All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1254
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IR-OTIS for Asia
Sweden's Saab has begun marketing its IR-OTIS infra-red search and track (IRST) system for South-East Asian fighter upgrades. Saab says the system is well-suited for Northrop F-5 upgrade programmes and, possibly, for Lockheed Martin F-16s. Singapore has recently upgraded its F-5 fleet, while Indonesia and possibly Malaysia are set to ...
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Tri-jet transformation
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES On the surface it sounds relatively straightforward. Boeing is converting ex-airline DC-10s to freighters for FedEx, and for any other operator that wants it. The real story is quite different in terms of scale, timetable and technical challenges. "It's been an enormous undertaking," says Boeing MD-10 deputy ...
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K-MAX crash in USA
A Kaman K-MAX logging helicopter crashed on 21 April while flying to LaGrange airport in Oregon for maintenance. The pilot escaped with minor injuries. The aircraft, operated by Grizzly Mountain, suffered "-a loss of power, impacted the terrain and rolled over", says Kaman. The Prineville, Oregon, operator took delivery ...
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FAA warms to thermal testing
Ian Sheppard/LONDON The US Federal Aviation Administration is testing a new inspection technique which could allow rapid on-the-spot diagnosis of the integrity of aircraft skin panels in routine maintenance. Advanced dynamic thermography is a non-contact, non-destructive inspection method which involves heating composite panels by around 4°C, with an ...
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Sovereign promises
Julian Moxon/PARIS Kevin O'Toole/LONDON It would have been unrealistic to hope for too much from the meeting of Europe's defence ministers, hosted last week in Paris. In the end, there were some further encouraging noises over Europe's defence consolidation, but little to address the issues which have made its ...
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TTS upgrade s C-5
The first of seven Lockheed C-5 weapon system trainers upgraded with flight management/global positioning systems by Thomson Training &Simulation (TTS) has been delivered to FlightSafety Services, which operates the C-5 aircrew training system for the USAir Force. Source: Flight International
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China signs for Canadian N-5 production
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The Canadian Aerospace Group (CAG) has concluded a second collaborative agreement with a Chinese aviation manufacturer covering the final assembly and sale of up to 240 Hongdu N-5A agricultural aircraft to North American buyers. China in return, has been given rights for local production of the Windeagle ...
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BAe and Dassault to seal combat aircraft link
Dassault Aviation and British Aerospace are preparing to take the next step towards their promised joint venture to study future combat aircraft technology, with plans to start firming up the terms of their co-operation pact by mid-year. French ministry of defence procurement chief Jean-Yves Helmer says that the two ...
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Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman respond
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have issued an official response to the US Government's anti-trust complaints against their proposed merger, arguing that the deal is necessary if they are to compete with Boeing in military aircraft and Raytheon in defence electronics. The complaint was filed with the court on ...
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Hungary takes uprated L-39ZO
The Hungarian air force has been handed its first overhauled and upgraded Aero Vodochody L-39ZO Albatros trainer by Danubian Aircraft. The air force's longer-term hopes of reaching a part exchange deal with Vodochody to swap the aircraft for new-build L-39ZAs appear to have hit financing difficulties, however. The ...
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USN raises more backing for JSF prognostics
Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems (LMTAS) has received a further $6 million contract from the US Navy to continue work on the Air Vehicle Prognostics and Health Management (AVPHM) demonstration programme for its X-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) demonstrator. The original $6 million contract for AVPHM was awarded in ...
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Partners re-arrange KTX-II schedule after budget cuts
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Samsung Aerospace and partner Lockheed Martin are examining ways of re-arranging KTX-II development work and funding schedules, in the wake of the South Korean Government's decision to slash the programme's first year budget. The new administration of recently inaugurated President Kim Dae Jung has halved the ...
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An-70 bid for FLA nears an end
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) partners are to meet early next month to discuss the outcome of a critical study into considering the Antonov An-70 as an FLA candidate. The study, which is widely expected to reject the An-70 as a serious contender, is almost ...
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German MoD pushes ambitious helicopter and missile wish list
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The German defence ministry has prepared a lengthy procurement wish-list for the 1999 budget, including key helicopter and missile programmes, but it threatens to overload the parliamentary defence committee's ability to pass all the items this session. According to sources in Bonn, it seems likely that ...
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Three way battle gets under way for Ethiopian Fishbed upgrade
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) , Elbit and MAPO MIG are involved in a three way battle for a $100 million contract to upgrade Ethiopia's Mikoyan MiG-21Bis Fishbed fighter aircraft. The two Israeli companies are offering upgrades based mostly on Israeli developed avionics.The Lahav division of IAI has recently completed ...
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Fortis pushes Il-76 to air force customers
UK aircraft broker Fortis Aviation has signed a broad agreement with the Tashkent Aircraft Production Factory (TAPO) to market the Ilyushin Il-76 to air force customers worldwide. Jack Cunningham, managing director of the Stansted, UK-based company, says that the "-relationship is with the factory", not the Ilyushin design bureau. ...
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Sogerma breakthrough
French maintenance company Sogerma has signed a contract with the Colombian air force for major checks on a pair of Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules transports. The work will be carried out at Sogerma's Bordeaux factory. Source: Flight International
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Testing delay forces Pentagon to reshuffle F-22 procurement
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has forced the US Air Force to rejig the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor fighter programme in an attempt to accommodate flight test delays. Flight testing scheduled originally to begin in May 1997 was delayed until six months September. The DoD is now ...
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Hornets nest
Paul Lewis/BANGKOK New jobs inevitably entail fresh challenges and the position of commander in chief of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is certainly no exception. Air Chief Marshal Tananit Niamtan reached the pinnacle of his 27 year air force career in October 1997, just as Thailand's economy was diving ...
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GKN opens Agusta merger talks
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Last minute attempts by French interests to court Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta have fallen on deaf ears, with owner Finmeccanica throwing its lot in with longstanding partner GKN Westland. GKN and state owned Finmeccanica announced on 16 May that a merger of their respective helicopter subsidiaries is ...