All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1332
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ETC/USAF advance centrifuge simulator
CENTRIFUGE manufacturer Environmental Technology (ETC) has signed an agreement with the US Air Force to develop its technology for use in flight simulators for high-performance combat aircraft. A centrifuge-based simulator would be able to generate the G forces experienced by the pilot of a highly manoeuvrable fighter. Southampton, ...
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RAF celebrates Bastille Day
THE ROYAL AIR FORCE TOOK PART for the first time in France's Bastille Day parade on 14 July. Panavia Tornado GR1s and Harrier GR7s were flown in formation with a French Boeing KC-135 for the flypast, with a RAF Vickers VC10 flying in formation with French air force Mirages. ...
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Malaysia wants S-70 and Lynx
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE MALAYSIA HAS announced plans to order the Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk. At the same time, the Westland Super Lynx is closer to being selected as the country's new naval helicopter. According to defence minister Syed Hamid Albar, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) ...
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Two-seat EF2000 is ready
Douglas Barrie/WARTON THE FIRST two-seat Eurofighter EF2000, is expected to be flown by the end of July, with senior management on the project increasingly confident that the technical difficulties affecting the project are now under control. This clears the way for the four partner governments, ...
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32 people are killed in Belgian air force C-130 accident
A BELGIAN AIR force Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules crashed with 41 on board at Eindhoven air base in the Netherlands on 15 July, killing its crew of four and 28 passengers. Nine others were badly injured. All passengers were members of the Dutch Royal Army Brass Band. The crash is ...
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South Korea compiles shortlist for early-warning fleet
SOUTH KOREA is revising long-standing plans to acquire a fleet of airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft, as part of its next five-year mid-term defence plan. Defence observers now expect the South Korean air force to finalise its AEW requirements and issue a request for quotations before the end of ...
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...as GEC test-flies new towed-decoy
GEC-MARCONI HAS TEST-flown a revised design of towed radar decoy (TRD) for the Eurofighter EF2000 from a hack aircraft, with test flights to begin in August on the second Eurofighter prototype, development aircraft (DA) 2. The EF2000 TRD is understood to differ considerably in shape from that deployed ...
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Russia determines priorities
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW THE RUSSIAN AIR force has hammered out a list of priority programmes, including the Sukhoi Su-27IB fighter-bomber, along with upgrade projects for both the Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear H and Tu-160 Blackjack, to improve conventional strike capabilities. Notably absent from the priority list, thrashed ...
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Eurofighter excluded from 1997 German budget plans
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE Eurofighter programme, has been left without funding in current German budget plans, for 1997 confirms the defence ministry. While the Government is contractually obliged to complete development funding for the Eurofighter EF2000, the ministry says that production investment - due to get ...
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Chilean Mirages operated with US F-16s
CHILEAN AIR FORCE DASSAULT MIRAGE 5M ELKANS, recently acquired from Belgium, have been used for the first time in joint operations with US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16s deployed to the South American nation. The Mirages were operated alongside locally upgraded Northrop F-5E Tiger IIIs and controlled by the Chilean ...
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Prospects fade away for dual-seat F-22
DEVELOPMENT of a two-seat variant of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 is to be dropped to save money. The US Air Force is to cancel two tandem-seaters planned for the development programme, leaving nine single-seat aircraft, although Lockheed Martin says that it has yet to receive a stop-work order. ...
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Taiwan and Lockheed Martin sign C-130-co-operation deal
TAIWAN HAS SIGNED an industrial co-operation agreement with Lockheed Martin, worth close to $90 million, as part of its planned purchase of four new C-130H-30 transport aircraft. Lockheed Martin has proposed a range of projects to Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau. Areas of co-operation under discussion include assistance with ...
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Japanese logger
Kyokuto Boeki Kaisha will hand over the first Kaman K-MAX for a Japanese customer on 10 July, following Japanese certification of the external-lift helicopter. Japan Royal will use the helicopter for heli-logging in the Yoshino area of Nara Prefecture. Source: Flight International
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India and Russia close to Su-30 contract
Alexander Velovich/Moscow INDIA AND RUSSIA are on the brink of a deal covering the sale of up to 40 Sukhoi Su-30MK multi-role fighter aircraft. The Indian defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadam is quoted in Russian press reports as saying that negotiations to buy the Su-30MK "-are ...
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Whiteman receives first GAM deliveries
THE FIRST 17 global-positioning-system (GPS)-aided munitions (GAMs) have been delivered to Whiteman AFB, Missouri, for use on the Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bomber. The GAM offers an interim, near-precision direct attack weapon pending future delivery of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) later this decade. Over 100 GAMs ...
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German budget cuts endanger critical defence programmes
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH HUGE cuts in the latest German defence budget, approved by the cabinet on 10 July, have left questionmarks over the Eurofighter EF2000, Eurocopter Tiger and Helios 2/Horus reconnaissance satellite and procurement programmes. The 1997 defence budget has now been fixed at DM46.6 billion ($30.5 ...
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MDC to test Rafael Python 4 on F-18
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) is to test-fire a high off-boresight air-to-air missile, believed to be the Israeli Rafael Python 4, from an F-18 later this year under a company-funded programme designed to demonstrate an off-boresight engagement capability. The test will take place at the China Lake weapons range. An ...
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Pentagon torpedoes Marine Apaches and Black Hawks
THE AMBITIONS of McDonnell Douglas and Sikorsky to sell, respectively, the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 to the US Marine Corps have been dealt a serious blow by a US Department of Defense (DoD) report recommending that upgrading the USMC's existing fleet is the most cost-effective approach. The DoD ...
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Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 noses ahead
STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY of the first Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 forward fuselage is complete and installation of tubing, wiring, cockpit instrumentation and avionics racks is under way at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems in Marietta, Georgia. Visible (see picture, right) is the radar bulkhead, which is canted to reduce radar cross-section, ...
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Israel presses Russia in bid to clear way for China AEW deal
Ari Egozi/TEL AVIV THE ISRAELI Government is pressing Russia to approve the sale of an Ilyushin Il-76 Candid, to allow Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to conclude a deal to convert the aircraft into a Phalcon radar-equipped airborne early-warning platform for China. A $250 million deal to ...