All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1352
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Stormy passages
For a nation dependent on air transport, Papua New Guinea has many problems to overcome. Paul Phelan/CAIRNS MIDWAY THROUGH LAST December, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) entire air-traffic-services system and, consequently, all air-carrier flying had to be shut down for 5h. This was not because of industrial action, ...
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US Navy takes first upgraded E-2C Hawkeye
THE US NAVY has accepted the first Northrop Grumman Group I E-2C Hawkeye upgraded to the Group II configuration. The modernisation programme gives the early-warning aircraft significantly, more target-processing automation. The US aircraft builder is working under three USN contracts, worth $135 million, to upgrade 12 Hawkeyes with ...
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Dassault completes Rafale M01 aircraft-carrier tests
DASSAULT AVIATION HAS successfully completed aircraft-carrier compatibility tests in the USA on its Rafale M01, the naval version of the fighter. The aircraft has been returned to its base at the Istres test centre in southern France, for further tests before production commences, in time for entry into ...
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Lockheed Martin inspects complex part inspection
Andrew Doyle/LONDON LOCKHEED MARTIN Tactical Aircraft Systems has performed an ultrasonic inspection of a large, complex, contoured composite component, by linking the inspection device to a computer-aided-design data file and generating a false external "surface". Components with complex external shapes are notoriously difficult to inspect ...
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USA wants Ecuadorean Kfir deliveries delayed
ISRAEL MAY RECONSIDER plans to sell eight Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Kfir fighters to Ecuador following intervention by the US Government. Washington has acted after a request from Peru, which believes that the deal could damage peace talks with Ecuador. The $40 million deal, was concluded in late ...
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French air force phases out its Mirage IVP nuclear bombers
THE FRENCH AIR FORCE is withdrawing its Dassault Mirage IV nuclear-bomber fleet from service in July - 32 years after the aircraft entered service. The air force will use Dassault Mirage 2000s in the nuclear role and, later, Dassault Rafales. Altogether, 62 Mirage IV bombers have been in ...
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India is close to ordering Israeli radar jammers
INDIA IS CLOSE TO placing a $100 million order with Israeli contractor Elta Electronics for as many as 90 radar-jamming pods, for use on Indian air force Mikoyan MiG-21s and Sepecat Jaguars, and Indian navy British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.51s. The system involved is likely to be either ...
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Sogerma-Socea will lead Turkish F-5 avionics and structural upgrade work
Andrew Doyle/LONDON SOGERMA-SOCEA OF France is to act as prime contractor in the long-awaited avionics and structural-upgrade programme for the Turkish air force's fleet of 70 Northrop Grumman F-5A/B fighter aircraft. The French company, part of Aerospatiale, will perform the structural modifications and act as systems ...
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Three Su-27 crashes trigger Russian row
A ROW HAS broken out between the Russian air force and navy over responsibility for the crashes of three Sukhoi Su-27 fighters of the Russian Knights aerobatic team. The aircraft hit a hill on approach to Cam Ranh air base in Vietnam on 12 December, killing four pilots. ...
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Chromed Gripen
Saab Dynamics is investing £35,000 ($54,000) in a precision hard-chrome coating facility, for parts of the flight-control-actuator system of the JAS39 Gripen fighter aircraft. It is being provided by Southampton UK-based Poeton Coating Technology part of Poeton Group. Source: Flight International
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NH90 has first flight
THE FIRST of five Eurocopter NH90 prototypes had a successful 40min maiden flight from the company's Marignane site near Marseilles, France on 18 December. The first aircraft, PT1, was flown by test pilots Philippe Boutry and Guy Dabadie, and is the first of three NH90 prototypes to be built by ...
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UK and USA sign JAST MoU
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Graham Warwick/ATLANTA THE UK AND USA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 20 December committing the UK to take part in the four-year concept demonstration phase of the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) programme to develop a future strike fighter. Under the ...
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Poland resurrects support for Iryda
AFTER STOPPING Polish defence ministry plans to buy about 40 secondhand Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets from Germany, the Warsaw Government has redirected funds for the deal to support the PZL-Mielec Iryda jet trainer programme. According to PZL-Mielec, three new Irydas in the M-93K configuration, are now expected to be ...
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BAe drops helicopter bid
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE has abandoned its bid for a £300 million ($460 million) UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract to establish and support a tri-service helicopter training school. BAe had intended to link with McAlpine in offering the MoD a mix of up to ...
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Czechs exchange Fulcrums for Sokols
THE CZECH Air force is swapping ten "mothballed" Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters for 11 Polish PZL-Swidnik W-3 Sokol helicopters. The barter arrangement, was approved by the Czech Government, on 13 December and deliveries of the MiG-29s to the Polish air force, were due to be completed by ...
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RAAF lists three trainers
AUSTRALIA HAS short-listed three bidders for the air force's lead-in fighter project (Air 5367). The three are Aermacchi, British Aerospace and McDonnell Douglas (MDC). The short-listed tenderers were announced on 15 December 1995. Proposals for the request for tender (RFT) are due on 14 March. The three ...
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Japan shelves plan to acquire tankers
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE JAPAN HAS temporarily dropped plans to acquire air-to-air refueling tankers under its KC-X requirement. It has also trimmed back on its planned purchase of new Mitsubishi FS-X support fighters, as part of the Government's newly approved five-year defence programme. The Japanese cabinet has ...
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B-2 Plant reprieve
Northrop Grumman has pushed back closure of its B-2 plant at Pico Rivera, California, by two years, to 1999, preserving some 4,000 jobs, in part because the latest US defence budget includes $493 million added by Congress to begin procurement for a second batch of 20 B-2 bombers. ...
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US Air Force launches T-38 upgrade
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA NINE TEAMS are expected to respond to the US Air Force's 14 December request for proposals to upgrade the Northrop T-38 advanced trainer. The $700 million avionics upgrade programme (AUP) is intended to keep the T-38 in service until 2020. Under the AUP, ...
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Lockheed Martin boosts C-130J orderbook with Australasian deal bonanza
LOCKHEED MARTIN stands to sell over 40 C-130J Hercules II transporters to Australia and New Zealand, with the former country placing a firm order for an initial batch of 12 aircraft on 21 December. Deliveries of 12 stretched C-130J-30s, included in the A$900 million ($660 million) contract, will ...