All Military UAVs articles – Page 322
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SAe and Harris bow out of T-38 competition
TWO TEAMS HAVE been eliminated from the competition to upgrade US Air Force Northrop T-38 trainers. The USAF has short-listed six teams for the T-38 avionics-update programme, dropping Harris and Singapore Aerospace (SAe). Lockheed Martin had earlier withdrawn its bid. Harris and SAe were informed on 6 May ...
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Phoenix survives scrutiny by VIPs
THE GEC-MARCONI Phoenix reconnaissance unmanned air-vehicle (UAV) survived a critical test at the end of April, when it was successfully operated at the British Army's Larkhill test range in front of an audience of key decision-makers. In the second quarter of 1995, GEC-Marconi was given 12 months to ...
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Reconnaissance Office may get new Darkstar
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Congress may subsidise the cost of building a replacement for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing Tier III Minus Darkstar unmanned air vehicle destroyed on its second flight on 22 April, says US Air Force Gen Kenneth Israel, who heads the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). ...
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USN eyes common support aircraft to replace S-3/E-2
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE US Navy will determine over the next two years whether a new Common Support Aircraft (CSA) should be developed to replace about 260 aging in-service aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin S-3B Viking and ES-3A Shadow, and the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye and ...
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Europe
Poland is likely to be the first former Warsaw Pact nation to buy Western combat aircraft, with US and European manufacturers offering their wares. MAPO-MiG has also been offering licence-production. A defence ministry commission reported in February that co-operation with Saab in producing the JAS39 Gripen would be the best ...
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DarkStar rises over California
The Lockheed Martin/ Boeing DarkStar high-altitude endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) had its first flight at Edwards AFB, California, on 29 March. The 21m-span UAV had a fully automated flight lasting 20min from take off to landing using differential global-positioning-system (GPS) navigation signals for guidance throughout. "The ...
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VTOL contenders line up for TUAV
BELL HELICOPTER Textron has surprised rivals by offering the Eagle Eye tilt-rotor unmanned air vehicle for the US Department of Defense's multi-billion dollar Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) competition (Flight International, 27 March -2 April). The US helicopter maker joins at least six other bidders for a two-year ...
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Safety net
The US Navy is testing its own signals-intelligence system. Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC AFTER YEARS OF FRUSTRATION, the US Navy is ready to introduce its own intelligence-gathering system, including equipment which, one day, could serve all US military forces. The USN is committed to ...
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TUAV competition draws big entry
A LARGE FIELD OF competitors has turned out for the US Department of Defense's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) competition. The Pentagon will pick the contractor for a two-year advanced concept-technology demonstration before the end of April. Full production calls for 73 systems for the US Army, Marine ...
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Pegasus XL flies at third attempt
Tim Furniss/LONDON ORBITAL SCIENCE'S (OSC) Pegasus XL satellite launcher had its first successful flight on 8 March. It carried the US Air Force's $5 million, 110kg, REX 2 science satellite into a 720 x 700km polar orbit after an air-launch from the company's Lockheed L-1011 mother craft, 39,000ft ...
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Predator returns
US Army General Atomics Predator unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) are being redeployed to the Balkans and will be flown in reconnaissance missions over Bosnia. The UAVs were withdrawn in 1995 after one was shot down and one destroyed. New radar-equipped Predators will be based at Taszar, Hungary, until early November. ...
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Win some, lose some
The US DoD's 1997 budget request represents a 6% decline in defence spending. Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE US Department of Defense (DoD) has sent to Capitol Hill a fiscal year 1997 budget request which represents a 6% decline in Pentagon spending from the previous year's ...
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Hughes will supply SAR for spy craft
HUGHES AIRCRAFT IS providing the US Army's three RC-7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL) surveillance aircraft with moving-target-indicator/synthetic-aperture-radar (MTI/SAR) sensors. The additional intelligence-gathering capability is intended, to partially offset the retirement of aging Grumman OV-1 Mohawk surveillance aircraft, now used in South Korea. The US Army speeded the contract ...
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Turning on cost
Substantial civil helicopter sales are at stake, if manufacturers can bring costs down. Graham Warwick/DALLAS WHEN BUYING A house, the adage goes, the requirements are "location, location and location". When operating a helicopter, it seems, the concerns are "cost, cost and cost". Certainly all the news, and ...
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UAV promises satellite shake-up
AN ISRAELI COMPANY is developing a unique high-altitude long-endurance hovering platform designed to act as a low-cost substitute for a communications or surveillance satellite. The Rotostar, is being developed by Silver Arrow, one of Israel's leading unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) manufacturers. The Israeli Government, is funding part of the ...
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Lockheed Martin claims edge over JAST rivals
Guy Norris/Fort Worth LOCKHEED Martin is claiming the edge over rivals for the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) programme after successful tests of its large-scale powered model at the NASA Ames, California, wind tunnel site at the end of February. Speaking on the eve of ...
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THAAD shot down in $2 billion TMD programme revamp
THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense plans to save more than $2 billion by reshaping its ballistic-missile-defence programme. The plan, which faces Congressional scrutiny, emphasises development of defences against short-range theatre-ballistic-missile (TBM) threats and pushes back production of weapons, designed to intercept ballistic missiles at greater distances. The Pentagon ...
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Turboprop triumph
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA SELECTION OF the Raytheon Aircraft Beech Pilatus PC-9 MkII for the US Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) surprised almost everyone - except, that is, the company itself. Throughout the competition, and the protests which followed, Raytheon remained steadfastly confident in the strength of its proposal. ...
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Slow rise to recovery
Although the helicopter industry continues to struggle, the HAI convention booms. Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Julian Moxon/PARIS HELI-EXPO '96, THE Helicopter Association International (HAI) convention in Dallas, Texas, 22-24 February, comes as the industry continues to suffer depressed sales levels for new helicopters and is dogged by ...
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Through the looking glass
The Israeli air force is testing a cockpit upgrade for its Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters. Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV OPERATIONAL evaluation of Israeli air force upgraded Sikorsky CH-53s has only just begun, but the pilots are already saying that the new avionics have stretched the capability of ...