Military UAVs – Page 307
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Lockheed Martin team wins MEADS
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A Lockheed Martin-led team has won a $300 million contract to start developing the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS), a joint programme between Germany, Italy and the USA to field a highly mobile, medium-range battlefield air- defence system. The future of the $12 billion ...
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Congress may use Kosovo cash for Prowler replacement study
Paul Lewis/BETHPAGE The US Congress is expected to use supplemental Kosovo funding to launch a study to replace the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler electronic jammer aircraft, the limited fleet of which has been severely stretched supporting the Balkan conflict. The US Navy planned to launch a $16 million analysis ...
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Lockheed Martin sees focus of UCAV shifting to surveillance
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The US Air Force's proposed unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) may see its first operational applications in surveillance and reconnaissance roles rather than strike missions, according to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics president, "Micky" Blackwell. The shift in focus, Blackwell says, is likely to be driven by competing ...
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Joint-STARS push begins
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Pressure is mounting to restore the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint-STARS) programme to a 19-aircraft purchase, as two of the four aircraft now in service support the air campaign over Yugoslavia. The Quadrennial Defense Review in 1997 cut six units from ...
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US Army delays release of Tactical UAV RFP
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A delay in releasing the final request for proposals (RFP) for the US Army's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) fly-off and acquisition has caused a fast-track competition for off-the-shelf close-range systems to slip by several months. The US Army requires an electro-optical infrared payload-equipped TUAV ...
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Australian UAV
Bombardier has signed a contract with the Australian Department of Defence worth nearly A$2 million ($1.3 million) for the lease of two CL-327 Guardian rotary wing UAVs and one ground-control station. The two-month lease will support risk mitigation studies, supporting the Australian Army's Joint Project 129 requirement for an airborne ...
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UK may shadow UAV trials for US Navy
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The UK may exercise a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate alongside US Navy vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV) sea trials. It is funding a study to define what is required for full function and control of VTUAV flight operations from warships. The ...
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Sea views
Sea trials are on the horizon for VTOL unmanned air vehicles Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Expectations are rising that naval forces will soon be able to field vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) now that technical problems that have hampered development of sea-based UAVs show signs of being ...
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Heavy fuel engines offered for UAVs
The UK's UAV Engines (UEL), a leader in gasoline-powered Wankel powerplants for drones and aerial targets, is offering heavy-fuel-burning models for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Stoking the race to develop heavy fuel engines for remotely piloted vehicles is the US Navy's Vertical Take-off and Landing Tactical UAV programme and ...
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Iran tests unmanned air vehicle
Iranian company Hesa is working on an improved version of the Ababil II unmanned air vehicle. A model was shown at the IDEX defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi recently, but this is the first time a working version has been seen. The canard-configuration Ababil II can carry a small camera ...
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New from old
PaulLewis/WASHINGTON DC The remanufacturing of military helicopters is not a new business. For the US aerospace industry it is set to become a proportionally more important source of rotary-wing revenue over the next 10 years. There are around 6,500 helicopters in the US military inventory, significantly down from the Vietnam ...
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General Atomics Predator and Prowler ready for heavy fuel
Ramon Lopez/BRISTOL Unmanned air vehicle (UAV) builder General Atomics is seeking US Air Force support for an in-house heavy fuel engine (HFE) development for the Predator high altitude UAV, which is ready for flight testing. The company is also poised to test an HFE for the Prowler II tactical ...
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US Navy launches Target 21 competition
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense has started a competition to replace in-service subsonic aerial targets with a new low-cost system, known as Target 21. The equipment will replicate current and future anti-ship cruise missile and aircraft threats to US Navy ships. The new low-cost recoverable ...
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UK pauses on unmanned combat role
Ramon Lopez/BRISTOL Howard Gethin/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence is to launch a third-phase concept study of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and conventional air launched cruise missiles (CALCMs). The study will seek alternatives to manned aircraft in the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS) project to develop a successor to ...
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Lockheed Martin favours German cannon for JSF
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin, which is competing against Boeing for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), has baselined Germany's Mauser 27mm cannon for its bid, but is also considering the General Dynamics GAU-12 25mm three-barrel Gatling gun, with either weapon to be mounted in the aircraft's weapons bay. ...
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Kosovo air campaign intensifies
Howard Gethin/RAF MILDENHALL NATO has sharply stepped up its air campaign against Yugoslavia, with over 80 separate targets attacked in the four days from 3 April, of 190 made since the outbreak of hostilities. NATO aircraft flew 438 sorties against 28 targets on 5 April alone. "We've increased the ...
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US forces to push forward AIM-9XL flight tests
The US Navy and US Air Force are planning an aggressive 34-month flight-test programme for the Raytheon AIM-9X Evolved Sidewinder air-to-air missile following its first firing. Funding is being sought at the same time for initial low rate production of 150 missiles. About 16 separation firings and more than ...
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Global Hawk is destroyed in China Lake crash
A Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was destroyed in a crash during a test flight at the NAS China Lake test centre on 29 March, just 20min after taking off from Edwards AFB in California. "We don't know what caused the crash, or any of the ...
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NATO reacts to surveillance challenge
Tim Ripley and DeeDeeDoke/LONDON Allied commanders are calling in additional surveillance assets to improve their coverage of Yugoslavia in an effort to combat intensifying Yugoslav military action in Kosovo. US Air Force General Atomics RQ-1A Predators and US Army TRW Hunter unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) - the latter on their ...
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Turbofan chosen for unmanned air vehicle
AlliedSignal's F124turbofan will power Boeing's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), which is to be flight tested under a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency technology demonstration contract (Flight International, 31 March-6 April). The unreheated turbofan was chosen over the Rolls-Royce Turboméca Adour to power the UCAV. The F124 is ...