Cambodia must pay up
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has suspended delivery of four Cambodian air force MiG-21 fighters to ensure the payment of a $1 million bill for upgrading the aircraft. The first two upgraded MiG-21s were delivered in January 1997. Work on the other four was frozen when the Cambodians failed to make payments on time, according to industry sources. The Cambodian air force signed a $7 million deal with IAI in 1996 for the upgrade of six MiG-21s. The deal included the supply of six used Aero L-39 trainers bought by IAI for Cambodia.
Poland's new RFPThe Polish defence ministry is preparing a new request for proposals for its stalled combat helicopter programme. The new tender is expected to be issued in April. Last December, the Polish Government backed out of a memorandum of agreement with the Israeli government for a consortium of Israeli companies to upgrade 100 PZL Swidnik W-3 Sokol helicopters to the Huzar combat configuration. A smaller number of helicopters may be involved this time. The earlier programme called for the installation of a new avionics suite and supply of an anti-tank missile.
CL-327 damagedA Bombardier CL-327 Guardian unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was substantially damaged on 19 February during a hard landing at the company's test facility in Lawton, Oklahoma. The accident investigation continues, but the preliminary indication is that the incident was caused by test software that gave incorrect landing commands. Another CL-327 departed from controlled flight over a test range and crashed last June.
Source: Flight International
