Military UAVs – Page 322
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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 ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...