All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1379
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F-22 weight increase agreed
THE US AIR FORCE and Lockheed Martin/Boeing have agreed to allow the F-22's empty weight to increase by 610kg, or 3%, to avoid pushing costs up. The growth comprises a 385kg weight-budget increase and a further 225kg allowance for uncertainty. The F-22's projected empty weight has increased from ...
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Sextant tests 3-D sound on helmets
Sextant Avionique is experimenting with a three-dimensional (3-D) sound system incorporated into a helmet-mounted display (HMD) to improve threat localisation. Tests are being carried out at Sextant's Bordeaux plant in co-operation with the US Department of Defense, using six pilots from each country's air force. If successful, a ...
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Philippines air force to spend $577 million on new equipment
The Philippines air force is to spend 15 billion pesos ($577 million) on new equipment over the next five years, as part of the country's recently approved defence modernisation plan. The supplementary budget covers the first five years of a planned 15-year programme to restructure and re-equip the ...
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F-15/F16 pod fly-off begins
Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) have begun flight-tests of competing reconnaissance versions of their respective F-16 and F-15 fighters. Both companies have dusted off existing reconnaissance pods, flight-tested in the 1980s, to meet a perceived gap in the US Air Force's manned-reconnaissance capability caused by retirement of the MDC ...
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Reflectone UK starts C-130 work
Reflectone UK has been authorised by Lockheed Martin to begin work on the training system for UK Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules IIs. The UK subsidiary of US Simulation Company Reflectone, expects the final contract to be worth more than $70 million. The company will supply two dynamic ...
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DASA ready to join GTAR radar partners
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) is in the final stages of negotiation to join GEC-Marconi and Thomson-CSF in a next-generation combat-aircraft radar programme. Go-ahead for the deal could come as early as June. The agreement will clear the way for the present GEC-Thomson Radar (GTAR) company becoming GEC-Thomson Daimler-Benz Radar, ...
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Vectoring in vogue
Thrust vectoring technology, is close to becoming a deployable reality. Russia's Sukhoi design bureau is working on a pre-production model of its Su-35 derivative of the Su-27 Flanker, equipped with two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles, while in the USA several programmes are under way. Exactly how capable the Su-35 ...
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Civil approach
"The only way we can operate here is by building confidence with the local forces and being, as we say, firm, fair and friendly," says Royal Swedish Air Force Lt. Col. Jan Reuterdahl, United Nations (UN) Senior Air Operations Officer in Zagreb, Croatia. "If we have problems with local forces, ...
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Galaxys tested in formation
THE US AIR FORCE IS awaiting results from formation-airdrop flight-testing of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport. The tests were requested by the US Congress to determine whether C-5s could be used to airdrop an Army brigade. Lockheed C-141's, are now used for large-scale airdrops. The flight tests included ...
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German Tornados to get updated cockpit systems
THE GERMAN AIR force is planning to install a display video-recording system (DVRS) in its Panavia interdictor-strike (IDS) Tornados and upgrade the system in its electronic-combat-and-reconnaissance (ECR) versions. While no contract has yet been issued, the German defence ministry says that it wants to install the system in ...
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Taiwan may ditch SAe F-5E package
TAIWAN MAY cancel plans for Singapore Aerospace (SAe) to convert ten Northrop F-5Es to reconnaissance aircraft, in response to opposition from local industry. The Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) is hoping to modify the fighters to the RF-5E TigerEye configuration, as replacements for its elderly Lockheed RF-104Gs. ...
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Czechs to drive ahead with MiG-21 upgrade
THE CZECH DEFENCE ministry is to push ahead with a contentious upgrade for at least 24 of its Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed fighter aircraft, despite objections that it is a waste of scarce resources. The ministry is expecting to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for an upgrade of ...
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Racal builds up base for EW bids
RACAL DEFENCE RADAR believes that the acquisition of the Thorn EMI sensor division at the end of March has given it a "world-class capability" in air systems which will strengthen the group's hand as it bids for future contracts, especially in the electronic-warfare (EW) market. Simon Mountfort, ...
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USA examines advanced-propulsion technology goals
PARTICIPANTS IN THE US defence department's Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) initiative have begun studies of advanced-propulsion technology goals for "beyond IHPTET". The studies will help decide the direction which US fighter-engine technology will take beyond 2003, when the current three-phase IHPTET programme is due ...
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UK staves off French demands for Apache missile commitment
THE UK MINISTRY OF Defence (MoD) is dismissing French Government demands for a link between a major industrial merger and a £1 billion missile deal for the Royal Air Force. French Government officials want to see the UK MoD make a commitment to buying the Matra Apache standoff ...
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Australian navy eyes Israeli Barak-1 missile for frigates
THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY is evaluating the Israel Aircraft Industries/Rafael Barak-1 point-defence missile for its FFG- 7 frigates. Robert Ray, the Australian defence minister, will discuss a possible purchase during his present visit to Israel, which began on 23 April. The Barak-1 point-defence missile is operational on ...
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Aero Tiga aimed at North America
A JOINT US-MALAYSIAN venture is to market the AeroTiga light aircraft, formerly the Datwyler MD3-160 Swiss Trainer, in North America, with plans to begin final assembly there by 1996. SME Aero is a joint venture between Malaysia's SME Aviation and Florida-based Aero Associates. Production of the ...
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General in command
The day-to-day commander of NATO's Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia, Maj. Gen. Hal Hornburg of the US Air Force, describes as "crucial" the roles of the 150 NATO combat aircraft under his control in covering any United Nations retreat from war-torn former Yugoslavia. The director of the ...
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Russia places Mi-24 conversion contract
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has placed a contract with Rostov-based Rosvertol to convert an unspecified number of Mil Mi-24 military helicopters for a civil security role. A prototype has been stripped of its weapons and armour, the airframe fitted with new communications equipment and loudspeakers installed beneath the ...
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Samsung Goes Dutch
Samsung Aerospace has won a $5 million contract from the Dutch navy to repair and overhaul 20 Allison T56 turboprop engines fitted to its Lockheed P-3C anti-submarine aircraft. The South Korean Company won the three-year contract after competing against Aviall, Hunting and Sochata. Source: Flight International