Military UAVs – Page 316
-
News
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. ...
-
News
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. ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
Matra BAe ASRAAM hits targets in Eglin firings
Matra BAe Dynamics has carried out two successful test firings from a Lockheed Martin F-16 of the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) at the USAir Force's Eglin AFB, Florida. The first firing was the final dispersion round in the ASRAAM trials programme, which was completed on 20 September. ...
-
News
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. ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
Tornado storms on until 2018
The Royal Air Force will run its Panavia Tornado GR4 fleet until 2018, indicating that procurement of its replacement, the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS), is slipping. The RAF had been working toward procurement of the FOAS and replacement of the Tornado GR4 by 2013-15, but industry and ...
-
News
Outrider is grounded pending accident probe
Contractor testing of the Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has been suspended pending completion of an investigation into the crash of a prototype during a flight evaluation on 15 October at Hondo, Texas. It was the final test of the UAV with the McCulloch 4318F ...
-
News
PATS unveils lightweight rotary-engine APU for corporate jets
PATS, The US supplier of auxiliary-power-unit (APU) installation kits, has revealed a lightweight rotary-engine APU for corporate jets which the company claims will lead to significant cost savings compared with conventional turbine APUs. The "non-turbine heavy-fuel engine" is based on the Wankel engine design originally used in motor ...
-
News
USAplans strike-UCAV demonstration
Plans to demonstrate an unmanned combat air-vehicle (UCAV) capable of air-defence suppression and mobile-target attack have been unveiled by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This is the first major programme to be launched involving UCAVs. A $125 million advanced-technology demonstration is planned by DARPA and ...
-
News
Persistent ambitions
Unmanned combat-aircraft are coming, but they will not be going into battle any time in the too-near future. Harsh lessons learned developing relatively simple and inexpensive unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) have made manufacturers and operators alike extremely cautious in planning the introduction of more costly and sophisticated uninhabited combat air-vehicles (UCAVs). ...
-
News
GAO hits Outrider
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Defense to delay low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the Alliant Techsystems Outrider unmanned air vehicle (UAV) until operational tests prove its effectiveness. The Congressional watchdog agency says that the US military should learn from past UAV efforts, such as ...
-
News
Global Hawk first flight scheduled for November
The Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Global Hawk high-altitude endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) will have its first flight in late November at Edwards AFB, California, says the company. The first flight of the Tier II Plus Global Hawk, now designated the RQ-4A, was planned for early 1997. The delay ...
-
News
Flattops for the future
Ramon Lopez/NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA The aircraft carriers of tomorrow are beginning to take shape in the minds of US Navy and US industry officials who have been given the job of designing the final Nimitz-class carrier, the CVN-77, and the futuristic CVX - the new class of aircraft ...
-
News
Expanded Helitech
Opening times Helitech '97 will be open on Tuesday, 30 September-Thursday, 2 October: 09.30-18.00; and Friday, 3 October: Kate Sarsfield/London The 7th International Helicopter Technology and Operations Exhibition (Helitech) will host a helicopter industry leaner and more optimistic than it has been in recent ...
-
News
US Army wants Bird Dog UAV to be manned best friend
Ramon Lopez/Fort Eustis The US Army has "re-focused" its Bird Dog unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) project to demonstrate the capability of advanced manned and unmanned systems to function together effectively on the battlefield. While the Bird Dog project was geared to developing a small, intelligent and fully autonomous ...
-
News
Bell picks Litton to perform USMC cockpit
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Bell Helicopter Textron has chosen Litton Industries to modernise the cockpits of AH-1W and UH-1N helicopters now operated by the US Marine Corps. Litton's Guidance & Control Systems group, located in Northridge, California, was selected in preference to bids by Honeywell, Elbit and ...
-
News
Northrop Grumman hawks advanced radars for fighters
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC NORTHROP GRUMMAN is taking orders for improved versions of the APG-66 and APG-68 fire-control radars, according to vice-president for avionics systems James Pitts. The advanced systems include the APG-68 Agile Beam Radar (ABR), the active electronically scanned-array variant of the radar installed in ...
-
News
Outrider UAV resumes flight test
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS has resumed flight testing of the Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV) after a two-week hiatus while improvements were incorporated on the prototypes. It completed the seventh Outrider test flight on 9 August - the third successive flight longer than 20min. During the evaluation at the ...