Military UAVs – Page 321
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Phoenix fix boosts GEC plans
Douglas Barrie/LONDON GEC and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are in talks over potential teaming arrangements covering future unmanned- air-vehicle (UAV) projects. GEC's long-term plans to meet UAV requirements received a fillip with the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) decision to proceed with the ú250 million ($390 ...
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Rockwell delivers first quartz navigator for use on Outrider
ROCKWELL HAS delivered the first navigation processor for Alliant Techsystems' Outrider unmanned air-vehicle (UAV) - using the smallest inertial sensor commercially available. The processor has Rockwell's digital quartz inertial-measurement-unit (DQI) and reduces cost by using data from the global-positioning-system (GPS) receiver which is part of the UAV's automated ...
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MDC has designs on replacing Lockheed Martin's Hercules
McDONNELL Douglas's (MDC's) Phantom Works has begun design work on a replacement for the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules to meet the US Air Force's projected need for an Advanced Theater Transport beyond 2020. The tilt-wing design has emerged from the company's advanced transportation group at the Phantom Works ...
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Kaman flies SH-2G composite blades
Kaman Aerospace says it has successfully flight-tested second-generation composite main rotor blades (CMRB2s) for its SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopter. The CMRB2s are designed for improved durability and lower life-cycle costs, compared with existing metal blades. "Flight tests indicate that the CMRB2 'rotor' has four-times the life of a ...
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ASTOR rivals come clean with solutions
The competition to provide the UK's Airborne Stand-off Radar (ASTOR) requirement for the next 30 years hotted up yesterday at Farnborough as the two major protagonists - Raytheon and Lockheed Martin - came clean for the first time about their individual solutions. The decisions will intensify what is already ...
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Future is looking bright for French
The French are at Farnborough in force, riding the momentum of a general upturn in the aerospace industry's fortunes. The mood among the 28 major companies occupying more than 1,300m2 in Hall 1 under the Gifas banner, and in a number of chalets, is one of optimism as they ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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-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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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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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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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 ...