All UK Royal Air Force articles – Page 12
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NewsUK Hawks receive five-year support boost
Contracts totalling £372 million ($530 million) have been awarded to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce to continue supporting the UK Ministry of Defence’s Hawk trainer fleet for a five-year term.
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NewsBrimstone Reaper integration still in the pipeline
MBDA is still hopeful its dual-mode Brimstone air-to-surface missile will be carried on General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper unmanned air vehicles, as it awaits requirements that will lead to the next round of testing.
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NewsNew $2.2 billion Anglo-French FCAS phase announced
France and the UK are set to launch a new project under their Future Combat Air System (FCAS) effort that will see unmanned air vehicle prototypes developed under a newly announced £1.54 billion ($2.19 billion) agreement.
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NewsAirTanker receives penultimate Voyager ahead of civilian conversion
AirTanker has received the 13th of the Royal Air Force’s Airbus Defence & Space A330-200 Voyager tanker transports, ahead of a planned civilian conversion of the type.
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News
UK Typhoon tests Reccelite XR pod
The UK Royal Air Force has recently completed a series of test flights of the Eurofighter Typhoon carrying Rafael's Reccelite XR reconnaissance pod.
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NewsFirst ASRAAMs delivered for UK F-35 testing
MBDA has delivered the first batch of advanced short range air-to-air missiles (ASRAAM) to the USA, ahead of planned flight trials on board the UK’s Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.
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NewsStriker II HMD development nears completion
Development of the BAE Systems Striker II helmet-mounted display (HMD) is due to end in the coming months, following the completion of a flight-test campaign to validate its integrated night vision capability.
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NewsUK signs £1.1bn deal for new military training fleet
The UK Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth £1.1 billion ($1.58 billion) to cover the remaining fixed-wing elements of its Military Flight Training System (MFTS) infrastructure. The deals span the provision of a trio of new aircraft types and related ground-based training equipment.
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NewsUK reveals sharp increase in Reaper Hellfire use
A sharp surge in the number of Lockheed Martin AGM-114 missiles deployed from the Royal Air Force’s unmanned air vehicle fleet was seen between 2014 and 2015, marking a rise in the type's use from the drawdown from intervention in Afghanistan, to current operations in Iraq and Syria.
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NewsF-35B due to make second attempt at UK airshow debut
Two years after Lockheed Martin's abortive attempt to give its F-35 an international debut was scuppered by an engine fire, as many as five Joint Strike Fighters will be in the UK in July to appear at two major air shows.
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NewsEffects of UK intervention in Syria branded 'minimal'
Defence experts have dismissed the significance of the UK’s intervention against Islamic extremists in Syria, claiming that the worth is “minimal”, and was only decided on to provide the government with a political advantage.
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NewsLife of RAF Tornado squadron further extended to 2018
Further detail on the UK Ministry of Defence’s November Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) has revealed the retirement of a Panavia Tornado GR4 squadron will be pushed back to 2018, from the previously announced 2017 date.
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NewsUK eyes potential for in-flight refuelling of helicopters
The UK is exploring options for its transport rotorcraft, including in-flight refuelling, as it looks to extend the operational range of its fleet in line with commitments in a recent defence review.
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NewsRAF deploys Brimstone for counter-IS attacks
The UK Royal Air Force has used MBDA dual-mode Brimstone laser-guided air-to-surface missiles against Islamic State militants in Syria for the first time, as the campaign in the region moves towards countering moving targets.
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NewsJapan and UK further discussions around joint missile development
A meeting of British and Japanese ministers on 8 January resulted in the two nations pledging to enter a second phase of discussions regarding the co-development of a new air-to-air missile.
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NewsRaytheon hopeful of full UK adoption of Paveway IV upgrades
Raytheon is confident the enhanced moving target-tracking seeker it is developing for its Paveway IV laser-guided bomb will be adopted by the UK Royal Air Force, but anticipates this will not happen until a new penetrating warhead has been integrated onto the service’s weapons.
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NewsExtended RAF Shadow fleet to include trainer conversion
Expanding the Royal Air Force’s fleet of Raytheon Shadow R1 signals intelligence aircraft from five to eight operational units – as revealed by the government in November – will include the conversion of one configured as a trainer, plus two new-builds.
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NewsFirst Typhoons and additional Tornados bolster RAF's anti-IS contribution
The extension of the UK’s operations against Islamic State militants into Syria has seen an additional two Panavia Tornado GR4s deployed to the Royal Air Force's Akrotiri base in Cyprus, plus a new deployment of six Eurofighter Typhoons.
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Opinion
OPINION: Second time lucky for UK defence?
Life experience tells us that after making a mistake, it takes guts, humility – or both even – to recognise it and put things right.
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NewsLockheed expresses UK MPA disappointment, looks to new opportunities
Lockheed Martin says the lack of open competition for the UK’s newly-selected maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) is disappointing, but says there are other opportunities worldwide for its Vigilance mission system on a variety of aircraft types.
