. The Williams International WTS-125 gas-turbine powerplant will power the CL-327, the improved Sentinel UAV. The UAV JPO awarded ...
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Darkstar UAV software bugs mean 12-month flight hiatus
THE LOCKHEED Martin/ Boeing Darkstar long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) will not be flown before May 1997, to enable the US team to conduct an in-depth audit of all hardware and software. Repairs made since the April crash will be verified in an informal critical-design review due ...
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USAF grounds E-8C J-STARS aircraft
THE US AIR Force's sole E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) aircraft remains on "precautionary stand-down" as Northrop Grumman and US Air Force maintenance personnel correct fume and rivet problems. Fumes were noticed in the E-8C during a standard engine run and a training flight. The ...
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Brevel in payload trials
THE FRANCO/GERMAN Eurodrone Brevel unmanned air vehicle has undergone its first test flight with a fully equipped payload, in preparation for the beginning of system trials in July. Eurodrone says that the Brevel is still on target for its planned 1998 in-service date. Only three systems have ...
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Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas pick up JASSM winners
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC LOCKHEED MARTIN and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) have been selected by the US Air Force to develop contenders for the $3 billion Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) programme. Proposals submitted by Hughes, Texas Instruments and a Raytheon-Northrop Grumman team were rejected. The winning ...
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Pentagon studies UAV shake-up schedule
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC SENIOR officials in the US Department of Defense are expected to decide soon how best to revamp management of its unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) programmes. Although maintaining the status quo is one option, Paul Kaminski, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, is expected to make changes in ...
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US Navy plans commercial vertrep contract awards
THE US NAVY'S Military Sealift Command (MSC) is planning to award a series of contracts involving use of commercially operated helicopters for vertical replenishment (VERTREP) of its warships. The contract awards are designed to meet a projected shortfall of US Navy Boeing Helicopters CH-46 helicopters, which are now ...
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ARST demonstration
Demonstrations of the US Army's Autonomous Scout Rotorcraft Testbed (ASRT) are planned for July, using Sikorsky's Cypher unmanned air vehicle and a Georgia Institute of Technology GST 300 air vehicle. The ASRT, -equipped with thermal imagers, is intended to conduct "over-the-hill" reconnaissance missions without outside control. Source: Flight ...
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DARPA seeks pilotless combat aircraft
THE US DEFENSE Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking service support for its concept of "uninhabited tactical aircraft" (UTAs) - lethal unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) which could be used on missions considered too risky for manned aircraft. Col Mike Francis, of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, says that UTA ...
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Australia unveils aerial-surveillance project
THE AUSTRALIAN Defence Forces is pulling together its broad-area aerial-surveillance and unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) requirements into a single project, known as Joint 129. The project, established at the end of April, will result in the acquisition of either a combination of manned surveillance aircraft, supporting a synthetic-aperture-radar system, and tactical ...
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Pegasus launches MSTI 3 for USAF
THE FINAL standard model of the three-stage, air-launched Pegasus booster carried the US Air Force's Miniature Sensor Technology Integration satellite, MSTI 3, into orbit on 17 May. It was the sixth successful launch of the Orbital Sciences (OSC) booster since April 1990. The Pegasus was released from an ...