All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1380
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Bell tests
Preliminary airworthiness evaluations of the LHTEC T800-powered Bell UH-1H are to be completed in April, clearing the way for delivery of five re-engined helicopters to the US Border Patrol Agency for evaluation. Source: Flight International
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Shopping around
With an ageing combat and support fleet, the Thai air force is looking for rejuvenation. Ren‚ van Woezik/BANGKOK The countries bordering Thailand are in the process of upgrading their combat-aircraft inventories. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is ...
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UK investigates ITT jammer for Army attack helicopter
THE UK MINISTRY of Defence has begun a preliminary investigation into the suitability of the ITT Advanced Threat Radar Jammer (ATRJ) for the British Army Air Corps' next-generation battlefield attack helicopter. The radar jammer is now under development for use on US Army McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache attack ...
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Apache outruns the Tiger
What is behind the Netherlands decision to buy the AH-64 Apache instead of Eurocopter's Tiger? Douglas Barrie/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS After prolonged indecision, the Netherlands Government has finally made a choice for its "armoured-helicopter" requirement following a campaign between Eurocopter and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) which at times ...
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USA clears the way for Singapore tanker sale
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE THE US GOVERNMENT is giving the go-ahead for US companies to enter into formal discussions with Singapore over the supply of aerial-refuelling-tanker aircraft to support its fleet of Lockheed F-16s. Manufactures have already held initial talks with Singapore, but were awaiting clearance from the ...
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India tempted by Israeli Harpy
INDIA IS BEING OFFERED defence equipment by Israel, including airborne early-warning technology based on the Phalcon. The two countries have also sealed a $50 million deal for the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Harpy anti-radiation drone. The Harpy, as supplied to India, will consist of a mobile launcher carrying ...
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Clinton to plead for Pakistan F-16s
US PRESIDENT BILL Clinton has assured visiting Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto that he will try to persuade Congress to release 28 embargoed Lockheed F-16s or return the $600 million which Pakistan has already paid for the aircraft. Another option is to seek authorisation to sell the F-16s ...
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Crash sets back EH101 tests
WESTLAND HAS delayed further test flying of the EH Industries (Agusta/Westland) EH101 following the loss of naval prototype PP4. The aircraft crashed on 7 April during a test flight from Westland's Yeovil site in the UK. All four crew (two pilots and two test engineers) parachuted safely from ...
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Smiths says downturn may have ended
SMITHS INDUSTRIES believes that it may have hit the bottom of the aerospace downturn after reporting steady sales and improved profits for the first half of its financial year. The Smiths aerospace group turned in sales of £172 million for its first half to the end of January. ...
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UK MoD signs JAST agreement with USA
Douglas Barrie/LONDON SENIOR US AND UK defence officials have signed a statement of intent covering UK involvement in the Pentagon's Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) future combat-aircraft programme. The agreement, signed at the beginning of April, clears the way for negotiating a full memorandum of understanding ...
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FLA partners grapple to meet May deadline
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE EUROFLAG Future Large Aircraft (FLA) management agency will be wound up in May, but the partner nations and Airbus Industrie are struggling to have a replacement industrial organisation ready in time to meet this target date. Establishing the FLA programme under the auspices ...
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Rivals push attack-helicopter into politics
RIVAL BIDDERS FOR the UK's £2.7 billion attack-helicopter programme are pushing the competition into the political arena, lobbying fiercely over which bid will best strengthen the UK defence industrial base. Earlier this month, GEC effectively tore up the manufacturing basis of its bid with the Bell Cobra Venom, ...
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Hunter near to delivery
THE FIRST TRW/Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Hunter joint tactical unmanned air vehicle (JT-UAV) is scheduled to be handed over to the US Army by the end of April. Flight-testing of the Hunter continues in the USA and Israel to avoid further delays in delivering the system. By the ...
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RAF C-130J takes shape
Lockheed Martin has begun final assembly of the first C-130J Hercules 2 transport. The aircraft, the first of 25 stretched C-130J-30s for the Royal Air Force, is one of an initial batch of five production Hercules 2s which will be used for flight testing. Three of the initial batch are ...
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Eurocopter sees Osiris through trials
EUROCOPTER HAS COMPLETED its first series of flight tests with the Osiris mast-mounted sight for its Tiger attack-helicopter programme. The sight is being developed by Aerospatiale Missiles in conjunction with the SATEL consortium. The Osiris was test flown on a Eurocopter Panther which also carried the Euromissile Long Range Trigat ...
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Singapore/Australian air force plan in doubt
FAILURE TO deliver promised economic benefits is jeopardising a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) proposal to base a second wave of Singaporean armed forces training aircraft and personnel in Australia. Approval for the plan hinges on Singapore's delivery of economic benefits foreshadowed in an earlier memorandum ...
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Israel and Chile settle Phalcon disagreement
ISRAEL AND CHILE have settle a row which threatened to delay substantially delivery of the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)-developed Phalcon airborne early-warning system to the Chilean air force. Following agreement between IAI and the Chilean air force, the aircraft will now be delivered early in May. Chile had ...
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Snecma's losses treble as restructuring continues
SNECMA'S LOSSES MORE than trebled in 1994 as the French engine manufacturer bore the brunt of heavy restructuring costs and new programme costs. Sales are also expected to plummet. The group finally revealed that it had lost nearly Fr2.2 billion ($440 million) in 1994, confirming earlier projections of ...
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Workshare on FLA will be partners' choice
INDUSTRY, NOT government, will be responsible for allocating work-share on the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport project. According to a senior programme manager, the move marks a keynote change in the way collaborative European programmes are run. Aerospatiale military vice-president Philippe Picq says that the industrial partners ...
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Thai fighter purchase tied to AMRAAM
THAILAND HAS LINKED the purchase of any new US-built fighter aircraft to the supply of the Hughes AIM-120 AMRAAM active-radar-guided air-to-air missile, and is threatening to turn to other foreign manufacturers if necessary. The Thai air force has a requirement for a third squadron of front-line fighters to ...